Hello, All

While looking on a UK LC chat forum, I found something on the nearing availability of Spenda in the UK. (btw-- I did write and ask permission before reproducing this letter! I took out some names to protect the innocent!)



Letter as follows:

So I was getting a bit annoyed about
not being able to buy Splenda in the UK
so I emailed the people at Tate&Lyle
and got this reply. Thought it might
be of interest...

Subject: Sucralose (Splenda) Enquiry


> Thank you very much for your enquiry regarding Splenda availability.

> The UK Food Standards Agency has commenced the process for national
approval of sucralose in the UK. We anticipate that this process could be completed
> early in 2002. If you would like further information on the approval process
> you may like to visit the Food Standards Agency's website:
> http://www.foodstandards.gov.uk/con...s/sucralose.htm
>
> McNeil Nutritionals are responsible for the tabletop product world wide and
> they should be contacted re availability of the tabletop product in the UK.
> Their details are as follows:
>
> Web Site address is: www.splenda.com.
>
> For your information their postal address is as follows:
>
> McNeil Nutritionals
> 501 George Street
> New Brunswick
> New Jersey, 08903-6735
> USA
> Tel: 001 732 524 1900
>
> Thank you for your interest in sucralose.
>
> Best regards
>
> Margaret Walters
>
> Sender: Margaret Walters
> Position: Office Administrator
> Tate & Lyle Sucralose
> Telephone +44 (0) 118 925 2900
> Facsimile +44 (0) 118 926 3033



The forum went on to say, I must add, that the scheduled date HAD BEEN December 2001 and that they would not be surprised to find the date moved again. I suppose we can always contact the company to let them know how much we would like to have it (at least to try it!)

Thanks for this information, Odd Sock.

We have always been left out in the cold on Splenda before, and as you say, it would be good to road-test it for ourselves, having read so many posts about this all round the forum.

Odd Sock, we have a new system operating here. If the person who first starts a thread doesn't post again within a fortnight, the thread is archived. This particular thread could be too important for that to happen, so please try to post again before Feb 15th, to keep it here. Replies, like this one, don't count in the 14-day rule, which only applies to a thread's originator.

Andy

As a UK resident, I too would be interested in any info or updates about this sweetener.

I've been told that other sweeteners - Canderel, sweet n low ec - are treated ny the body like normal carbs - so obviously that is bad.

I've been going 'cold turkey' with no sugar since starting a low carn diet (1 month now) and I feel great but I do find it would be nice to have a way to deal with sugar cravings!!

If you do get any info will you let us know? I will bookmark this page and look perioducally.

A big thanks

Hi Rachel,

And welcome to this forum and to the UK group.

I, too, do not take sugar in tea or coffee any more. I was so fed up with not being able to find a trustworthy sweetener, I just stopped altogether, like you did.

After a few months, I never felt any cravings, and when someone accidentally gave me a cup of tea with sugar in it, I thought they had poisoned me!

Oh, and by the way, I gave up milk at the same time. So I went straight from milk and two sugars to back, without sugar. And eventually grew to love it. I also now really like the taste of water, provided it's cold...

Andy

Thanks Andy, good to know I'm not alone out there!

I have been doing a serious low carb diet for 6 weeks now and actually the sugar cravings are going down - you are absolutely right. It's hard to believe that this does happen but I guess it's proof you must stick with 'the plan'.

I find the odd cherry tomato does the trick if I ever feel the need but at least it's better than chocolate!

I was a serious coffee drinker and now have gone to decaffeinated with very little or no milk. You are so right that once you do without sweet things you are so sensitive to the taste of anything sweet!
I am borderline diabetic and last yr had very high blood sugar levels which virtually placed me in the diabetes 2 category - but this year levels are down by half. So it is well worth the effort!

Thanks very much for your reply.

Hi Rachel,

I'm so glad you are experiencing for yourself the benefits of this way of eating (WOE), which are so much more powerful than simply reading about them or getting them secondhand.

With regard to your marginal diabetes, there is a very informative Diabetes and Inslin sub-forum here, and you might like to check out the following threads from that sub-forum:

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...=&threadid=5664

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...=&threadid=6794

Hope you find them helpful.

Andy

Hi Odd Sock / Rachel

I used to be a carb/sugar addict. I hardly ever have sugar or sweeteners now but will occasionally take half a spoon of honey. It can very quickly lead to cravings so I find it best to be wary and not make it a daily thing if I do start. The more you have sweets the more you want/need/crave them.

Take care.

Thanks for the tip, Andy...

I also think that it is actually better to do completely without. I can't say that I have significantly wanted sweets or sugar, but I tend to consume probably more fruit than other WOE. I never was a dessert craver before, I must admit. I did always have two sugars in my tea and liked lots of unsweetened juice and the occassional soft drink which I found a bit difficult at first, but I began to make changes for the better. I switched from PG Tips to fine quality jasmine and green teas without sweetners (it was easy to do this as I had no ongoing 'reference point' of how it was 'supposed to taste'-- started enjoying the pleasant bitterness and delicate flavours of the teas and green tea has loads of anti-oxidants (comes in caf & de-caf). I still drink fruit juices, but only a measured amount rather than bottles of it and instead have replaced it with liters of water. Soft drinks was a puzzle at first. Some foods didn't seem to taste right or I just wanted that kick of fizzy... that 'reference point' again. I had drunk fizzy waters, but didn't think to much for them until I discovered San Pellegrino which contains such a high mineral quotient that it gave that omph that I wanted. I came out with different preferences for healthier alternatives. Imagine that!
My advice to anyone is to experiment with your taste buds and you may find similar results.

BUT, sometimes I would like to have a choice! I am sure that some time in the future I would like to make a dessert. Sweetners make my throat close up so I was wanting a less deadly alternative (sugar or blockage of oxygen.... hmmmm...) hee-hee!

Hi Odd Sock,

I agree with you completely. As far as drinking fluids is concerned, I'd say you have it just about dead right. Even the odd sweet pudding I can understand, otherwise you can feel as if you are too much in a straightjacket. But...the big problem with anything sweet is their dreadful addictiveness. I have come unstuck on this WOE more times through underestimating the power of carbs to set up an addictive craving than through any other cause. Each time it happens, I swear I will know better next time. And next time, I look at one innocent-looking sweet there and think "surely that can't do such damage"...and find I'm regretting it for weeks again. If you are able, like Fiona, to eat one and say "That's it", then you are in a great position. The position I am in is that I have absolutely no craving for sweet things whatsoever, until I take the first one. Then I can't get enough of the damned things. In my case, one is definitely too many. In your case, if you are like Fiona, one can be just enough.

Best wishes,

Andy

{If you are able, like Fiona, to eat one and say "That's it", then you are in a great position.}
ROFL … If only …... Anyone who has read my journal knows my “fall from grace” when one bar of choclate has led to finishing off the whole packet. I refuse to have any carbs in the house.

If the people around me are munching carbs and I can’t even taste them, I feel left-out, unsocial, “deprived” !! For me to maintain this WOE I need to deal with that feeling and find some way of balancing it. Intellectually I know that doing what everyone else is doing doesn’t mean I am “accepted” or that “it is good for me” but emotionally it will take time to change that “internal record” I keep playing. Until then ….

So when the bf is around, say, I’ll bite one piece off his bread or pinch a couple of his chips. He is soooo supportive – well, he knows he has to put up with me being cranky if I eat carbs: he brings just enough carbs for himself and if anything is left over, it goes back with him!! He once left about 6 slices of bread and I finished all of them the next morning – 3 breakfasts!!

I allow myself a little treat – at TOM time - but do NOW understand the dangers and am constantly alert to them. It is an ongoing battle. Perhaps it is the reason I can’t seem to shift much below the 62kg for long.

Wish it was as easy as drinking for me. I don’t have any problem drinking 6-8 litres of liquid in a day. Just do it effortlessly.

Take Care

Let me know if this should be a under a new thread - 'cravings and stress '- as it's a little off the track here ...

but ... my mum is in hospital now and I am feeling the stress - she is far away, I may have to make an emergency trip, and there are all kinds of rushed arrangements for kids/babysitter/work - stress levels are going up up up!! I am finding the need for something sweet - maybe I'm regressing, looking for 'comfort' ??

So far I've been oK - I used a little sweetener in coffee today though. I am hoping to keep this under control.

I'm also trying to control the stress and keep up the exercise. I am wondering if retail therapy might replace chocolate therapy!!

Any tips or similar experiences - I'd love to hear!

Hi Rachel,

There are times when the exigence of an emergency situation has to take over. Low-carbing takes a lot of time and organising, and in some instances you have to sacrifice that time and planning for a greater and more urgent need. You just have to get through it as best you can.

Some people have a sort of "travelling kit" of tuna fish, or macadamia nuts, or cheese (if you can take it without stalling), and some keep cold cooked meats in the fridge or freezer for the start of a journey. It depends on how much time and effort you are prepared to put into prior planning, and how urgent the journey.

At some time afterwards, you will probably have to get back to low-carbing again, in which case you would need to go back through induction. Looking at your stats, you do not have a vast amount to lose, and even if you regained what you have lost already, you would not be what I would think of as overweight. So I would not worry so much about your weight, but concentrate on the mercy dash when the time comes, and pick up the pieces of low=carbing afterwards.

Andy

{Rachel: Let me know if this should be a under a new thread ..} Well yes it is a little off track and would probably have been better as a new thread but don't worry about it too much. As you say the stress is building up .... and a lot of the other messages are off track too ... not so easy to rigidly stick to one theme.

{I'm also trying to control the stress and keep up the exercise. ... Retail therapy ..} Yes Rachel. Retail therapy, talk therapy, ... do anything .... distraction therapy ... anything that keeps you from doing what you used to do in the past at times of stress : stuff up on sweets/carbs to find comfort. If you think of it this way: right from the day we are born everytime a baby cries parents (the most caring, loving ones) shove the milk bottle in her mouth to help her stop. As the baby grows it learns to do it for herself. The mental association of food and comfort is formed and strengthened each time it is repeated. The only way of changing that behaviour is to NOT do it anymore. It is bound to take time to change that reflex action. It is a long process and keeps rearing its ugly head on ever subtler levels.

Focus on staying within the limit of your carb-intake but don't give yourself too hard a time if you do stray. Notice, be aware and get back on track.

Hope your mum gets better soon. You can help her most if you look after yourself too.

Love, Light, Laughter, Healing, Health, Hope
Take Care

Thanks everyone for your kind replies. All the advice really does help. I have kept an emergency pack of cheese and veg at work and that has been great - a very good idea.

For now I don't have to travel although might have to hop on a plane at any moment. But keeping everyone else aware of the situation - friends, people at work - (not hiding anything!!) has also helped. Waiting for 'that telephone call' brings its own stress ... Talk therapy is definitely good. It helps keep that 'craving for comfort' at bay - thanks fiona, you are right about that.

Mainly I am low carbing to keep blood sugars down and energy up as I have diabetes II. The new low carb WOE is so great I hate to go back to old habits but as you say - it can creep up on you - one snack and it's hard to stop.

So any news on Splenda or similar will be great - but it's good to know there are other ways to handle this - thanks again.

Hi
I am also new to this WOE but tried Atkins briefly after Xmas and lost a few pounds, then had sugar cravings and stopped. It is true that just "a taste" can set some people off on a binge as I discovered. I am now trying the Schwarzbein Principle which does not allow sugar or sweeteners but more veggies, white cheese and some fruits. I thought I was the only one who got such strong urges for sugar products!

Has anyone heard of Stevia, the herbal sweetener? They seem to get it in some parts of the States.