Recent Posts
-
Admin
May
9
Artificial Sweeteners
May 9, 2007 | 36 Comments
From 1954 to 2001 sugar consumption increased from 38 million tons to 131 million tons, which translates to an increase from 11 kg (24 lb) to 21.7 Kg (47 lb) per capita. This trend is not limited to the Western world (as was the case in between the two World Wars). In fact the greatest increase of late has been in Asia. Let’s face it, we are programmed by nature to like sweet things. But as a population we are consuming more sugary foods than ever – refined sugar in many cases and of late in other forms such as High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) as well.
Not surprisingly, this has led to health problems in certain parts of the world. The food industry has responded by introducing several artificial sweeteners into the market. Three popular brands are Sweet’n'Low (Saccharin), Equal (Aspartame), and Splenda (Sucralose).
The value proposition of “zero” calories is compelling for dieters and a guilt free dessert for many. Diabetics too can enjoy foods that they would normally eschew. The artificial sweetener market has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry. These products have been aggressively marketed and the per capita consumption of artificial sweeteners in the US has topped 10 Kg (22 lb). There are about 6000 commercial products with Equal and another 3500 with Splenda.
Saccharin is the oldest synthetic sweetener (invented in 1879). In the intervening years several more sweeteners such as cyclamates, aspartame, acesulfame-K, neohesperidin, and sucralose have hit our palates.
Often these inventions have been accidents of chemical experiments. Aspartame was found when looking for an ulcer drug and sucralose molecule was found while devising a reaction for making pesticides! Typically the body cannot metabolize these sweeteners, hence they do not contribute to the calorific intake.
Saccharin is about 300 times as sweet as sugar, but has an unpleasant bitter or metallic aftertaste, especially at high concentrations. Several studies in rats in the ’60s and ’70s revealed saccharin (as well as cyclamate) could be carcinogenic. Canada banned saccharin in 1977 but US adopted a milder approach labeling all foods with a warning indicating that saccharin may be a carcinogen.
Aspartame (Nutrasweet, Equal, Spoonful, Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi) got approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 1981 amidst strong political and monetary pressure . It is 200 times as sweet as sugar and since it can be metabolized partially by humans, it is used in smaller quantities. Although there is no conclusive proof, some studies have also recommended further investigation into connections between aspartame and negative effects such as headaches, brain tumors, brain lesions, and lymphoma.
Sucralose (Splenda) is marketed as being made from sugar. We fell for it too and have been using Splenda for a few years. Recently we found out that Sucralose, the sweetener in Splenda, is produced by chlorinating the sucrose in sugar. The resulting “organochlorine” molecule closely resembles many pesticides (the inventors were trying to design new insecticides when they accidentally found sucralose) which makes us very uncomfortable! Read in the New Yorker that one of the inventors (Phadnis) was asked by the other (his boss) to “test” the molecule but he thought he had to “taste” it. So he did, and found it cloyingly sweet, and Sucralose was born.
Some may argue that in small quantities these sweeteners are not harmful and that the bad press is all hype. In an increasingly obese society, the benefits of low calorific intake cannot be ignored. However, in addition to all the harmful effects reported, some studies have indicated that by using artificial sweeteners we diminish our capacity to determine the amount of food that is required to meet our calorific needs. If this is indeed the case, using sweeteners may perversely worsen the weight problem. The solution, then, is not to replace one chemical with another, but to reduce sugar intake overall.
We have stopped using Splenda and have reverted back to natural sweeteners. More about that in another post.
–Jai
Disclaimer: Unless expressly noted in the article, the comments and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author(s) of jugalbandi. Please do not interpret the information as any form of advice or endorsement of a product, service, or practice.
Filed Under: artificial-sweeteners, aspartame, Defeat Cancer, Diet-drinks, Equal, Nutrasweet, NUTRITION, saccharin, Splenda, sucralose, SweetnLow, vegetarian recipes
|
36 Comments
Have you tried Stevia? It is supposed to have no side effects. I haven’t heard anything bad about it, so far. Do you know something abt it?
am working on the “natural sweetener post”. stay tuned. sometime in the next couple weeks maybe
I want to know if we can use any of these sweeteners as a substitute of sugar in Indian sweets like in gulabjamun and rasogulla? Because in these cases sugar acts as a preservative and I want to know if sucralose or stevia can act as a preservative as well.
No stevia cannot work as a preservative
j-b, thanks
i read about it some time back while having a discussion with some friends. indian chef sanjeev kapoor these days uses only sucralose in all his desserts. i hope he realizes it too or may be he is marketing it.
didnt know that SK uses sucralose. I think somehow the taste gets altered.
I have heard that Stevia is the best too!
we’ve heard that too. will dig some more.
Stevia is totally natural- from the stevia plant- great stuff for coffee or tea, despite the price.
Jai- great post! I had been a typical American soda junkie for years(drank it all day instead of water)…then switched to “diet” soda with aspartame… I was getting migraine headaches all the time and didn’t know why until I read an article somewhere… They’ve gone away now, as I only indulge in (regular)soda now and then as a special treat, which it should be! (pssst- homemade sodas are the best) So I totally agree that the only answer is to re-think sweets…
glad that your headache is gone. sometimes it is hard to pinpoint the source. it must have been hell till you figured it out.
Everything in moderation is my motto! No artificial anything. Sugar-good. Gur-better. Butter-better. Ghee-what can I say? Everything. In moderation!
good motto. the moderation part is hard !
Less is more!
I had to stop all those artificial sweeteners from my daily coffee and tea because of my Migraines too….it has helped a lot, and yes, even the Splenda is gone, waste of money that was.
I hate limiting myself to the things I love, so it is now a monthly treat from our Tim Horton’s – a coconut cream donut with a large coffee,double,double. I feel so much better after that.
migraines…happy to hear that they are gone now. migraines are nasty i am told.
Excellent post. These products are intensely sweet, but none truly taste like sugar no matter how they manipulate the molecules. Of course, the more you manipulate, the greater the risks. Moderation is always key, but often the extreme stresses of our modern life drain us of so much energy that we loose the discipline of moderation.
Agree, there is a diff in taste. yep moderation is hard. somewhere i had read that humans don’t have a strong gene to make us stop eating when we are full. so we are capable of snacking minutes after a hearty meal.
hmm, just an ‘a’ made all the difference
and here I thought it dseno’t mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are 
moderation is the key, i guess
whree’s ym drka chcololeta? – b.
Have you heard of levulose? I heard about it here the first time a couple of years ago, and the company that ‘discovered/developed’ it even set up a little showroom to sell the sweets made with it. They too claimed it was a natural alternative – we bought some sweets and they did approximate the taste of sugar to a large extent. But we’re wary of using these replacements so didn’t go back.
levulose is fructose, and comes with its own set of problems.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#Health_effects
- b.
I hate artificial sugar.Arvind’s med reps gave us loads of Splenda and didn’t like it at all.I would rather use real things in small quantity than using lot of artificial stuff.
Fab writeup.
The real stuff (C12H22O11) is so much better than these wannabes.
Moderation is key, but so difficult to follow!
Looking forward to part-deux of this article.
-TC
i always loved(s) real sugar:)recently son came home and said he wants to use brown sugar as its healthier than white sugar,info from health class ,i heared.
Jai/Bee,
Thanks for this enlightening post. It is great to read about health stuff like this. On a similar note, I want to bring attention to soya sauce. Please read this article
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/weblog/comments/4292/
I’m not sure if this soya sauce is allowed in US, but it was exported to Japan and now it is banned there.
I wish FDA would be more stringent with all these issue.
Thanks!
Fabulous write up! I’m sorry I use them, Will stop them immediately . They are too sweet for a dessert hater like me.
Excellent Writing Bee…I have never used them and will never used in future too …
I am all for natural sweetners. I tried splenda once in my coffee, didn’t like it. It tastes to sweet! Regular sugar is the best, i just use it a lil’ in my weekend chais (or a rare weekday chai), and apart from that i hardly prepare any sweets etc, so hopefully it should be OK.
That’s a good one Bee. I use Splenda in my tea though it doesn’t taste right in food so I don’t use it for food. Looking forward to the part 2, that sure will help
Everything in moderation is good. I’ve never cared for sugar substitutes although there was a time when I only drank Diet Coke. It took me a while to get used to the taste but the need for caffeine was stronger! But then my migraines intensified, I changed my diet and along with it my drinking habits.
now, if they would only make diet gin. siggghhh. i love gin. – b.
Diet gin? Just don’t eat the munchies along with it! Gin and tonic with a dash of lime is good! It was my fave drink till that started giving me headaches, too. I’d guzzle it in Bombay saying it helped me ward off malaria
For some reason I thought you guys were teetotalers.
we are teetolalers. we drank gin at the teat since we were born. – b.
I guess arrows can’t be made on here… I was going to say that B’by Sapphire goes well with grapefruit juice…
i love grapefruit juice. will try it. – b.
I’ve come to believe that it’s better to get completely rid of all sweeteners, sugar included, so that our taste buds can reset so we’ll find enough sweetness in natural foods. I’ve come to believe that but I’ve yet to completely practice it!
agree 100%. it’s amazing how much sweetness there is naturally in veggies, fruits and grains. – b.
Oh, Bee…forgot to mention, that’s called a “greyhound”, when you two go out.
Bee & jai,
Great article. I tend to put dried fruits into my spicy curries if things heat up sometimes! I have tried splenda and stopped after one packet because it tasted so weird to me. Natural is better for sure and going even more natural with fruits and veggies is the best. But unfortunately I need my two heapfuls of sugar in my coffee everyday and I will freely admit it I dont have the self-control to stop. Good to know about all the artificial stuff …
A
Hi there,
First time commenting here; came here from Indira’s blogland.Very informative post!!
Thanks,
Nalini
Jai, you have succinctly stated my motto about eating in the last line of your second to last paragraph. Everything in moderation. I find too often these diet, low fat, no fat things are full of synthetic ingredients that do more harm and beguile people into thinking it is better for them. Some people do not realise also that if they have too much of the no fat, low calorie stuff that it’s going to add up!
Thanks for pointing this out, again.
I believe its better to have the good old time sweetners , Jaggery , sugarcane and fresh fruits are good enough to give the required sugar content ,, and ofcourse should be taken in moderation..I personally dont prefer these artifical sweetners.
A very nice writeup
This helps to make an informed choice. There is a sweet tooth in the family and its not me. The sweet tooth is benchmark in moderation and not me. So I use substitutes but I am trying to change that too by opting for naturally sweet deserts one such is an upcoming post. T cups reduced from 10 to 1 in last 5 yrs now I sip on warm water and my visitors don’t know it
while they enjoy their cuppa.
Looking forward to your natural sweetners post.
Hmmm….
I love you………..for posts like these!
[...] is a follow-up on our post on Artificial Sweeetners. While convinced that they need to be avoided, we’ve also come to realise that all natural [...]
I have been wanting to cut down on sugar as well, but started the “Sugar Free” – we get in India. My brother adviced me not to, as the long term effects are not known. I have read a few articles, including this, which lead me to the direction of not using it. I guess I might as well stop, and reduce the sugar intake in my cup of tea and coffee, which is about the only consumption of sugar apart from the fruits I take. My idea is to loose weight
I tried ‘Agave’(organic blue nectar one) in my baking recipes and they were great. I even use them in our Indian sweets. I started using this since my FIL has health issues and eats mainly low GI/load items. I did read that this is natural sweetner and is low in GI too. It is also 3 times sweeter than sugar.
[...] are some serious health risks with the microwave method of cooking. Ditto about nonstick pans and artificial sweetners.This is what drives me to cook. I try to cook healthy as much as possible, but even when I [...]