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April 23, 2005

The Top Three Sugar Substitutes

Barbara Quinn has written and excellent summary of the most popular FDA approved sugar substitutes. These supliments are generally classified as sweeteners that contain minimal calories and do not affect blood sugar levels:

Saccharin: The pink packet also known as Sweet 'N Low. Warning labels hung over saccharin for many years when the FDA determined that large amounts pumped into mice may cause cancer. In 2000, after a thorough review of new findings, saccharin was officially removed from the list of potential carcinogens and has regained its status as a safe sweetener.

Aspartame: The blue packet named Equal or Nutrasweet is a mixture of two amino acids from protein. One of the most intensely studied sweeteners, aspartame is approved for use in more than 100 countries.

Unfounded rumors continue to abound about aspartame. Contrary to what you may read on the Internet, aspartame does not turn to poison when it is heated to extreme temperatures; it just loses its sweetness. You get six times more methanol from a glass of tomato juice than from a beverage containing aspartame. And two double-blinded studies on people who reported allergic reactions to aspartame failed to reproduce allergic reactions under controlled conditions. Neither has aspartame been found to be related to cancer or multiple sclerosis.
Aspartame does carry a label warning people with phenylketonuria (PKU) — a rare genetic disorder — not to use aspartame. People with PKU cannot digest phenylalanine, one of the proteins in aspartame.

Sucralose: Brand name Splenda is the new kid on the sweetener block. It holds up well at high temperatures and many think it tastes closer to real sugar than other sweeteners.

Sucralose is made from a sucrose (sugar) molecule that has been modified with chlorine atoms. Is that safe? More than 100 studies over almost 30 years have shown that it is.
Since the body does not recognize sucralose as a real sugar, it does not have the capacity to break it down and absorb it. Therefore, sucralose passes through the body relatively unchanged.

Posted by Diabetologica at April 23, 2005 5:53 AM