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Most of us out there have been brought up with a very clear understanding of what sugar is. Most of us love it and are in fact quite addicted to it.
However during the past few decades more and more negative research and press continues to come out about sugar. This has been hard for many to ignore – given our weight, diabetes and other health problems.
Thus as sugar’s popularity began to decrease, the popularity of artificial sweeteners began to grow. However, unlike our familiarity with sugar, most of us today did not grow up with many of the artificial sweeteners that are around today. Most of us have no idea where they come from, how they compare to sugar and even if they are safe for us to consume.
Therefore, today I want to present you with a quick guide to understanding artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes.
Why Go Artificial?
Artificial sweeteners gained popularity the most for no other reason than the fact that we want to have our cake and eat it too – literally. By now most people have caught on to the fact that sugar = quick weight gain.
Thus the main reason why people have turned and continue to turn to artificial sweeteners is that we want the sweetness of sugar in many common foods, but without the unnecessary calories. Thus, this brought about the popularity and age of artificial sweeteners.
These are often, many times sweeter than sugar, but contain few, if any calories. Sugar on the other hand, biochemically exists either as a single or double sugar which is full of calories and needs minimal if any digestion, thereby going straight into our blood stream.
Since sugar is an energy source and our body quickly gets overwhelmed with too much energy, most of it gets packed away into our fat cells, as there is only so much that our cells need or can store in their short-term reserves. That is only the tipping point where the problems with sugar and our health are concerned.
The second biggest reason why some people look toward artificial sweeteners is because they may have diabetes and thus have to avoid increasing their blood-sugar. Some artificial sweeteners completely do not act like sugars in our body and thus became a perfect option for diabetics – sweet taste, minus the high if any blood-sugar health risks.
So let us examine the artificial sweeteners out there and learn a little bit more about what some of us may be putting into our bodies.
1. Acesulfame-K
- is 200 times sweeter than sugar
- was introduced in 1967, approved by FDA in 1988 and had its use expanded in 1998
- breaks down into acetoacetamide, which has been linked to thyroid problems and tumor formation
- thought not to be metabolized by the body and excreted in urine
- has no calories
- to date has not been tested properly and is considered the worst sweetener by some due to the great lack of information and testing done on it
- FDA has no plans of removing it from the market anytime soon or to push for proper testing
2. Aspartame
- most commonly known as Equal or NutraSweet
- is about 200 times sweeter than sugar
- has essentially no calories (due to small amounts used)
- discovered in 1965, refused at first by the FDA in 1974 and approved by FDA in 1980
- made from amino acids and metabolized by body through various toxic reactions
- breaks down into the amino acids phenylalanine and aspartic acid, as well as methanol (or wood alcohol – known poison) and possibly formaldehyde
- is considered a neurotoxic substance that has been associated with numerous health problems including dizziness, visual impairment, severe muscle aches, numbing of extremities, pancreatitis, high blood pressure, retinal hemorrhaging, seizures, multiple sclerosis like symptoms and depression, as well it is suspected of causing birth defects and chemical disruptions in the brain
3. Saccharin
- most commonly known as Sweet ’N Low
- is 200 – 700 times sweeter than sugar
- has no calories
- originally synthesized from toluene/coal tar in late 1800’s
- thought not to be metabolized by the body and excreted in urine
- is the most tested artificial sweetener to date
- studies have continually proven links to cancer
- considered for official ban in 1977, but instead got removed from carcinogenic list in US in 2000
4. Sucralose
- most commonly known as Splenda
- is about 600 times sweeter than sugar
- discovered in 1976, approved by Canada in 1991 and by FDA in 1998
- made by chlorination of sucrose
- has no calories
- considered a safe alternative to aspartame, saccharin and acesulfame K by most
- studies however have been inadequate and some have pointed at links between sucralose and thymus and immune dysfunction, as well as possibly being mutagenic
5. Stevia
- most commonly known as Truvia
- is about 100 – 300 times sweeter than sugar
- breaks down into steviol, which some suspected of being mutagenic
- rejected by FDA for approval in 1990 and earlier for oddly unjustified/political reasons
- extracts of Stevia got approved by the FDA in December 2008
- comes from natural plant origin, but commercially sold in chemically altered form
- considered by many natural health proponents as the ultimate safe sweetener
6. Maltitol, Mannitol, Sorbitol and Xylitol
- are chemically known as sugar alcohols
- are half as sweet as sugar
- are not well absorbed by the body
- produce a laxative effect in large quantities
7. Neotame
- is about 7,000 – 13,000 times sweeter than sugar
- chemically related to aspartame
- has no calories
- approved by the FDA in 2002
- not widely used to date, mostly due to the known problems with aspartame
8. Cyclamate
- known as the original Sweet N’ Low
- discovered in 1937 and banned by FDA in 1970
- a petition has been currently filed to the FDA for re-approval
- animal studies showed product to be carcinogenic
9. High Fructose Corn Syrup
- commonly referred to as glucose/fructose in Canada
- in use since about the 1980’s
- produced by processing that increases the fructose content
- depending on the formulation may be sweeter, just as sweet or slightly less sweet than sugar
- cheaper than sugar
- contains calories equivalent to regular sugar
- greatly linked to obesity, diabetes and heart disease
Conclusion
The above is just a condensed summary of what each of the sugar substitutes is all about. If you ingest any of the above, it would be very wise to conduct more of your own research on the product if you intend to keep using it, as each one carries with it a certain risk.
My personal health advice to you is not to go up and down the list and see which one is the better option to rely on. Aside from perhaps Stevia, the sugar alcohols and high fructose corn syrup, all of the other sweeteners are nothing more than chemical substances which should not be ingested by anyone in any amounts.
While some of us can rely on the FDA or other governing bodies to make the decisions for us, I strongly urge you not to be a guinea pig yourself. The fact that these substances are being used by people today is nothing short of perhaps one of the best long term studies that is taking place at our own personal expense. Unfortunately, many people are learning the hard way and paying for it with their health, that these substances are not safe or at least do not lead to average, never mind optimal health.
While your concerns about calories, blood-glucose stress and dental health are valid when it comes to eating regular sugar, what we really should be moving towards are not sugar replacements, but complete sugar removals. Yes, this may sound unrealistic to many, but again it comes down to how serious you are about your health and how open minded you are to break out of the clever brainwashing that has taken place in society up until this point. Several companies are making billions of dollars off of the sugar industry, while we pay both financially and with our health.
We can continue to come up with any and every excuse why we need sugar, crave sugar or want sugar, or we can just break the vicious cycle, detoxify and get off of the addictive substance once and for all, to live out our best health ever, processed-sugar free!
REFERENCES:
For detailed information on artificial sweeteners, check out the following sites:
1. http://www.cspinet.org/reports/chemcuisine.htm
2. http://www.westonaprice.org/modernfood/sugarfree_blues.html
3. From Dr. Mercola “New Study of Splenda Reveals Shocking Information about Potential Harmful Effects“
For more information on sugar and its effects, check out sugar expert Dr. Scott Olson’s site, http://olsonnd.com/ OR his book Sugarettes
*Photograph provided by abbyladybug
About the author:Evita Ochel, B.Sc., B.Ed., CHN - is a certified holistic nutritionist, biologist, educator, writer, researcher and speaker in the areas of health, science and holistic wellness. She is a nutritional science expert and her teaching and writing focus on natural, wholesome, plant-based and organic nutrition to achieve optimal health and longevity. Learn more about Evita Ochel or Follow Evita Ochel on Twitter.
18 Comments to “Quick Guide To Artificial Sweeteners and Sugar Substitutes”
Evita,
I really appreciate the way that you have brought together all these food additives in one place. All of these have an impact on our health.
The recent Stevia extract approval has me scratching my head also. I guess if you are the Coke or Pepsi company, then doors open for you. I’m still wondering why they can approve an extract of the plant and not the whole plant itself.
My hope is the the Stevia extracts are healthier than the other artificial sweeteners, but that remains to be seen.
Good post Evita. To be honest I have never been a big sugar person, even before I started monitoring what I eat more closely. However, of the artificial sweeteners I have tried (I don’t know which ones they were) I have really not enjoyed them. I honestly can’t see the appeal. I think they taste horrible.
I generally try to avoid sweet products (sugary ones and articifically sweetened ones). However, on the odd occasions where I do have sweet things(I let myself have a chocolate bar, a cake or a glass of Coke every couple of weeks) I just go with the full sugar version. Whilst eliminating refined sugar from my diet completely is the ideal solution I think with the small amounts I have it is hardly worth going for an artificial sweetener.
@ DR.SCOTT – Thank you. I feel this is a super important topic as I find that too many people that I come across STILL do not know the detrimental health effects of artificial sweeteners. Many people just trust that since it is put in our food, then it must be safe.
The truth is that any of the artificial sweeteners that have been tested were not tested over a long enough term or at all – hence it is no surprise to see the many ill health effects that we have in the population when we look at people who consume artificial sweeteners.
As for Stevia – I am glad that I have no need for any sugar substitute in my life and hence do not have to sway back and forth on the basis of “is it safe or is it not”
My general experience is that as soon as the product has been altered from its natural form in nature – it is no longer natural to our body.
And so I share your hope where Stevia is concerned, but based on how these companies will be processing it, I am not going to hold my breath.
@ TOM – Thank you Tom and you are part of the minority of the population of the few lucky ones who don’t revolve their life around sugar.
I have not had much experience with artificial sweeteners, so I cannot comment on their taste, but I have heard the same as you say from some other people too.
And yes I have to agree with you, IF I was going to eat sugar, I would pick normal granulated sugar any day over a chemical sweetener.
Evita, you continue to serve us all so well. Thank you!
While never much of a sugar eater, just the occasional dessert and chocolate bar, I started to think about how terrific I felt as a kid—when the ONLY sugar I had was in the occasional piece of fruit. When I stopped adding salt to my food, I found I enjoyed the taste of the food so much more. Now it’s the same with sweets; there’s PLENTY of sweetness in fruit to satisfy any sugar craving. What nature provides is sufficient. Always. ;)
Man, that is some list Evita, and the only one I am familiar with is saccharin, and that is only because I have it in the cupboard for when my folks visit as dad is a diabetic.
Man, if there are side effects, I reckon I prefer to merely cut down on sugar and work a bit harder to burn the calories. Perhaps you can answer a couple of questions for me.
1. Is honey preferable to sugar as a sweetener?
2. How does brown or raw sugar stack up against the refined version?
If I had to, I reckon I could give it up, I just have to give my taste buds the time to adjust.
Hello Julie!
Oh Julie you are always so supportive and I thank you so much for that!!!
That is a nice upbringing indeed! I don’t think many kids today will ever share in your experience. Even for myself I have to tell you, it was normal for grandma or my parents to give us a chocolate, or lollipop or some other artificial treat and think it was okay. My parents are from Europe and people grew up there thinking that sugar was normal, natural and a part of the occasional treat. (not in large amounts of course, but still)
I am actually very excited that if and when we have a child, it will experience the sweetness of fruit from the start and no sugar that is so called “natural” or artificial.
It is not about deprivation, but about education and I know that with the right approach this will not only be possible and realistic, but the way of many future parents.
Mmmm, nothing like a juicy, delicious fruit!
Hello Sire,
You bring up a good point right from the start, many people are not familiar with artificial sweeteners simply because they are usually hidden so well in our foods without bringing great attention to them and unless we read the ingredients on every item we eat, we will not know.
And you are so right Sire, as I said to Tom above, if I was going to eat sugar I would choose the sugar in its original form over artificial sweeteners ALWAYS.
As to your questions:
1) Yes, honey is preferable BUT
- it should be in raw form (heated honey is processed honey, the typical liquid type)
- it should be eaten in very small and occasional amounts, just as our ancestors did a few thousands of years ago
So if you are looking for say a teaspoonful of sugar in a cup of tea, I would definitely choose a teaspoonful of honey. (It is actually sweeter than sugar, so you may need less)
2. As to brown sugar, a couple of years ago I was sure that brown sugar had to be better than white – well I was sadly disappointed to find the answer is a big NO. Same substance whether it is brown or white to your body (blood-glucose and calorie wise) just that the white one is processed even more.
As for other types, there are now raw, organic granulated sugars. These are better in terms of processing of course, but still sugar is sugar.
I think the only way to really get an improved sugar version is to get natural cane juice.
And you know what Sire, I used to LOVE chocolate and now do not even think twice about it or crave it. It was amazing how my body has readjusted once I removed all sugar from my diet (especially those hidden sources in almost ALL processed food, cereals, breads, etc…)
Today I do not have ANY cravings or any thoughts about needing or wanting sugar sources. While I still enjoy a sweet taste, it is only the sweet taste of fruits, dates, or the bit of raw honey in a whole grain cereal.
Thanks for your enquiries and do let me know if you have any other questions :)
Thanks for the response Evita. I remember once while I was on holiday in New Zealand, how I purchased some honey that was straight from the hive. It was packaged in a square box and it looked like they cut it right out of the beehive as it had the little honeycomb cells full of honey. I don’t think you can get any more natural than that! As for the honey I buy, I get it straight from the farm so I assume it isn’t processed, but will ask next time to make sure.
Great post! I agree with you completely – artificial sweeteners are best avoided, as they have never been proven safe. I use honey when I need to sweeten something, which is quite rare. I think when you eat a diet high in fruit, you lose the taste and craving for sugar.
This is a fantastic post and something I’ve been meaning to research for some time. Thanks for doing the work for me. =) I am currently in the process of conquering a diet soda addiction. It’s been a few weeks going strong! Part of this is learning to accept that natural sweeteners are OKAY and many actually very good for us! I’ve started putting honey in my coffee and tea and I’ll never go back to the chemical crap.
@ SIRE – You are very welcome and your honey source right from the farm sounds great – but you are right we cannot assume how others handle our food, so it is always best to ask :)
@ HANLIE – Hi Hanlie – my take on them and many other “artificial things” is that even if the FDA or whatever other governing body proved them to be safe, I still would not consume them.
I think the best health comes from personal accountability and I also do not think we need others to prove to us if something is safe or not, there is logic, there is intuition and there are gut feelings – we have all been endowed with an amazing set of tools to go through life with. Now if we could only tap into them.
I also find it interesting that most people trust outside sources more than they trust themselves…
@ MONICA – Hi Monica – You are so welsome and absolutely, there are many natural sweeteners that are not only okay, but may even offer health benefits like raw honey with bee pollen.
So alternatives are definitely out there and I strongly urge people to remove all artificial sweeteners from their lifestyle, as too many people’s health has been greatly scarred by them.
Evita: This is a great article. The only sweetener I didn’t see was honey. I wonder how that rates on the charts? Do you know? Anyway, I sometimes use Stevia, not Truvia, in my tea for a little sweet something. I have used Truvia and find it to be OK. I do find myself going back to good old sugar from sugar cane. Nothing tastes as sweet as sugar without leaving a bitter after taste of some kind. I think as with anything else out there, moderation is key. I only sweeten anything if I have coffee in the morning so I’m not concerned about my 1 packet of truvia or splenda. However I would be really worried if we were consuming any sweetener in excess. Cutting back is the best way to go, whenever possible.
Thanks again for sharing and thanks for the birthday wishes on my blog. :~)
@ SPINDIVA – Thank you so much and it is great to celebrate a milestone like a one-year anniversary! Actually the one for Evolving Wellness is just around the corner too in March!
To answer your question honey was not on the list as it is a natural sweetener, all the other ones are chemically based, again except for the Stevia per say and HFCS.
And yes, IF you are going to use sugar I always say nothing beats natural, (or as natural as we can call it today).
However as you know from the article: http://evolvingwellness.com/posts/53/everything-in-moderation-not-quite/
I have to disagree on the moderation paradigm, I know so many of us use this, but it is just not doing our health and body any good – some things were just not meant to be in our bodies in any amounts, and that is what I try to teach people more that anything else, if they want to achieve optimal health.
With these sweeteners, perhaps some of us won’t get the nasty symptoms or effects from the odd packet, but it is much safer for you not to do so, as sometimes we may never know how our body may handle or react to a chemical substance.
The bottom line is that these artificial sweeteners should not be on the market, if we truly want a healthy and happy nation. Along with the many other chemicals we consume, it just adds up to too much for the average body out there to handle.
Evita, I will have to agree with you on that everything in moderation is not always good for our bodies and yes, if one is dedicated to reaching optimal health, natural is best. But there are those resistant people who, as a trainer, become so difficult to convince to give up something or to have less of something else that you get in the mindset of saying “well then, just be sure you eat that in moderation.”
I realized I asked about honey then I noticed sugar wasn’t on the list either for obvious reasons :-)
Thanks for the article link, I will give it another read and maybe share it with some of my clients.
Have a great day!
@ SPINDIVA – Hi Spindva, I totally agree, I know I get the same in my line of work, people just want to either ignore or make an excuse for everything that does not suit their lifestyle and would cause them to change. And this can be a little frustrating especially if they come to you for help and when you offer them the most natural and best way to go for their body and health, then they may get turned off.
Never mind, this “everything in moderation” idea is even a huge line used by so many doctors. And people just say well my doctor told me so, but they don’t question why did your doctor tell you that? Could it be because if you truly took out the items that do not belong in your body you would be too healthy to go see them, and then they would be out of a job…. just something to consider.
I have to tell you, I am very blunt and flat out tell clients about the “zero approach” to certain foods, I may not be their favorite person after that, but I cannot in good conscience ignore what I know. I just feel in society in general we have a hard time hearing the truth, but I really think we need to. And that is ok to me if it falls on deaf ears, but at least they heard another side of the story and perhaps that will make them think a little more about this.
Thanks again – I really enjoyed sharing ideas and experiences with you – the more we talk about these things, the more they can be brought to the attention they really deserve for the best of our health.
Take care :)
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Thank you for the information. I am very surprised that no one on here discussed the dangers of artificial sweeteners.
I worked for the company Monsanto that brought Aspartame to the market.
You did not mention that in
1965 Aspartame was classified as a biological chemical warfare agent by the pentagon.
The original head of the FDA rejected Aspartame because it cased holes in the brains of mice.
That Monsanto got the head of the FDA fired and replaced him with their own guy who worked for Monsanto and that 6 months later Aspartame was magically approved for the use in all consumable products.
That artificial sweeteners have been linked to many diseases.
Please read the information contained at Dr. Mercola’s site.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/10/13/Artificial-Sweeteners-More-Dangerous-than-You-Ever-Imagined.aspx
Also google Dangers of Artificial Sweetners to learn more.
Hi Curious
You are welcome and thank you for your comment. There is of course much more here that could have been said. Whole books can be written on the dangers of aspartame alone. That just cannot be done in one article of this nature or size.
Thank you for the information you added and the link, it adds great value to this topic.