My diet includes a lot of fake sugars. How much is considered too much?
I receive a lot of questions about artificial sweeteners and their possible connection to cancer. A good rule of thumb is to eat or drink a maximum of two items a day that contain fake sugars—that is, one diet soda and a cup of coffee with only one packet of sweetener. I suggest being cautious because there is still some debate about how safe sweeteners are. The FDA has OK'd sucralose (Splenda), aspartame (Nutrasweet), saccharin (Sweet'n Low) and acesulfame-K (Sweet One, Sunett). The consumer group Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington, D.C., is satisfied only with the safety testing of sucralose; it would like to see more non-industry-funded studies on aspartame and acesulfame-K. The organization is also skeptical of saccharin; although the FDA has reviewed the research and found the sweetener to be safe, CSPI claims it may be linked to cancer. I think fake sugars are probably fine in small doses, but you're better off with a teaspoon of real sugar in your coffee and eating naturally sweet whole fruit.