Thirteen years ago I discovered that artificial sweeteners like Nutrasweet give me headaches. Without fail, half an hour after consuming some tasty bite of yogurt, I'd get a weird throbbing in my temples and forehead. After I finally figured out the mystery, I have avoided Nutrasweet and its more recent successor, Splenda, as much as possible.
Once, at a church function, I think I may have I ticked off the person serving lemonade when I refused to take any after I learned it was Crystal Light. And I wouldn't let my kids have any either. She acted as if I had to be mentally ill to pass on the beverage and opt for water. (But, I guess I can see why she wouldn't understand, considering her Diet Coke addiction.)
It's not been too difficult until recently. I can buy yogurt with sugar as a sweetener. I can buy regular pop instead of diet. I don't have to buy sugarfree candy or Vitamin water or Gatorade - there are sugar or corn syrup-filled options for all of those products. (In no way, am I saying even those things are good for me.) But I can't find gum anymore that doesn't have Sucralose, Splenda, Aspartame or any other artificial sweetener in it. Even the good old Juicy Fruit or DoubleMint are contaminated. My only option is to chew Double Bubble or sugary Bubble Yum, etc., but the flavor in those lasts about 20 seconds.
I'm getting crabby about my lack of gum choices.
Give me back my sugar. Or my high-fructose corn syrup even. Not that I like to consume HFCS, but I'd rather have that than Nutrasweet or Splenda. And people consume this crap like it's no big deal. (If you're a diabetic, please don't take offense - I grant you a pass okay?) I don't want to ingest stuff that gives me a headache.
I swear we're letting food producers poison us. And I'm not sure what to do about it. I'm curious if it's the companies who produce artificial sweeteners lobbying to use their products in everything, including gum, or if the push is coming from the American Dental Association. (As if fluoride weren't bad enough...)
So, I'm curious if anyone out there has some non-artificially sweetened gum suggestions. I'm salivating already.
3 comments:
Check in Coburns in the Natural Foods section. They carry Glee Gum, which is what I buy for the kids, and possibly other brands. Or go to http://home.squirrels-nest.com/ I order from them a couple times a year (need to soon for dye-free candy canes!)
Yay! Thanks, Wendy! I'll be sure to check both places out.
Spry gum. Sweetened with Xylitol. You can find it at Vitamin Shoppe and Azure now carries it. Tastes good and it doesn't get hard fast like Glee gum.
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