Artificial Sweeteners: What is the Scoop--Avoid or Use?

There are many health reasons to limit our sugar intake.  Sugar consumption is linked to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and dental caries, and is low in nutritional value.  Sugar occurs naturally in many foods, but about 80% of the sugars we consume are added to food and these additions are the main culprits of concern.

Some are obvious - sweet baked goods, soda and other sweetened drinks, candy bars, and other easy to grab foods.  But have you ever looked at labels of other processed foods?  Most bottled sauces, salad dressings, condiments; frozen meals; and even meat products have sugar added. 

To Sweeten or Not to Sweeten--that's the question.  Since there are no controversies about the dangerous health consequences and addictive nature of unnecessary processed sugar intake, what should a person do to limit sugar or substitute sugars with artificial sweeteners?  The best course of action is simply to wean yourself off of sweeteners and to enjoy most of your foods without added sugars  While its difficult at first one's taste-buds do adjust as do the addiction-fueled cravings; as many people report, myself included, cravings and the desire for sugar is greatly diminished after a period of time of minimal processed sugar consumption.  

The challenge is deciding whether to replace sugars with artificial sweeteners or to allow your taste-buds and body to adapt to far less sweeteners.  Some would argue that there are safe, alternative way to sweeten foods so why go without.  

Others suggest that retaining sweeteners of any kind in your diet only make adapting to using less sugars more difficult.  And then, there's the debate about whether artificial sweeteners are healthy or not.

It is a confusing topic to sort through; as the internet information has various research findings and opinions, which frequently contradict one another.  There are several factors to consider, and the tables below summarizes the literature's major arguments for and against their usage.  Ultimately, you will need to make the decision based on what is right for you, as people can react differently.

 Artificial Sweeteners:  Factors to Consider

Arguments for Artificial Sweeteners (A.S.) Usage: 

• Some Sources State Better Than the Calories of Sugar-- Due to Sugar's Contribution to  Obesity and Diabetes and Their Correlation to Mortality and Morbidity
• FDA Approved--Some Would Argue So What--That Doesn't Matter Much
• American Diabetic Association, Dietitians Association of Australia and the Food Standards Australia and New Zealand  (FSANZ) All State Okay To Use--None State the Recommended Level
• A Hungry for Change article offers Six health sugar alternatives in the latter half of this posted article.

Arguments Against Artificial Sweeteners (A.S.) Usage: 

• No Clear Association of Their Usage and Weight Loss. 
• Continues to Fuel Cravings for Sweets
• Insulin Levels May Be Affected:  May Raise Blood Glucose
• Change in Gut Micro-organisms
• Chemically Derived--Not a Natural Product--Except for Stevia

Actions That Seem Prudent to Try to Do:

• Reduce and Only Rarely Consume Foods or Drinks with A.S. or any Sugar
• Limit Processed Food Consumption--Which Frequently Contains Excess Sugar & A.S.
• Read Labels--Sweetener Usage in Foods is More Common than You Might have Realized
• Consider Using Stevia, a Natural Sweetener Derived from Stevia Rebaudiana Plant
• Request Stores to Start Carrying More Products with Stevia and/or other Natural Sweeteners
• Determine if You Have Negative Body Side Effects (Ailments and an Increase in Blood Sugar) When You Consume A.S. as People's Bodies May React Differently to A.S.
• Strive for Your Drinks to Contain No Sugar or A.S.(as in below picture):  See Previous Blog Post in January: Water, Coffee, Tea: Yes More Please!  
•  Decide if You Want to Eliminate after Reading the Link's in this Post--It's Your Health and  You Need to Decide What is Right for You!

Source: http://thegreenbacksgal.com/category/food-and-drink/healthy-drinks/

The American Diabetes Association, Australia's National Diabetes Services Scheme, Federal Drug Administration (FDA) http://www.fda.gov  and the Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) state artificial sweeteners are safe to consume.  When something is generally recognized as safe by the FDA, it means that experts have agreed that it is safe for use by the public in appropriate amounts.

For more additional information review these links: http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/what-can-i-eat/understanding-carbohydrates/artificial-sweeteners/
https://www.ndss.com.au/alternative-sweeteners-information-sheet
http://daa.asn.au/for-the-public/smart-eating-for-you/frequently-asked-questions/are-artificial-sweeteners-safe-to-eat/
https://www.choice.com.au/food-and-drink/nutrition/sugar/articles/sweeteners https://www.ndss.com.au/
                    

There are six artificial sweeteners, which have been tested and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA):

• acesulfame potassium (also called acesulfame K)
• aspartame
• saccharin
• sucralose
• neotame
• advantame

These sweeteners are used by food companies to make diet drinks, baked goods, frozen desserts, candy, light yogurt and chewing gum. You can buy them to use as table top sweeteners. The below chart provides a quick summary of artificial sweeteners, sugar alcohols and Stevia a natural sweetener derived from a plant.

There are six artificial sweeteners that have been tested and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA):

• acesulfame potassium (also called acesulfame K)
• aspartame
• saccharin
• sucralose
• neotame
• advantame

These sweeteners are used by food companies to make diet drinks, baked goods, frozen desserts, candy, light yogurt and chewing gum. You can buy them to use as table top sweeteners. Add them to coffee, tea, or sprinkle them on top of fruit. Some are also available in "granular" versions which can be used in cooking and baking.

What's The Deal With Stevia?

Stevia is also referred to as Rebaudioside A, Reb-A, or rebiana. Technically, Reb-A is a highly purified product that comes from the stevia plant and is several hundred times sweeter than sugar. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Reb-A is generally recognized as safe (GRAS) as a food additive and table top sweetener. When something is generally recognized as safe by the FDA, it means that experts have agreed that it is safe for use by the public in appropriate amounts.
For more information, visit the Food and Drug Administration website at www.fda.gov.
- See more at: http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/what-can-i-eat/understanding-carbohydrates/artificial-sweeteners/?loc=ff-slabnav#sthash.WhJgqzs8.dpufhttp://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/what-can-i-eat/understanding-carbohydrates/artificial-sweeteners/

There are six artificial sweeteners that have been tested and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA):

• acesulfame potassium (also called acesulfame K)
• aspartame
• saccharin
• sucralose
• neotame
• advantame

These sweeteners are used by food companies to make diet drinks, baked goods, frozen desserts, candy, light yogurt and chewing gum. You can buy them to use as table top sweeteners. Add them to coffee, tea, or sprinkle them on top of fruit. Some are also available in "granular" versions which can be used in cooking and baking.

What's The Deal With Stevia?

Stevia is also referred to as Rebaudioside A, Reb-A, or rebiana. Technically, Reb-A is a highly purified product that comes from the stevia plant and is several hundred times sweeter than sugar. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Reb-A is generally recognized as safe (GRAS) as a food additive and table top sweetener. When something is generally recognized as safe by the FDA, it means that experts have agreed that it is safe for use by the public in appropriate amounts.
For more information, visit the Food and Drug Administration website at www.fda.gov.
- See more at: http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/what-can-i-eat/understanding-carbohydrates/artificial-sweeteners/?loc=ff-slabnav#sthash.WhJgqzs8.dpuf

There are six artificial sweeteners that have been tested and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA):

• acesulfame potassium (also called acesulfame K)
• aspartame
• saccharin
• sucralose
• neotame
• advantame

These sweeteners are used by food companies to make diet drinks, baked goods, frozen desserts, candy, light yogurt and chewing gum. You can buy them to use as table top sweeteners. Add them to coffee, tea, or sprinkle them on top of fruit. Some are also available in "granular" versions which can be used in cooking and baking.

What's The Deal With Stevia?

Stevia is also referred to as Rebaudioside A, Reb-A, or rebiana. Technically, Reb-A is a highly purified product that comes from the stevia plant and is several hundred times sweeter than sugar. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Reb-A is generally recognized as safe (GRAS) as a food additive and table top sweetener. When something is generally recognized as safe by the FDA, it means that experts have agreed that it is safe for use by the public in appropriate amounts.
For more information, visit the Food and Drug Administration website at www.fda.gov.
- See more at: http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/what-can-i-eat/understanding-carbohydrates/artificial-sweeteners/?loc=ff-slabnav#sthash.WhJgqzs8.dp

And what about Stevia?  This link provides an understanding of Stevia, which is a "natural" sweetener, extracted from the Stevia rebaudiana plant native to South America.  It appears as a sweetener undr brand names PureBia, Hermesetas, Stevia Sweet, and in CSR Smart.  According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), it is generally recognized as a food additive and a table top sweetener and not an artificial sweetener. 

The World Cancer Research Fund states artificial sweeteners do not note a detectable effect on the risk of any cancer.  Are there other health considerations in the consumption of artificial sweeteners in the literature?  Yes. More research is needed, but studies are increasingly finding that the benefits of substituting sugar-sweetened food and beverages with those that have been sweetened artificially may not be as clear as once thought, particularly when consumed in large amounts.

One would think it should be simple to just read labels, and avoid those foods with added sugar.  And you can refer back to my January blog to get more info on reading labels, but don't expect identifying sugars to be easy or straightforward.  The processed food industry is determined to hide sugar - known to be an addictive ingredient - in many different forms.  The website ' Hungry for Change' has a great article about How to Spot Sugar on Food Labels. 

Let's examine some of the arguments for not using artificial sweeteners.

1.  No clear association of their usage and weight loss.
2. "Rebound" effect:  where some people end up consuming more of an unhealthy type of food because of the misperception that because it's sugar-free it's healthy. 
3.  May increase appetite and energy intake:  causing people to gain weight. Several studies in the 1980s and 90s showed artificial sweeteners in products that provide little or no energy were associated with heightened hunger. 
4. Some studies indicate a link between A.S. and the development of glucose intolerance; and other metabolic conditions that result in higher than normal blood glucose levels.
5. May decrease insulin sensitivity 
6. May be a link between artificial sweetener intake and weight gain:  more high quality clinical trials are needed to establish or refute causality. For more information read the following links on artificial sweeteners.

There are stated concerns about changes in the gut bacteria by artificial sweeteners:  http://www.webmd.com/diet/20140917/artificial-sweeteners-blood-sugar?page=3http:

Some of the other concerns of artificial sweeteners, is their possible effect on insulin levels, as stated in these links:  http://draxe.com/artificial-sweeteners/   

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/12/23/artificial-sweeteners-confuse-body.aspx                                 

M. Regina Castro, M.D. also provides helpful information on this subject at this link:  //www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/expert-answers/artificial-sweeteners/faq-20058038 

The interesting and insightful review of research studies by Linda Bartoshuk, reveals a possible weight gain by participates who consumed artificial sweeteners.  She concludes that the research funding currently comes from companies that have a vested interest in the retention of artificial sweeteners and more non-biased studies are needed.
http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/observer/2009/october-09/artificial-sweeteners-outwitting-the-wisdom-of-the-body.html  

For people who are still resistant to giving up soda pop, juices and other high caloric drinks the below chart may provide the motivation to do so.  It illustrates the amount of time each activity would have to be done in order to burn off the "empty" (high sugar--low nutritional value) calories from the below drinks.  Avoid. Avoid.  Avoid!
   

So in conclusion:

• Keep all sugar (carbohydrate) intake to a minimum.  If you are trying to lose weight keep your carbohydrate grams to 30 to 60 grams per meal and a total of 110 grams to 180 grams per day, which varies depending on your gender, age, ethnicity and activity level. 
• If you decide to use artificial sweeteners, it seems prudent to only use in moderation or rarely.
• If you want to use a sweetener for foods try using a natural product such as Stevia, coconut palm sugar, raw honey, molasses, lucuma powder and/or artichoke syrup.  For information on each of these products read: http://www.hungryforchange.tv/article/how-to-spot-sugar-on-food-labels
• Trust---Trust---once sugar is reduced in your diet, after a period of time, the cravings for it will diminish. Really it will!