Sugar and sugar substitutes

Most people know that sugar is not good for you.  But many people don’t realize how bad for you it is, how many products it is found in and how safe the sugar substitutes are according to numerous studies conducted to date.

The Nutrition Action Health letter website states: “Sugar is a waste of calories, promotes obesity, causes tooth decay, and dilutes the nutritional quality of your diet.”  Use of sugar can also lead diabetes. Because Americans consume so much sugar, type II diabetes is on the rise.  Once you have diabetes, there is no cure. 23.5 million or 10.7 percent of adults have type 2 diabetes, per http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/statistics/#allages.  Diabetes can result in severe complications, including limb amputation, blindness, kidney failure, heart disease, stroke and premature death.

The US Department of Agriculture did many studies to result in their well know “food guide pyramid.”  It states that sweets should be used sparingly.

Whole books have been written on the relationship between sugar and obesity, probably the most famous is Sugar Busters!: Cut Sugar to Trim Fat (ISBN: 0345425588).  The author’s abstract: “Low-fat diets don’t work. The reason: because they are high in sugar. Sugar produces insulin that, in large amounts, keeps weight from coming off — in spite of strict dieting and exercise.”

Some products that you might not realize contain sugar are ketchup, every brand of breakfast cereal except Fiber One and the entire Slimfast line of so called “diet” products, which all have sugar as their primary ingredient—diet products they are not.  You can verify this for yourself by reading the FDA label on the products.  The FDA requires that ingredients be listed in the order of their abundance in all edible products.

Here are the facts about the four major “diet” sweeteners:

	Aspartame (Equal® Sweetener)	Sucralose (Splenda®)	Saccharin (Sweet’N Low®)	Acesulfame Potassium (Ace-K)
How sweet is it?	Aspartame is about 200 times sweeter than table sugar.	Sucralose is about 600 times sweeter than table sugar.	Saccharin is about 300 times sweeter than table sugar.	Acesulfame potassium is approximately 200 times sweeter than sugar.
How is it made?	Aspartame is made by joining together two amino acids with a methyl ester group. All of these components are also found in foods eaten everyday.	Sucralose is made through a multi-step process, which results in chlorine atoms being substituted for hydrogen-oxygen atom groups on the sugar molecule.	Saccharin is made through a multi-step process combining two chemical groups, including a sulfur molecule.	Ace-K is made from a process involving acetoacetic acid in combination with potassium.
Is it safe?	Yes. Aspartame is safe and FDA approved.	Yes. Sucralose is safe and FDA approved.	Yes. Saccharin is safe and FDA approved.	Yes. The FDA granted Ace-K approval in 1988.
How is it handled by the body?	Aspartame is broken down into components that are digested by the body.	Most sucralose passes through the body unchanged; a small percentage of sucralose is absorbed and metabolized.	Saccharin passes through the body unchanged.	Ace-K is not metabolized by the body and passes through unchanged.
How many studies have been conducted?	More than 200 scientific studies done over 35 years have demonstrated the safety of aspartame.	More than 100 scientific studies of sucralose done over 20 years have demonstrated the safety of sucralose.	More than 30 human studies done over 20 years have demonstrated the safety of saccharin.	More than 90 studies have demonstrated the safety of Ace-K.
Can you use it in recipes?	Yes. Equal’s Spoonful product is ideal for use in recipes, and adds great taste without all the calories to many of your favorite recipes. Equal Spoonful measures cup-for-cup just like sugar.	Yes. Splenda (sucralose) comes in a bulk package that measures cup-for-cup, just like sugar.	Yes. A conversion chart is available on the back of Sweet’N Low packages.	Yes. The sweet taste of Ace-K remains unchanged at high temperatures.
What products contain it?	Aspartame is found in more than 6,000 products, including Eli’s cheesecake and Diet Coke®.	Sucralose is found in products including Diet Rite® and Blue Bunny® yogurt.	Saccharin is found in products including Sweet’N Low® Brand cookies and candy.	Ace-K is found in more than 4000 products. It can be found under the brand names Sweet One® and Sunett® and in Equal® Sugar Lite.

Better than any of the above is Stevia – a natural sweetener that uniquely lacks excitotoxins that stimulate your appetite.  You can get it bulk or in packets at Walmart or Publix.

Sugar sneaks its way into foods you might not know contain sugar, such as: almost all breakfast cereals, canned beans, canned fruit, canned soups, catsup, flavored milk, luncheon meats, muffins, pancake mixes, spaghetti sauce, bread, TV dinners, and even some prescription and non-prescription medicines.  For a good article on this subject, see this web page: http://bit.ly/nhUUGG.