Ingredients

Community General Discussion
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Not sure about artificial sweeteners in a health product ?

Sucralose is a zero calorie artificial sweetener, Sucralose is made from sugar in a multistep chemical process in which three hydrogen-oxygen groups are replaced with chlorine atoms.

Some studies have shown that sucralose can change your gut microbiome by lowering the number of good bacteria by half . Research done on animals shows that sucralose can also increase inflammation in the body. Over time, inflammation can lead to problems like obesity and diabetes

Any comments on this would be appreciated
Thanks

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Hey @jarjar211 , welcome to the forum!

Sucralose, in particular, has certain rumors concerning its negative effects, which are related to modifying the intestinal microbiota. This would, of course, be a reason to remove sucralose off the safelist, which is why we dug deeper into the subject. So, let’s see what’s all the commotion about. These rumors are based on a single study published in 2008 that involved rats consuming more sucralose than any human will ever consume. Aside from the exaggerated figures, an Expert Panel determined that the report was deficient in important areas, casting doubt on its credibility. There’s even more! Sucralose’s structure is exceedingly resistant, making it extremely unlikely to break down and modify the gut flora.

There is an overwhelming quantity of research that validates the safety of most widely available and effective artificial sweeteners, particularly sucralose, for people in non-extreme levels. To ensure that you do not exceed these limits, an ADI (Acceptable Daily Intake) for each sweetener is created.

All currently legal, approved artificial sweeteners are totally safe to consume if consumed in amounts less than the specified maximum intake, which is already absurd. To put this into perspective, a healthy 60-kilogram person may consume approximately 60 Plenny Shakes every day.

We are constantly on the search for fresh and innovative ingredients. If you think there is an ingredient we should check, please let us know :nerd_face:

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Hi Laura
Thank you for your informative reply, my only concern is that I consume 4 scoops a day with 2 scoops of protein powder which concerned me as I’m placing an amount of powder into my body, just trying to be careful.

Google is a confusing place

Thanks again
John

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If you need some more info then you can check out our article on sweeteners :slight_smile:

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Sucralose was one of my worries too and the reason I quit using Jimmy joy after years of consuming it daily.

There’s nothing natural about a sugar molecule that has an added chlorine molecule. Although the body does not absorb most of it (the reason that Sucralose can be found in the water of the Fjords) it is persistant and does not break down in nature. It is also known that part of the sucralose you consume is in fact broken down by your body into… Well nobody really knows.

This, for me is a major red flag and the reason I stopped consuming Jimmy joy for almost 8 months now. I wondered if it would reduce bloat, diarrhoea and it did.

I really enjoyed the time saved eating jj/â– â– â– â– â– â– â–  or whatever the name is but Sucralose was the reason for me to call it quits for now.

Fun Fact: did you know that if you call a product containing sucralose a meal replacement in Canada it is not allowed on the market?

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Hi
Thanks for the information, my concern is that replacement meals are a new thing and Jimmy Joy and Huel is basically a processed meal, the kind of processed meal we are told to stay away from as there are health issues with consuming this type of food.
My concern is that companies profit and the profit margins are far more important than safe ingredients

We are in the 21 century and cancer is on the increase why?

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Just cancelled my subscription, my health is far more important than a quick processed meal.

Asbestos was approved and used widely over the world and then they discovered it was toxic to the human body. I appreciate that asbestos is not a food ingredient but just because it been approved safe doesn’t always mean it’s safe.

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Hi @jarjar211

thanks for bringing this up. My concern with sweeteners (natural on not) is that I do not need my lunch to be sweet. This is something I have pointed out in earlier posts and I very much would like to see flavoured JJ shakes without ANY sweetener.

Anyhow, could you please point us to those some studies have shown? I would like to read up on this.

Thanks!

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I can’t see why they couldn’t do this either, I don’t have sugar in my drinks or on cereal.

Natural flavouring without sweeteners.what a great idea

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Hi guys! Your concerns are totally valid, it’s great that you want to read more about the topic! That’s why we have created some guides and articles on nutrition. Please know that each person can have a different reaction to food.

Here you can see the myths about processed food. Not because it is processed it is bad, because processed food is anything that has been altered in some way during preparation. Pretty much any activity turns whole foods into processed food: washing, cleaning, milling, cutting, chopping, heating, pasteurizing, blanching, cooking, canning, freezing, drying, dehydrating, mixing, and packaging. All our ingredients are carefully chosen, based on scientific evidence of their nutrition and safety.

In the European Union, sucralose has been authorized as a substance in a wide range of foodstuffs since 2004. The EFSA’s Panels of professionals are permanently checking on new evidence that can show there is a potential danger with any ingredient or additive. It hasn’t been shown that there is danger in the consumption of sucralose. In our guide to sweeteners you can have a look at the references that show the safety of sucralose. Here, here and here are some of the articles mentioned in our article.

We have some cases in which customers have been consuming our meals for many months and even years. You can see their experiences here, here and here

At the moment, our savory options are the Plenny Pots which do not contain any sweeteners. Unfortunately, making a savory shake is not in our planning but thanks for the feedback. We will evaluate that option.

About a flavored product without any sweetener, to get flavored food there are many interactions between our senses. In our tongue we can perceive different tastes, and here is where we experience the sweetness out of food. While the flavor is perceived as the combination of taste, odor, and texture. Natural flavoring or natural aroma will provide the odor, but to have the whole experience, it is needed to add a natural or artificial sweetener that will give the taste to create the whole flavor perception and taste a shake as passionfruit flavor. If you can share your flavored cereals and drinks which do not contain sweeteners, then we can evaluate them :nerd_face:

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Hi Laura

Many thanks for the reply, it’s very much appreciated.
I eat no added sugar Alpen which gets its sweetness from raisins ( fructose )
Drink tea/coffee no sugar, I don’t drink fizzy drink full fat or zero as they say

It would be great if you could have a Jimmy joy shake without sweetener, I’m willing to be your tester for the non sweet version (just a thought )

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We offer the Plenny Shake Active in Neutral flavour. It contains no sweeteners or flavouring. The flavour could be described as oaty.

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Silly question can you not add flavouring without adding artificial sweeteners ?

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Some assumptions here needs correction:

  • Inflammation is not categorically a bad thing!
    In fact you`d be worse off without it! Yes, chronic inflammation is undesireable, but chronic lack of inflammation is even more so!

  • Natural doesnt equal healthy, just as artificial doesnt equal unhealthy
    This is a common misconception that just isnt true.

Now you’re referring findings saying that sucralose can change gut microbiome by lowering the number of good bacteria by half.
Does the findings also speak to an actual effect on a health? Based on what you’re sayinf the netto effect on health could just as well be positive :man_shrugging:

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So loosing GOOD gut bacteria might be a bad thing really ?

Inflammation is a good thing when it’s fighting an issue within your body,

Consuming too much Sucralose causes inflammation, why would you want to create this when you don’t need too ?

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Well, all things have a normal range, and too much is per definition not beneficoal.

In the specific case of gut microbia, it is hard to find solid evidence of anything, good or bad :man_shrugging:

In terms of inflammation, the “increase inflammation in animals” is just too unspecific to be of any use at all. What inflammation, where, and when? Is it inappropriate, or is the relevant inflammatory response to stimuli elevated?

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thanks for sharing your cereal brand! I had a quick look at it on the website and the total sugars are 6 grams per serving (210 calories). Fructose provides the same amount of calories as other sugars and usually, it is added to food products as sucrose (table sugar) or high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). We do not add sugar to our products. Large amounts of sugar consumption are not without harm. Sugar consumption has been linked to a variety of health issues, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes. With this increased awareness, people are increasingly looking for sugar-free products. This is why we opt for sucralose, which is calorie-free, safe to consume and it doesn’t give a bitter aftertaste. To make a flavoured shake we need to add a sweetener to create the flavor experience with the aroma. If there is no sweetener, there is no targetted flavor since the oats and other ingredients have their own taste.

At the moment, it looks like the best option for you is to use the Plenny Shake Active Neutral (as Nino suggested before :raised_hands:) and add your favorite fruit and sweetener to give it a flavor :woman_cook:

The study in which the mice microbiome had a change after consuming sucralose involved the intake of minimum 100mg of sucralose per kg of body weight, which would mean that a 60kg adult consumes 6g of sucralose per day for 12 weeks, which is absurd! we use less than 0.02g of sucralose per shake. There is no study showing that a small amount of sucralose has any bad effect on humans, nor animals.

As @Cheeserider said, inflammation is not a bad thing per see (for more information about inflammation, check out our article)

And last but not least, here is our Guide to a healthy gut! :relieved:

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With regards to my sugar intake from no added sugar Alpen I burn it off at the gym 5 days a week so I’m aware of that.
It’s the laboratory sweeteners that I don’t want or need, why does health and fitness companies think we require massive doses of sweetness, specially when they leave an aftertaste of chemicals.

Again just my opinion and I do appreciate your time and advice

I’m 56, 13 stone and have 35% protein 35% carbs and 30 fats a day and monitor my calories at 2600. so I’m well aware what my body needs and wants. Sadly I’ll try Raw sports as they don’t have artificial sweetener and yes it’s more expensive, but my body doesn’t mind the cost. It’s unfortunate as Jimmy Joy is so much better than Huel and has a much nicer texture

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Alpen gets its sweetness from raisins

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Is this true for fructose specifically as well?

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I’m no expert but this article is a good read, it does say that before it was manufactured humans didn’t consume it in large amounts, they obtained it from the sweetness confined within the natural food source ( that’s if I reading it correctly)