Posts Tagged ‘natural sweeteners’
What You Should Know About Natural Sweeteners and Artificial Sweeteners
Finding a sugar substitute that is healthy without negative side effects is a challenge. There are many choices and with the clever marketing and conflicting arguments it is difficult to determine what direction is best for you. Fortunately there is a lot of information available to help in making the right choice. Here are a few quick thoughts and facts you can use in your search.
When considering sugar substitutes there are two very distinct directions you can go. You can go with a man made artificial or an all natural sweetener. Each have their own side effects or benefits to consider. Artificial sweeteners are specifically engineered to provide some particular benefit, but I don’t know that we have figured out how to create a chemical that provides that benefit without causing another side effect. Even natural sweeteners will have different benefits and side effects to consider. You will need to decide which works best for you.
There is a large supply of artificial sweeteners available on the market these days. Most of them are based on two popular artificial sweeteners, Sucralose and Aspartame. These sweeteners are designed to be calorie free or at least trick your body into treating it like something with no caloric value. The reports are conflicting at times but there seems to be mounting evidence, especially with Aspartame, that major side effects include migraines, stomach upset, seizures in some people and others. You might also consider the fact that cooking with these sweeteners will provide different results. Aspartame will break down in the heat and cannot be cooked with at all. Sucralose will stand the heat but because of the filler required it will leave your foods dry and undesirable in texture. There is a lot of money in finding the right sugar substitute and with big money comes big marketing campaigns designed to convince you against the truth. Be careful to consider the long term effects.
Quickly catching up in popularity are the all natural sweeteners. Some of them you may have heard of are Erythritol, Xylitol, Mannitol, Sorbitol and Stevia. All of these are 100% natural and sweet to the taste. However, just because it is all natural doesn’t mean it won’t have side effects. Three of the above mentioned seem to stand out as better alternatives to sugar; Erythritol, Xylitol and Stevia. Xylitol and Stevia will cause digestion issues if you aren’t careful with the quantity you consume. Erythritol however is digested differently by the body and will not cause gastric pain. Another nice benefit of Erythritol is that it is the only one that doesn’t promote tooth decay and it is the only one on the list to be zero calorie.
Erythritol is found in many fruits and vegetables and is about 70% sweet as sugar. As mentioned earlier it has zero calories and digests in the small intestine leaving your body through your urine not causing gas pains like many other natural products. Erythritol is also a great choice for diabetics because it will not cause a rise in your blood sugar levels. You can find Erythritol online or in a store and use it alone as a sweetener with great benefit. There are also a few companies now that are finding super sweet natural ingredients and blending that with Erythritol to bring the sweetness up to that of sugar. Because if its physical properties it is also great for cooking and can in fact be measured cup for cup like sugar.
This article represents only an extremely small part of the opinions and considerations to filter through. It is clear that my choice is Erythritol, but that is because I have done the research and tried the products. Hopefully my explanation of the process of eliminating artificial sweeteners as too dangerous from your list of options and the rationale used to determine Eyrithritol as the lucky winner will help you follow a similar path.
Learn more about natural sweeteners at www.doctorgrandmas.com. Doctor Grandma’s website is filled with information about the benefits of Erythritol and other healthy foods.
Tags: diabetes, eating, Health, health and nutrition, healthy eating, natural sweeteners, Nutrition, sugar substitutes, sweeteners
Natural Sweetener Should be Your Only Sweetener
Hundreds of people are seeking out healthy alternatives to sugar. Some are looking to lose weight or just trying to keep their bodies running smooth. Others, unfortunately, are suffering from health conditions like diabetes and must find a different way to manage their diet. The good news is it can be done. The bad news is there are a lot of tricky products out there to watch out for.
It is important to understand that there are some sweeteners out there that are less healthy than others. In particular saccharin and aspartame are a couple very popular ones that just aren’t a good healthy choice. Whereas all natural sweeteners made from fruits and plants can fill the same purpose but be so much better for our precious bodies. I prefer to choose the all natural option.
Some of the promising natural sweeteners hitting the market are Mannitol, Sorbitol, Stevia, Xylitol and, my favorite, Erythritol. These sweeteners are a good healthy alternative to sugar but even among these healthier choices there are things to consider. Erythritol is the natural sweetness in many fruits and vegetables. It is all natural and is easily digested making it a safe choice.
Erythritol is a calorie free natural sweetener made from fruits (as previously mentioned). It occurs naturally in melons, pears, grapes, mushrooms and a few other kinds of foods and drinks. This is one of the only natural sweeteners that will not cause tooth decay and is commercially produced and added to various foods and drinks to provide sweet flavor. It is also better for those with digestive system problems as it is more easily digested. If you decide to use natural sweeteners, Erythitrol is the best for you all the way around.
Erythritol is also a great natural sweetener for people with diabetes or other medical conditions where sugar is the enemy. If you are using a low carbohydrate diet plan or low glycemic index plan, this is the perfect solution as its number on the glycemic index is zero, contains no carbohydrates and has only .2 calories per gram. Of all the natural sweeteners you can use today, Erythritol does not promote tooth decay, is better for digestion and is perfect for any diet plan. You can use Erythritol in recipes, on cereal or anything you choose to sweeten. More and more people are jumping on the bandwagon and using natural sweeteners for their foods and drinks these days. Before you use any kind of sweetener, make sure your doctor approves and that you have no allergies to certain fruits or plants.
Tags: cooking, Health, health foods, healthy eating, natural sweeteners, sugar, sugar substitutes, sweeteners
All Natural Energy in a Can
How did we become so fat in the past 20 years? Its not that we eat more. We drink more. And what we drink is not good for us. Soft drinks now comprise more calories in our diets than the usual culprit foods like candy, doughnuts, and fried foods. So we’ve replace bad calories with even worse calories. In addition to a chronic obesity problem, this trend is the cause of many other so-called modern illnesses.
How did this happen? A University of North Carolina study showed that caloric intake from soft drinks in the United States increased 135 percent between about 1977 and 2001. Over the same time period, calories from milk dropped 38 percent. Coke’s sales over the same period increased by an even larger percentage. And as Coke expands across the world, the world is steadily following in our footsteps towards obesity.
Luckily, the fine people at Coke and Pepsi know that sick or dead customers are not good customers at all. So they (and other food companies) worked diligently over the past 20 years and came up with a nice portfolio of artificial sweeteners (Equal, Aspartame). These significantly reduced the caloric value of soft drinks.
The only issue I have with these chemically derived products is that more and more studies seem to point to significant side effects over time. Many studies have found these products to be responsible for cancers of all sorts. I know that many of these studies might have questionable methodologies, but where there is smoke…As a result, many people are looking for natural alternatives.
Stevia is a natural sweetener used around the world for centuries. From Russia to Tibet and Chile, Stevia has a long track record as a sweetener with very little impact on our caloric intake. Stevia is also recommended as a natural sweetener for people with diabetes. Some research even finds Stevia can reduce the probability of getting Type II diabetes (see Stevia and Diabetes). Bottom line is that Stevia is a natural sweetener that can reduce our calory count significantly.
Unfortunately, the FDA has decided that Stevia is bad for you. Why? Well, for one, its hard to patent or trademark. God has the original recipe and unlike large corporations, he will share this great product for FREE. Not a cool word for Coke, Pepsi or Cadbury Schweppes (see The Stevia Conspiracy). (breaking news: FDA has now allowed Stevia, but only if used by Coke or Pepsi in an expensive trademarked formulation!)
Because of this, it is extremely complicated and ironically, expensive to produce good, naturally sweetened soft drinks or energy drinks. But they are worth trying out if you are looking for something healthier.Very few products are available in the US currently that use Stevia. I’ve found one soft drink and one energy drink.
Carbonated Drinks: Virgils: Not easy to find online. They have a few flavours (Cola, Root Beer). Good taste. Promising if they become more available. http://www.bevnet.com/news/2008/8-25-2008-Diet_Real_Cola_Virgil’s.asp.
Lo-cal Energy Drink: GURU All-natural Drink: A great alternative to the usual chemical cocktails. Contains Stevia and other natural ingredients. I enjoy the taste and it definately give me energy. I buy it at their website : Natural Energy Drink. I just found out they are currently working on new formulations with music star Kanye West that will use other sweeteners such as Agave and other low-glycemic natural prducts.
Another interesting product is Zevia: Sort of small-time, but sincere effort. Doing well at Whole Foods. Taste (or lack thereof) might be an issue for some consumers. http://www.zevia.com.
Tags: artificial sweeteners, aspartame and cancer, Beverages, calories, energy drinks, Health, health food, natural beverages, natural energy drinks, natural sweeteners, obesity, soft drinks, Stevia, Stevia drinks
