[ExI] Dangers of coffee and black tea??

[Dave Sill]

2009/6/10 Adam Raizen <adam.raizen at gmail.com>:
>
> Western culture has a strong bias against anything 'artificial' and I would
> think that extropians would be less likely to suffer from this.

I think it's, er, natural to to suspicious about artificial food
additives. They haven't been consumed for many thousands of years, and
we simply don't know the risks. Heck, we don't even know the risks of
many common, natural products.

> Sucralose (aka splenda) both tastes the best in my
> opinion and doesn't seem to have anyone claiming specific harm from it, so
> that's what I use.

http://www.karlloren.com/Diabetes/p40e.htm

"Few human studies of safety have been published on sucralose. One
small study of diabetic patients using the sweetener showed a
statistically significant increase in glycosylated hemoglobin (Hba1C),
which is a marker of long-term blood glucose levels and is used to
assess glycemic control in diabetic patients. According to the FDA,
"increases in glycosolation in hemoglobin imply lessening of control
of diabetes.

Research in animals has shown that sucralose can cause many problems
in rats, mice, and rabbits, such as:

    * Shrunken thymus glands (up to 40% shrinkage)
    * Enlarged liver and kidneys.
    * Atrophy of lymph follicles in the spleen and thymus
    * Increased cecal weight
    * Reduced growth rate
    * Decreased red blood cell count
    * Hyperplasia of the pelvis
    * Extension of the pregnancy period
    * Aborted pregnancy
    * Decreased fetal body weights and placental weights
    * Diarrhea

According to one source (Sucralose Toxicity Information Center),
concerning the significant reduction in size of the thymus gland, "the
manufacturer claimed that the sucralose was unpleasant for the rodents
to eat in large doses and that starvation caused the shruken thymus
glands."

And that's just the first Google hit.

> In any event, refined sugar leads to metabolic syndrom
> and type-II diabetes, coronary heart disease, etc., so there's always a
> trade-off.

That's only from chronic overconsumption, if at all. Butter, eggs,
coffee, alcohol...all have been vilified in the past and lately
redeemed, provided that consumption is moderate.

> Fruit is probably the best, but it does still contain sugar, so in
> immoderation it's probably as harmful as candy.

Moderation is the key.

-Dave