Sugar or Sweetener - 01 June 2012

Sugar or Sweetener

Artificial sweeteners add sweetness without calories in two ways:

• They are so sweet (1000x) that you need only a tiny bit to achieve the equivalent taste, a fraction of the calories from sugar.
• Because the body doesn’t fully absorb them, it also doesn’t fully absorb the few calories they contain

Sweetners beneficial if you want to control your weight because of their negligible calorie content, compared to sugar (a teaspoon of which is 16 calories) or a can of soda that has 140 calories.

Artificial sweeteners generally don't raise blood sugar levels because they are not carbohydrates – so a good alternative for diabetics … and they don’t contribute to tooth decay!

Critics of artificial sweeteners say that they cause a variety of health problems, including cancer, based on studies dating back to 1970 that linked saccharin to bladder cancer in lab rats.

But according to the National Cancer Institute, there's no sound scientific evidence that any of the artificial sweeteners approved for use cause cancer or other serious health problems.

So they get a thumbs up (in moderation), until science says otherwise.

A quick afterthought – don’t be confused by natural sweeteners. Unlike artifical sweeteners, they contain the same amount of calories as regular sugar, they’re not suitable for diabetics and will contribute to tooth decay.