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36 WWW.UNWLA.ORG “НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, БЕРЕЗЕНЬ 2016 HOW SWEET IT IS by Ihor Magun, MD, FACP When it comes to sweeteners, many of us view things as a choice of color—pink, blue, yellow, white/green, or white. You know what I mean, right? So what exactly are the differences between those colored packets and what should one know about each of the sweeteners they hold? A color guide might help. Pink: Marketed as Sweet’N Low, saccharin is a chemical sweetener that was first made in 1878. It was not until 1957 that this product began to be used commercially. One packet is equivalent to two teaspoons of sugar. For a time, there was some controversy regarding the possible carcino- genic effect of this sweetener, but this connection has been ruled out. Saccharin is not metabolized by the body and is excreted unchanged. Saccharin is still added to some beverages and used for sweetening toothpaste. It has a very long shelf life and a characteristic sweet taste. Blue: Aspartame, marketed as Nutrasweet, is another chemical sweetener. It is two hundred times sweeter than sugar. Aspartame was first manufactured in 1965, and like saccharin, also sparked medical controversies regarding possible risks of cancer. These risks have not been proven, and the product is safe for consumption. It is im- portant to know, however, that individuals who have a medical condition known as phenylketonu- ria cannot use this product. Aspartame is exten- sively added to many carbonated beverages, water products, and cereals. Because of its chemical structure and chemical instability at high temper- atures, it is not used for baking. It also has a characteristic sweet taste. Yellow: Sucralose, marketed as Splenda, is an artificial sweetener that was first introduced in 1998. Like the sweeteners described above, it con- tains no calories. Despite the fact that this is not a natural sweetener, it is suitable for cooking and baking. In recipes, it can be used as a substitute for granulated sugar. White/green: Truvia, the most recent addition to the sweetener block is made from erythritol (a sugar alcohol present naturally in various fruits), stevia leaf extract, and natural flavors. Because fruits contain only small amounts of erythritol, it is difficult to produce Truvia in large quantities. For this reason, Truvia is manufactured by pro- cessing corn with yeast fermentation to produce glucose, which is then further processed into erythritol. There has been some concern about claims that Truvia “comes from sugar” because unlike other no-calorie sweeteners, this one is not “chemically” manufactured and therefore does come, albeit indirectly, from “fruit sugar alcohol.” The concern is unwarranted; one packet is equal to two teaspoons of sugar and still has no calories. White: Table or granulated sugar is naturally occurring sucrose. During digestion it breaks down into fructose and glucose. It is extracted naturally from sugarcane and sugar beets. There are no chemical manufacturing procedures. One teaspoon averages about sixteen calories. Gold: Honey as a sweetener should also be men- tioned here. It is made by bees from flower nectar and is then processed naturally for the market. It has the same sweetness as granulated sugar with a slightly higher caloric yield (approximately twenty-one calories per teaspoon). The sweetness of honey comes from fructose and glucose. It has a very long shelf life and is available in many dif- ferent types. So what are we to make of this infor- mation? In my view, it all comes down to com- mon sense. We all need to cut back on sweeteners and limit the use of any type—whether natural or chemical. I recommend choosing beverages that contain neither sugar nor artificial sweeteners. Instead, enhance the flavor of water with natural additives such as lemon or lime. The trick is to gradually train our taste buds to lighten up on that sweet stuff. A further recommendation is to be as natural as possible and work at forgoing the “artificially produced” sweeteners as much as possible. Individuals with special medical con- cerns like diabetes and other diseases should fol- low some similar rules but may need to be guided more by what product will give them better glu- cose control. Now that you have some color-coded in- formation about sweeteners, it will be easier to make the right kind of “sweet” choices!
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