The Truth About Saccharin Side Effects

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Saccharin - particularly saccharin sodium - is a widely used artificial sweetener. It's used to add sweetness to a variety of manufactured products including soft drinks, toothpaste and medicine. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) used to require manufacturers to put warning labels on products that contain saccharin. However, this was changed in the year 2000. Also, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) removed it from the list of hazardous materials in 2010.

This doesn't mean that saccharin side effects went away too. For example, a study in mice conducted by the Center for the Science in Public Interest (CSPI) in 1997 found that saccharin sodium causes bladder cancer. This doesn't mean that saccharin can cause bladder cancer in humans too but it warrants further investigation.

Another possible side effect of saccharin is diabetes. Saccharin doesn't contain any calories and it simply passes through your body. However, its sweet taste can stimulate your pancreas to produce insulin. Insulin is used by the body to transport sugar in the blood. If there's no sugar to transport, your body may become confused about when to produce insulin. This can lead to diabetes.

Saccharin contains sulfonamide - a substance than can cause severe allergic reactions for some individuals. These allergic reactions include headaches, skin rashes, diarrhea and difficulty in breathing. It can cause babies to have muscle dysfunction but it is legally used in baby formulas.

Interestingly, saccharin can cause obesity even if it doesn't have any calories. This is because of its sweet taste. When the body senses sweet taste, its natural reaction is to prepare for a large amount of calories. When these calories do not arrive, the body becomes confused. So the next time you eat sweets that do have calories, your body won't be ready for it. It will store the excess calories as fat and this can lead to weight gain.

There are many natural news websites that also talk about the many studies conducted to uncover the real effects of saccharin. Make sure that you only read the ones that use reliable references. The honest and trustworthy articles will often discourage the use of saccharin.

While the government may change its mind about whether saccharine is safe or not, you don't want to risk your health in exchange of something sweet. The truth is that our bodies don't need saccharine. It is a compound derived from coal tar. There are other sugar alternatives that you can use without risking your health.