To Sweeten or Not to Sweeten – how to decide on an educated choice

In bygone times we had to make up our minds only between white or brown sugar. Nowadays, there are natural sweeteners, artificial sweeteners, semi-natural sweeteners, sugar alternatives, and many more. Today's consumer wants to consume less sugar since too much sugar can store up too many calories and that generally can lead to bigger clothes sizes. But who could have imagined that sweetening your coffee could be this complicated!

Many places you go you can't avoid little easter-egg colored packets advertising sweetening without the sugar. Easter-egg colors are good, bland colored sugar packs are bad. How do we find out which is better for our health? Real or fake?

Artificial sugar alternatives are comprised of chemicals or natural compounds. Due to their ability to sweeten while adding no calories, they are stored in many homes. And folks with diabetes prefer them because they don't increase blood sugar levels like sugar does. In addition, the FDA has given green light to four artificial sweeteners: saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame-K, and sucralose. However, there are still talks as to which sugar substitute is actually good for you.

Saccharin
Saccharin (Sweet'N Low) has been on the market since 1879. Having been found to lead to cancer in lab rats in 1977, it changed into an often argued over product. But, the ban on saccharin was taken off to some extend because rats were being fed 800 diet sodas a day. In addition, a later study found that for the majority of people there was no bigger risk of bladder cancer than for non-Saccharin users.

Aspartame
Aspartame (NutraSweet and Equal) is known to the FDA to be one of the most thoroughly studied artificial sweeteners. In fact, in more than 100 toxicological and clinical findings, aspartame was found to be harmless to the general population. People with phenylketonuria and those with high levels of phenylalanine such as pregnant women, however, need to be aware of their aspartame intake because it can cause brain damage.

Acesulfame-K
Acesulfame-K (Sunette or Sweet One) has been found to be safe by the FDA, because it leads to no increase of blood sugar levels. However, some factions such as the Center for Science in the Public Interest support that more involved research should be funded to evaluate its link to cancer.

Sucralose
Sucralose (Splenda) is great for pastries and beneficial for diabetics, includes no calories and in more than 110 studies was established to have no toxic or carcinogenic causalities and have no reproductive or neurologic risk. On the other hand, there are critics who warn that sucralose has been determined to lead to organ damage.

Other Sweeteners
Stevia is one sweetener currently available. It is made from an herb that is native to South America, and is of yet not FDA approved. And agave nectar, available in health food stores, is known for its high calories and fructose syrup so its benefits are still a conversation topic . And many natural options such as honey, molasses, evaporated cane juice, rice syrup, barley malt, and fructose, also come with high calories which defeat the goal for using a sweetener other than sugar.

There are a multitude sweeteners out there with their own health claims. The important part is that you ought to be aware of what you are incorporating in your diet and the amount of sugar you're taking in. As with all things in life, moderation is the key to inner and outer health, however you sweeten your tea!


Criss White is a professional author on baby and parenting information. For more information or for chocolate wedding favors (http://www.bridalandweddingfavors.com/chocolate-wedding-favors.html), visit Bridal and Wedding Favors.Note: If you find this article helpful, you may reprint it on your website, e-zine, or in your newsletter as long as the credits and resource box remain unchanged and the hyperlinks are active.