You can also find some sugar alcohols in dental products, like toothpaste and mouthwash. They're called sugar alcohols because their chemical structure resembles both sugar and alcohol, but despite the name, these low-calorie sweeteners don't contain ethanol, the type of alcohol that leads to intoxication. Novel sweeteners include newer sugar alternatives that are difficult to place in the above two categories.
The most recognizable example: stevia. Stevia, or rather stevia extract, is a popular plant-based sweetener with almost no calories. It doesn't have a chemical structure like artificial non-nutritive sweeteners, nor sugar alcohols -- so it hovers in novel sweetener limbo. Other novel sweeteners include monk fruit extract a zero-calorie sweetener that comes from a fruit native to China and tagatose an artificial sweetener that is actually less sweet than table sugar. The Food and Drug Administration considers all of the above sugar alternatives as " high-intensity sweeteners ," and they all come with several pros and cons.
Read more: Want to eat less sugar? Try this instead of quitting cold turkey. Sugar alternatives may be one of the most scrutinized food additives around. The FDA currently recognizes many sugar alternatives as safe, and research suggests that they can offer health benefits, especially when used for specific purposes, such as keeping diabetes under control. If you're looking to curb your calorie intake to lose weight, but don't want to give up sweet foods and drinks, sugar substitutes can help : You get the taste you desire, but without the calories.
Recent research has reanalyzed this logic and suggests that alternative sweeteners may not always help with weight loss efforts more about this under drawbacks on alternative sweeteners below , but for people who are cognizant of their overall food and drink consumption, low- or zero-calorie sweeteners can aid in weight loss.
If you are trying to lose weight, it's important that you don't inadvertently replace these calories elsewhere. Having a diet sweet tea instead of a regular sweet tea, for example, may lead you to eat more calories because you "saved" some by drinking the diet beverage. Read more: 8 ways eating too much sugar is bad for your health. Sugar substitutes can help people with diabetes satisfy cravings without causing spikes in blood sugar. Several studies show that non-nutritive sweeteners, particularly sucralose , do not mess with blood sugar or insulin.
A statement from the American Heart Association and American Diabetes Association says that non-nutritive sweeteners can help people reduce their sugar intake and overall calorie intake when used with good judgment, although the benefits won't apply if you overcompensate and get too much sugar from other foods. If one thing is for sure, sugar alternatives can help with dental health. Cavities form when bacteria in your mouth ferment sugar, which creates acid.
The acid wears down your teeth, eventually breaking through the enamel and causing a cavity. Since sugar substitutes don't contain sugar, they can help prevent the tooth decay process. Equal is another popular alternative sweetener. The original version uses aspartame, a non-nutritive sweetener that's been scrutinized for decades because of reported side effects, such as digestive symptoms.
The science on aspartame and potential side effects is still conflicting. Non-nutritive sweeteners, sugar alcohols and novel sweeteners definitely have their advantages, as evidenced above. They have potential pitfalls, too -- not everything about those colorful calorie-free packets is so sweet. Research has shown that some artificial sweeteners saccharin and sucralose , as well as stevia, can change the composition of your gut. Tagatose may be particularly beneficial for people with diabetes who are following a low-GI diet.
However, this sugar substitute is more expensive than other low-calorie sweeteners and may be harder to find in stores. Tagatose products are available to purchase online. This sweetener is about times sweeter than table sugar but contains very few calories.
Sucralose is one of the most popular artificial sweeteners, and it is widely available. Manufacturers add it to a range of products from chewing gum to baked goods. This alternative sweetener is heat-stable, whereas many other artificial sweeteners lose their flavor at high temperatures.
This makes sucralose a popular choice for sugar-free baking and sweetening hot drinks. A person weighing 60 kg, or lb, can safely consume 23 packets of a tabletop sweetener version of sucralose in a day. However, recent studies have raised some health concerns.
A study found that male mice that consumed sucralose were more likely to develop malignant tumors. The researchers note that more studies are necessary to confirm the safety of sucralose. A range of sucralose products is available to purchase online. Aspartame is a very common artificial sweetener that has been available in the U. It is around times sweeter than sugar, and manufacturers add it to a wide variety of food products, including diet soda.
Aspartame is available in grocery stores under the brand names Nutrasweet and Equal. Unlike sucralose, aspartame is not a good sugar substitute for baking.
Aspartame breaks down at high temperatures, so people generally only use it as a tabletop sweetener. Therefore, a person who weighs 60 kg, or lb, could consume 75 packets of aspartame in the form of a tabletop sweetener. Many different aspartame products are available to purchase online. Here, learn more about the side effects of aspartame. Acesulfame potassium , also known as acesulfame K and Ace-K, is an artificial sweetener that is around times sweeter than sugar.
Manufacturers often combine acesulfame potassium with other sweeteners to combat its bitter aftertaste. It is available under the brand names Sunett and Sweet One.
The FDA have approved acesulfame potassium as a low-calorie sweetener and state that the results of more than 90 studies support its safety. This is equivalent to a 60 kg, or lb, person consuming 23 packets of a tabletop sweetener version of acesulfame potassium. A study in mice has suggested a possible association between acesulfame potassium and weight gain, but further research in humans is necessary to confirm this link.
Saccharin is a zero-calorie sweetener that is — times sweeter than table sugar. According to the FDA , there were safety concerns in the s after research found a link between saccharin and bladder cancer in laboratory rats. However, more than 30 human studies now support the safety of saccharin, and the National Institutes of Health no longer consider this sweetener to have the potential to cause cancer. People can purchase a range of saccharin products online.
Neotame is a low-calorie artificial sweetener that is about 7,—13, times sweeter than table sugar. Sugar substitutes do not contain carbohydrates and most studies indicate that they do not increase blood sugar levels saccharin may be an exception for some people. Always check the Nutrition Facts panel and ingredient list on food packages.
For example, even when you buy sugar substitutes as table-top sweeteners, bulking agents, such as dextrose and maltodextrin, may be present.
Those ingredients add a small amount of carbohydrate and calories. Sugar alcohols do provide calories, although less than sugar, and have less of an effect on blood sugar than other carbohydrates. Drinks, desserts, and other foods with sugar substitutes may still be high in calories, so, again, check the label. If you use a large amount of these products, the calories could start to add up. People who have phenylketonuria PKU , a rare genetic disorder, have difficulty metabolizing phenylalanine, a component of both aspartame and advantame, and should avoid aspartame.
All newborn babies are tested for PKU. Since advantame is so much sweeter than aspartame, a much smaller amount is used, and thus FDA does not require foods containing advantame to bear that statement. FDA has a program called MedWatch where consumers can report non-emergency adverse reactions to FDA-regulated products, including food and food additives such as sugar substitutes.
If you think you may be having a reaction to a sugar substitute or another ingredient in food, you may find it useful to keep a record of what foods you eat, when you eat them, what symptoms you have, and when you have them.
That, combined with closely reading food labels, may help you pinpoint what is causing the reaction, and help you avoid the offending ingredient. Intake of artificially sweetened soft drinks and risk of preterm delivery: a prospective cohort study in 59, Danish pregnant women. Am J Clin Nutr ;92 3 Association between intake of artificially sweetened and sugar-sweetened beverages and preterm delivery: a large prospective cohort study.
Am J Clin Nutr ;96 3 This post was originally published in and is updated regularly. Stevia does the same thing.
I use a small amount of organic sugar made from evaporated cane juice in my iced tea and in baking. I also use Agave Nectar in hot drinks and cereals — is it safe? From Nutrition Action Healthletter: These are just other forms of sugar. Small amounts are perfectly safe. The American Heart Association recommends that women consume not more than 6 teaspoons, and men not more than 9 teaspoons, of added sugar per day.
From Nutrition Action Healthletter. Yes, xylitol is poisonous to dogs. From Nutrition Action Healthletter: While monk fruit extract may turn out to be perfectly safe, it has never been subjected to long-term safety tests in animals.
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