Saccharin Side Effects

In a world where reality competes with size zero, people are constantly converting into fitness maniacs. Exercise and health food are the order of the day. You have low fat and low calorie versions of almost every food item, including sugar.

Artificial sweeteners are constantly advertised on television as the healthier alternative. But is that actually the case? Are sugar alternatives safe? This story will give you an insight into the side effects of saccharin, a popular artificial sweetener.

The side effects have been a topic of discussion for a long time now, and saccharin dangers are highly debated.

Saccharin is defined as "a sweet tasting synthetic compound, C₇H₅NO₃S, used in food and drink as a substitute for sugar," according to the Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. Saccharin tablets are almost 200-700 times sweeter than sugar and have absolutely no calories. The basic compound in saccharin is benzoic sulfimide.

The acceptable daily intake or ADI for saccharin is 5mg/kg of your body weight. Saccharin tends to leave a bitter metallic aftertaste. The artificial sweetener saccharin has a long shelf life. The commercial name for saccharin is Sweet N' Low.

Saccharin was produced by a scientist working at the John Hopkins University in 1878. The scientist, Constantin Fahlberg, was researching coal tar derivatives, when he discovered saccharin. Very soon it was developed commercially, but the use of saccharin became widespread only during World War I.

This was due to the shortage of sugar that was experienced both in America and Europe at that point of time. It was after the Second World War, that people started paying more attention to their health and weight, and they started opting for saccharin, a low calorie sweetener, as an alternative to sugar.

Saccharin is just one of the many sugar alternatives available today. The other artificial sweeteners in the market are aspartame, sucralose, neotame, and acesulfame potassium. Saccharin with other sugar alternatives is an often used combination to make up for the other sweetener's weaknesses.

Saccharin and aspartame are both used in diet soda, because of the relatively short shelf life of the latter sugar alternative. As the oldest sugar alternative available today, saccharin preference has been quite high among long time users.

Saccharin was heralded as an important discovery, especially for diabetics, who now had an alternative. Sugar is different from saccharin, in that, saccharin passes directly without being digested by the human body. It does not affect insulin and blood glucose levels. Saccharin the sweetener, is not only used in low fat food products but also cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.

Is saccharin safe? Is saccharin bad for you? Does saccharin cause cancer? These are questions that have been widely researched by the scientific community, but the findings are debated even today. Adverse effects of the sweetener is one of the most studied topics in the category of food additives.

Saccharin was first categorized as a carcinogen, a substance causing cancer, in the 1960s, but it was in 1977 that the definitive study, that caused panic regarding the use of saccharin, was published.

This study showed that male rats displayed the growth of cancerous tumors in the bladder, when they consumed saccharin. Banned in Canada, the US FDA also proposed a total ban on saccharin, but failed in the face of public pressure.

The US Congress allowed people to buy saccharin as long as manufacturers packaged it with a warning that it was potentially hazardous to health. But this label was removed in 2000, when multiple subsequent studies showed that it was safe for human consumption.

Though an unsupported claim, it has also been stated that saccharin can cause allergic reactions such as headaches, diarrhea, skin eruptions, etc. This may be because saccharin belongs to the sulfonamide group of compounds.

There have also been several studies done on saccharin and pregnancy. The use of saccharin in pregnancy should be avoided. Saccharin has the ability to pass through the placenta, and it may remain in the fetal tissue, which is harmful for the unborn child.

Some other side effects of saccharin that have been put forward by researchers are irritability and muscle dysfunction in infants. This may be caused by saccharin in baby formula. Saccharin is excreted in breast milk, hence nursing mothers should try and restrict the use of saccharin.

Despite the fact that traditionally saccharin has been used as a low calorie sugar alternative, there have been recent studies which state that use of saccharin can actually increase body weight. This study was again done in rats, and it was seen that saccharin effects change the connect that is made between sweetness and calorie intake in the brains of rats. This changed correlation caused overeating.

Related studies have been conducted for several years now but the results have been either inconclusive or disproved. A saccharin tablet a day may not keep the doctor away, but the side effects of saccharin are few and mostly unsupported. Saccharin sweetener has largely been proven to be a relatively safe sugar alternative. As former President Theodore Roosevelt famously said, "Anybody who says saccharin is injurious to health is an idiot."