Sugars and Artificial Sweeteners

With so many questions being asked about how to cut down on sugars and about artificial sweeteners, I wanted to do some clarifying.

Sugar isn’t necessarily a bad thing, the problem is when people are eating TOO MUCH sugars. There is sugar in milk, in fruit, vegetables, grains, etc. These are not bad things. Again, we want to minimize excess. I’m a big believer in MODERATION. Many believe that sugar is the cause of the obesity epidemic in our country. I think that there are MANY factors leading to our rise in obesity, and that it can’t be blamed on a single thing. What we can do however, is since we know high sugar intake is a RISK FACTOR for obesity, we can lower our sugar intakes now .

Let’s get some definitions out in the open:

• Simple carbohydrates (or sugars) include monosaccharides and disaccharides.
•  Monosaccharides include glucose (or dextrose), galactose, and fructose.
• Fructose is the most common naturally occurring monosaccharide, found in fruits and vegetables.
• Common disaccharides include sucrose, lactose and maltose.
• Sucrose is a combination of glucose and fructose, which is found in sugar cane, sugar beets, honey, and corn syrup.
• Lactose  is a combination of glucose plus galactose, found in milk products.
• Maltose  is a combination of glucose plus glucose, found in malt.
• Complex carbohydrates refers to glucose-containing polysaccharides, such as starches.
• Naturally occurring sugars: Sugars that are part of fruits, vegetables, milk products, etc.
• Added sugars: Sugars added during preparation or at the table.
• Total sugars: Naturally occurring and added sugars in foods and beverages.
• High-fructose corn syrup: Produced from corn syrup (nearly all glucose) with 42-55% fructose content.

(look at how much sugar is in this BBQ sauce!)

What is the problem with FRUCTOSE?

Research has shown that high intakes of fructose may play a role in insulin resistance, hypertension (high blood pressure), type 2 diabetes and increased body fat. Consuming more sugary, refined snacks also results in higher glucose and insulin levels than consuming whole-food items such as rolled oats or whole grains. The higher the fiber content of the food the less of a response there is in the blood sugar levels rising. Fructose is metabolized to fat in the liver more quickly than glucose is, which can lead to insulin resistance. Glucose is metabolized by all of the cells in the body (and too much is a bad thing), but fructose is only metabolized by the liver. Excess fructose is stored as fat and can increase the triglycerides in the blood.
The best thing you can do, is to reduce the total amount of simple sugars in your diet.

What’s the deal with SWEETENERS:

• Aspartame: Aspartame is the main sweetener in those little packets, Equal. Aspartame is found in many “diet” items, drinks, foods, diet sodas, etc. It is 200 times sweeter than natural sugar, which is why a little bit goes a long way. Aspartame is under much scrutiny and debate for many reasons including its risk of cancer, diabetes, etc.. While aspartame is supposed to be good for weight loss (because it has zero calories), reports show that it can stimulate an increase in appetite and increase in cravings for sweet foods. Research is inconclusive and often very biased regarding safety.
• Sucralose: Sucralose is 300 times sweeter than natural sugars. Saccharine is not metabolized in the human body, it does not contribute energy or calories.
• According to the National Cancer Institute, the FDA reviewed more than 100 safety studies that were conducted on each sweetener, including studies to assess cancer risk. The results of these studies showed no evidence that these sweeteners cause cancer or pose any other threat to human health.
• Sugar alcohols: Sugar alcohols are absorbed and metabolized by the body more slowly but cause major abdominal discomfort including gas and diarrhea. Sugar alcohol are not as popular a choice as artificial sweeteners because they contain calories.
• Honey: 1 teaspoon of honey has 22 calories (1 teaspoon of regular sugar has 16 calories). Honey has trace amounts of minerals such as iron, calcium potassium and magnesium. Molasses is also a natural sweetener that contains trace quantities of nutrients (with calories). Honey is less refined than plain white table sugar, but has more calories. Remember, infants should never be given honey in the rare situation of the honey being contaminated with botulism.
• Agave: Agave is extracted from the agave plaint and filtered and processed into a syrup. There are about 20 calories per 1 teaspoon. It is sweeter than sugar however, so you need less of it. Agave also contains a small amount of minerals, but just because it is claimed to be “natural,” doesn’t mean it is better. While agave has a low glycemic index rating and won’t spike your blood sugars like normal sugar, it has a VERY high fructose content (remember what I said above about fructose).
• Stevia: Stevia is a zero calorie sweetener that comes from the stevia plant. It is refined to the white powder form you see in the store. It has been declared  “generally recognized as safe” by the FDA as a sugar substitute. However, whole leaf stevia has not been approved because of safety concerns. Research on this sweetener and its safety are still out to debate. The CSPI (The Center for Science in the Public Interest) still recommends that more research is needed regarding its safety.

As I have said many times, I am a big believer in MODERATION. If chemically made, artificial sweeteners are the only form of “sugar” you use, or if you drink 5 diet sodas a day, if “diet” products are all you eat/drink, you need to cut down. You need to limit the processed foods and chemicals. Its not just the aspartame that you should be worried about if you are a “diet” junkie. A few diet sodas every once in a while won’t kill you, but you need to keep them to a minimum. On the other end, consuming large amounts of table sugars, honey or agave have their own negative impact on your health by increasing calories in your diet.
Use restraint if you need to, but put down the sugar (or sweetener).

Tips for reducing sugar in your diet:

• Decrease added sugars to cereal, oatmeal, coffee.
• Sweeten your own foods naturally. Instead of brown sugar or sugar to your oatmeal, cereals, etc, use berries or other fruits.
• Instead of buying artificial sweetened beverages, sweeten your own with fresh squeezed lemons or limes. Make ice cubes out of lemon juice and use those!
• Buy fresh fruits or fruits canned in water or natural juice. Avoid fruit canned in syrup, especially heavy syrup.
• In baked recipes, decrease the sugar by 1/2 to 1/3. You most likely wont notice a difference.
• Use fruit as a sweetener in baked goods. Applesauce, dried dates, dried raisins, shredded coconut all have a natural sweetness to them.
• Read the labels of your favorite food items, like pasta sauce, soup, crackers, etc. You will be surprised how much sugar is in some unsuspecting items.
• Watch your portions. You can still enjoy a piece of birthday cake, but make is a SMALL piece, or share it with a friend.
• Give yourself 21 days to cut down on sugar. Be disciplined. Get an accountability partner to hold you to it. For 21 days, do not add sugar or sweetener to your foods, have fruit as dessert, and see how you feel after the 21 days. In the big scheme of things, 21 days isn’t that long. You can do it.

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