Sugar Substitutes

I've been curious about artificial sweeteners for a while now (Stevia, especially), and it's taken me quite some time to dig up enough information to sew all of the bits of information together.

First and foremost: All of these artificial sweeteners have drawbacks, but we'd be doing ourselves a disservice if we didn't first look at sugar. Sugar has a direct link to obesity. It hurts one's heart; it causes diabetes by invoking spikes in blood sugar; it increases one's risk of yeast infection (gross); it increases one's risk of depression (probably due to the sporadic changes in blood sugar that it evokes); and it has strong links to the development of cancer, namely breast cancer and pancreatic cancer.

Before I frighten the fruit junkies like myself, I'd like to state that whilst fruit is quite sugary; soda, ketchup, cookies, cakes, and other miscellanea are much worst catalysts. Fruit is packed with natural fibre and vitamins, whereas granulated sugar is not. When one thinks "fat," one does not think "fruit."

Sugar Substitutes

What's out there?

 

Aspartame: Nutrasweet and Equal

 

Acesulfame Potassium: Sunett

 

D-Tagatose: Sugaree (bit of a misnomer, eh?)

 

Neotame: Usually found incognito, since no label for it is legally necessary

 

Sorbitol: Sugar-free Gum

 

Stevia: Truvia

 

Sucralose: Splenda

 



Aspartame

Pros: It has 0 calories.
Cons: It will probably kill you.

Safety Warning: Aspartame contains a substance that can be metabolized into formaldehyde, and is known to cause cancer in animals.
Miscellaneous side effects: Aspartame may trigger, mimic, or cause the following illnesses:

• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
• Epstein-Barr
• Post-Polio Syndrome
• Lyme Disease
• Grave’s Disease
• Meniere’s Disease
• Alzheimer’s Disease
• ALS
• Epilepsy
• Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
• EMS
• Hypothyroidism
• Mercury sensitivity from Amalgam fillings
• Fibromyalgia
• Lupus
• Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma
• Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)

Acesulfame Potassium
Pros: It has 0 calories.
Cons: It causes tumors.

Safety Warning: Acesulfame Potassium has created tumors in the lungs and breasts of rats; and caused chronic respiratory infections.
Miscellaneous side effects:

• Headaches
• Liver complications
• Mental confusion
• Visual impairment
• Renal diseases

Mental confusion...? I sense an after school special.

D-Tagatose
Pros: D-Tagatose naturally occurs in several dairy products, so it's less like a lab concoction.
Cons: It's derived from lactose, so vegans should avoid it.

Safety Warning: Apart from being toxic in very, very large doses (like, your body weight in artificial sweetener, all at once)... it's completely safe.
Miscellaneous side effects: I read through rat studies to find the safety of D-Tagatose. A simple list of side effects really doesn't exist.

Neotame
Pros: It has 0 calories.
Cons: It will most likely kill you in the same fashion as Aspartame will.

Safety Warning: Neotame is Aspartame's chemical cousin, so it poses the same risks as Aspartame does. It's equally poisonous.
Miscellaneous side effects: See 'Aspartame'

Sorbitol
Pros: It's derived from fruit, and it makes gum tasty.
Cons: Although it's low in calories, it is not calorie-free. In higher quantities, it's used as a laxative.

Safety Warning: It's safe!
Miscellaneous side effects: I found this today, and have decided to chew sugar-free gum every day for the rest of my life:

"One patient, a 21-year-old woman, had unexplained [diarrhea] and abdominal pain for eight months. She reported an unintended weight loss of 24 pounds, weighing in at about 90 pounds.

After she was asked about diet, she said she chewed sugar-free gum with sorbitol daily, taking in about 18 to 20 grams a day. One stick typically has 1.25 grams.

Once she eliminated sorbitol from her diet, the gastrointestinal problems stopped and she gained back more than 15 pounds (http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20080110/sweetener-side-effects-case-histories)"

I don't think that this woman pooped her pounds away.

Stevia
Pros: It has 0 calories, and occurs naturally in the Stevia plant.
Cons: It lowers blood sugar, which has is: a.) bad for diabetics, and b.) bad for quelling cravings

Safety Warning:
Miscellaneous side effects:

• Bloating
• Nausea
• Numbness
• Infertility
• Lowers blood pressure*

* Many people on very restrictive diets run into problems with low blood pressure.

Sucralose
Pros: It has 0 calories. The body digests it as 'food,' as opposed to breaking it down in other odd fashions.
Cons: It has a list of strange side effects.

Safety Warning: Sucralose has not been deemed 'unsafe,' but there's still some contreversy.
Miscellaneous side effects:

• Skin Rashes/Flushing
• Panic-like Agitation
• Dizziness and Numbness
• Diarrhea
• Swelling
• Muscle aches
• Headaches
• Intestinal cramping
• Bladder issues
• Stomach pain

From here on out, I am going to incorporate sorbitol in my recipes as a substitute for sugar, instead of stevia. May we have our cake and eat it, too? ...probably not, but low-calorie hot chocolate that begets weight loss sounds amazing. I'll invent some with my next paycheck (and I'll  keep hunting around for that magical weight loss cake recipe).

 

Weight: 114 113 112 111 110 109 108 107 106105 104 103 102 101 100 99 98 97 96 95
Height: 5'4"

I've begun a trend of writing posts, and then deleting them later on. As with most things, I blame this on my personal case of the crazies. Manic Depression is a highly esteemed scapegoat (how many times have you heard "I think she's bipolar? [many, right?]").