Artificial Sweeteners:Better Safe Than Sweet

                                                     Photo Amyvdh 

I received the following question regarding a Blisstree post I wrote:

I read your article about several foods that we commonly mistake for being healthy. I saw the image of the fat-free, sugar-free pudding and read the description. I understand that the food probably has little to no nutritional value but I was curious why you thought sugar substitutes are unhealthy? 

This is a very good question. When I was studying for my R.D. exam many moons ago I memorized a lot of information and random facts much of which I have since forgotten. One of the things I retained was the knowledge of eating disorder known as pica. Those with pica eat non-food substances such as dirt or soap; it’s quite serious. I’ve always likened eating fake foods such as sweeteners (saccharin, aspartame and sucralose), with “no nutritional value” to this disorder. If we don’t suffer from pica, what’s the appeal of food impersonators?

What was that? Oh you said the appeal is weight loss? Sorry to say that the increased use of sweeteners hasn’t made us thinner. Many sugar free foods are equal to or only slightly lower in calories than their regular counterparts. Furthermore, a study from the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that artificial sweeteners do not “turn on” satiety signals the way sugar (protein or fat) does which can encourage those eating them to eat more. And a Purdue University study showed that artificial sweeteners might actually disrupt the body’s natural ability to gauge calories. In short, sweeteners do not satisfy us and may affect our ability to achieve satiety from other foods.

Artificial sweeteners have been linked with headaches (aspartame most often connected), GI distress, insomnia and heightened PMS (no thank you).  Plus, as Planet Green pointed out, as I stare at my recycling bin, there has to be a better use of the paper that goes into millions of these packets of this stuff.

The FDA says these sweeteners are safe but also finds genetically modified foods and artificial colorings safe.  I have read a bunch of studies, connecting sweeteners to leukemia and brain malignancies,  that don’t make them sound so safe. The truth is these sweeteners are questionable at best and only time will tell exactly.  No study has tested very long term effects or synergistic potential of multiple sweeteners over a lifetime. I, for one, would rather be skeptical than sick any time.  I wouldn’t give these substances to my children and therefore don’t eat them myself. I save my “chemical” ration for my hair color.

What is your sweetener, artificial or otherwise, of choice? Do you think something is safe if the FDA approves it? Have you ever had an adverse reaction to a sweetener you'd like to share?

Another post I wrote on sweeteners, the real ones.

10 Allegedly Healthy Foods

( A far prettier version of this post appeared on Blisstree)

I’ll bet my nutrition credentials that broccoli will remain in the good--for-you food group for eternity. Similarly, SPAM and Velveeta will always be unhealthy. Still, many foods aren’t solidly at either end of the health spectrum. And lots of foods that people assume are healthy really aren’t. So, in the hopes of helping you to make smarter eating choices, here are ten foods you may think are healthy and nutritious, but the reality? Not so much           

Pretzels

Most pretzels boast no fat and so have a beloved place in many snack drawers. But aside from taste, exactly what do pretzels have to brag about? One ounce of pretzels contains 100 calories and 580 mg of sodium (and little else). Which is almost the same as eating 1 oz. of white hamburger bun: 77 calories and 149 mg sodium. For healthier alternatives, we suggest Happy Herbert’s Gluten Gone Pretzels or our favorite, Food Should Taste Good Chips.

Couscous

Couscous is cute, with its small bead-like shape. And my clients often put it on the “good carb” list with bulgur and other whole grains. I hate to break it to you, but couscous is pasta. The nutritionals are exactly the same. Bulgur and quinoa contain more nutrients.

Veggie Burgers

“Veggie” doesn’t automatically mean healthy. Many veggie burgers are made with TVP (processed soy), grains, and at times, scant amounts of actually vegetables. Scan ingredient labels for TVP and look at the sodium. (Our favorites are Sunshine Burgers.)

 Tuna Salad

And now for many people’s treasured tuna salad. Fish contains omega-3’s and we’re told we should consume more of those. However, these particularly omega-3’s have globs of mayo added to them. Four ounces of tuna salad contains 212 calories and 10 grams of fat – double the calories and five times the fat of sliced turkey. We suggest those delicious jarred tunas with chopped peppers, onion and celery, like the Zoe or Tonnino brands.

Brown Sugar

Brown sugar should be healthier than white sugar, right? Unfortunately, it’s not fiber that gives brown sugar its color; it’s molasses. When it comes to calories, brown and white are equals.

Canned Foods/Canned Fruit

My mother was a great cook, but we admittedly ate fruit cocktail growing up. I have two issues with canned fruit: one is the corn syrup pool the fruit swims in, and the other are the BPAs present in the can itself. Fresh fruits are always best, but dried (no sulfites) is my second choice. A medium peach has 8 grams of sugar; while one serving of canned peaches has more than 24 grams (or three times as much).

Olive Oil

Now it's time to address a food we all know, use, and love: olive oil. We’re actually fine with EVOO (thanks Rachel), but we’re not fine with using it like it’s “free”. It does contain calories, and if you use it to scramble eggs in the morning, in your salad dressing at lunch, and for dunking your bread before dinner (and more to cook your entrée), you’ve racked up almost 1,000 calories – not so healthy. It’s also not recommended to heat olive oil at high temperatures.

Biscotti

We love Italian names, but these are still just cookies. For you cookie monsters, we like healthier options including GlowCookies and Kookie Karma.

 UHT (Ultra-Pasteurized) Organic Milk

As we mentioned in an earlier post, organic is a good choice when it comes to dairy, but you need to look carefully at the labels. UHT (ultra pasteurized) milk is not as healthy as regularly pasteurized because the high heat process kills good bacteria and other nutrients. Companies like Organic Valley offer both options, and many including Natural By Nature, Milk Thistle, and our #1,  NY Milk always pasteurize at a lower temperature.

Sugar-Free Pudding or Sugar Free Anything.

Sugar-free Pudding (or sugar-free anything) with Splenda or NutraSweet can make brown sugar actually look healthy. We’ll take a little bit of real sugar over the faux version any day.

What were the surprises on this list for you? Any allegedly healthy foods we missed?

The Sweetest Thing

November is National Diabetes Month. Perhaps you are not one of the 24 million people in the US with Diabetes. For this reason, maybe you don’t give diabetes much thought. What if I told you. at the rate we're at 1 in 3 children born in the U.S. may have diabetes in their future? I was at Good Morning America this morning talking sugar for Good Morning America Health(I will add the link to the segment when I get it). The truth is, diabetes aside, most of us eat too much sugar. On average we have 22 teaspoons (88grams) of sugar a day. For women, that’s over 3 times the maximum amount we should consume.

I mentioned in a Halloween post last week that candy isn’t where we get most of this sugar. If you add soda and juice drinks together they account for 40 percent of our sugar intake. If we were to add coffee and tea-based drinks the number would be even higher. If you want to reduce your sugar intake or your children’s sugar intake start with a beverage intervention. Soda, smoothies, yogurt drinks, chai teas and mochas are full of sugar. Most of these items contain your day’s worth of sugar. Instead try Hint water, Ayala Herbal Waters, Ito En Teas Tea and Boylan’s seltzers for sugar free, sweetener free drinks.

As for better sweeteners, there is agave nectar, honey and stevia. You’re probably seeing these in many more products. Agave has received attention as a lower glycemic sweetener; this means agave raises your blood sugar less than sugar or corn syrup. It has a great taste and is fairly sweet. You don’t need a lot of agave to sweeten teas, dressings or on French toast or pancakes. Agave isn’t calorie free and should be portioned out. Organicville is a great brand of ketchup and Wings of Nature are delicious snack bars, both use agave for sweetness. As for stevia, I see it as a natural alternative to equal and splenda. Stevia is available in packet form; you’ll see it as Truvia and Purevia . Zevia is a stevia sweetened soda that a lot of people like. It is a very good option for diabetics. The downside to stevia is that some find it has a licorice-like aftertaste, see what you think.

In term of sugar free products, I am always a little leery. Many sugar free cookies, candies and gums use sugar alcohols. Sugar alcohols end in –ol, you’ve probably seen sorbitol, maltitol or xylitol on ingredient lists. These sweeteners do raise your blood sugar, though not as much as sugar and can cause GI distress (aka gas or diarrhea) in quantities exceeding 10 grams. I tend to feel that sweet begets sweet and the more sweet we eat, “sugar free” or sweetened the more we will crave. My advice would be to stick to 1 sweet a day whether that’s a coffee drink or a sweetened yogurt and to choose more natural sweeteners whenever possible. If we could do that, add some fiber to our diets (oatmeal, fruits with skin) and sprinkle some blood sugar lowering cinnamon on our food…that would be the sweetest thing.
Where do you get sweet in your day? What sweetener to you use?