Artificial sweeteners are chemicals or natural compounds that replace the sweetness of sugar, without all of the calories. But sometimes the label 'sugar-free' masks calories present in the food or drink. Aspartame, which is in Equal is a common chemical sweetener with crazy possible side effects. Effects include hallucinations to seizures and brain tumors; it is hardly worth consuming for the sake of saved calories in my opinion. Then you also have Sucralose, which is known as Splenda. Recent research suggests that Splenda can enlarge both the liver and kidneys and shrink the thymus glands. Splenda reportedly can cause skin rashes, panic, diarrhea, headaches, bladder issues, stomach pain, and those side effects don't even sum it up. In addition to all of this, consider the waste involved in the industry of artificially sweetening. Ever stepped into a coffee shop and noticed a mound of sugar substitute packets building on the counter or in the trash? We've been wasting one of our most precious resources for the sake of a sweetener that can harm our bodies and prevent weight loss. So what you can do instead to get your sugar fix? Turn to natural sweeteners for your drinks and food alike. Honey, agave nector, organic maple syrup, brown rice syrup, and stevia are just a few natural sweeteners you can turn to. Not only will they wreak your body less, but your support of these sweeteners instead will, eventually, help to slow the production of toxic artificial sweeteners. I am interested in this topic because so many people that I know use artificial sugar. My mom however, has never let us use things like sweet and low or splenda because she was always aware of the bad things that happen in your body because of these artificial sugars. I want to be able to answer the question “well why is it bad?” when people ask me why they shouldn’t use splenda and sweet and low. I will approach this as an informative paper, letting the audience know why…