Splenda makes you fat, or so says reports out of the UK.

Studies found that rats given Splenda were fatter than rats not given the sweetener. And that's not all -- they also had less beneficial bacteria in their guts. Of course,we're talking rats -- obviously humans are different. And, as I previously told you, apparently the study was funded by the sugar industry, which means you might want to question the motives behind this whole 'splenda makes you fat' claim.

Don't trust Splenda? Here's a quick list of what it's in:

• Some diet sodas
• Many low-carb or sugar-free chocolate bars and candies
• Diet Snapple Iced Tea
• Reebok Fitness Water
• Juicy Fruit gum
• Kids Trident sugar-free gum
  

You know what I'm going to say -- everything in moderation, be it Splenda, sugar or whatever. But personally, I'd choose regular sugar over artificial sweeteners any day, unless I had a medical condition like diabetes. What about you?

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My son has a penchant for sugary cereals. I adopted him at age 10, so he had 10 years of forming his tastes and eating habits before he moved home with me. Luckily, he does enjoy a number of healthy foods. (I just recently succeeded in getting him to try (and enjoy) salmon.) Breakfast foods, however, are more of a challenge.

More often than not we have oatmeal, whole-wheat toast with peanut butter, or eggs. But I do like to have a box of cereal in the pantry for those busy days. Getting him to change his preferences has been a slow process. In fact, just recently when we were at the grocery store he said "Fruit Loops are healthy. Right, Mom? They're made of fruit." Uh.... no.

HealthCastle has a great article discussing the truth about reduced-sugar products -- from cereal to instant oatmeal to granola bars to juice -- that are popping up on store shelves. The products are often aimed at kids, yet the claim of "reduced sugar" is supposed to appeal to health-conscious parents. Often, artificial sweeteners are used in place of the sugar -- calorie content remains about the same.

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Does a sugar by another name have just as much calories? Not always, but usually. As a healthy consumer, it's your job to educate yourself on the many names and guises sugar uses to hide itself and entice you, the buyer, into consuming it. Armed with this new information, you should be able to conquer the grocery store with ease, making sure that you and your family don't end up with high-glucose foods that will wreak havoc on your waistline and your health.

What I'm trying to say is: sugar's not only found in the blatantly sweet foods like cake and cookies. It can be hidden in many things. As a rule of thumb, I avoid things with ingredient name's ending in 'ose', like fructose, maltose, dextrose, etc. What are your tips?

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