Artificial Sweeteners

Are sweeteners such as Splenda safe for Conures?

There exists no reason for wanting /needing to add Artificial Sweeteners to any birds /Parrots diet, none. In fact, one of the tenets of a healthy diet is to eliminate /minimize added natural Sugars from our Parrots diets.

Are they safe! No!

I would safely say no, do not give your bird any kind of artificial sweetener. Better safe than sorry! I discovered a long time ago artificial sweeteners (sucralose and aspartame) give me intense migraines (never cared to see if the other newer ones have the same effect!). I would hate to inflict that on my bird, especially since they are even more sensitive to such things than humans being so small. Unless your avian vet can confirm safety, it is best to not give parrots anything artificial (sweeteners, flavors, colors etc...). If you want to sweeten treats for your bird, try natural sugar substitutes in your recipes like unsweetened applesauce, honey, agave, (pure) maple syrup even mashed sweet potatoes!

Edit: I personally like to sub in sweet potatoes in place of butter and agave syrup in place of sugar when baking for Kiwi. Plus, sweet potatoes give a always needed boost of vitamin A and most birds love the flavor!

No, ABSOLUTELY not. Like sailboat said- there is no reason it would be needed. Even real sugar, in the amounts we would feed them, is bad for birds so theres no way artificial sweeteners (even naturally based ones such as splenda, truvia and stevia).

The only sugar they should be allowed is what is already in their food. There is sugar in Harrisons, but its organic pure sugar cane and I'm sure a limited amount.

@Kiwibird There is actually a study that was done that linked certain artificial sweeteners (such as saccharin) to cancer in lab rats. Aspartame isn't much better. There are a LOT of people who have adverse reactions to artificial sweeteners. As well as gluten (Celiac). MSG has also been linked to migraines as well.

Skittys_Daddy said:

@Kiwibird There is actually a study that was done that linked certain artificial sweeteners (such as saccharin) to cancer in lab rats. Aspartame isn't much better. There are a LOT of people who have adverse reactions to artificial sweeteners. As well as gluten (Celiac). MSG has also been linked to migraines as well.

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YEP!!! and Splenda is at the TOP of the list as far as cancer goes! I have used Splenda for years in my coffee or tea..after reading/hearing that..I cut it out altogether!



Jim

I know that no artificial sweetener is really 'good', but I had always thought that Splenda was the least evil.

I'm gonna have to look into that.

I used to drink a two liter bottle of diet soda (aspartame) a DAY. I cut out all soda altogether except when I have pizza.

I drink seltzer water now. I love it. Skitty doesn't though. He does not like carbonation. Thats not good for him anyways.

Skittys_Daddy said:

@Kiwibird There is actually a study that was done that linked certain artificial sweeteners (such as saccharin) to cancer in lab rats. Aspartame isn't much better. There are a LOT of people who have adverse reactions to artificial sweeteners. As well as gluten (Celiac). MSG has also been linked to migraines as well.

Click to expand...

I know there is a lot of artificial additives being linked to cancer and other health problems now. My solution is to avoid pretty much anything that I couldn't grow in the ground or create in my own kitchen. Seems to be about the only 'safe' way to go with food these days

I know I'm reviving an old thread. It answered my question.

Cora just shredded a Splenda packet. I don't think she ate any. I cleaned it up and put the stevia packet in my drawer.