Sugar alternatives

Are there healthy alternatives to sugar?

Sugar is unhealthy and when consumed in excess stimulates the storage of fat. People who don’t want to give up sweets often resort to “light” products with “zero calories”. But is that a healthier alternative? This unit will give you an overview of the different sweetening agents and how to classify them in terms of health.

In the past, sweeteners were repeatedly discredited because they showed carcinogenic or atherosclerotic effects in animal experiments. To date, it has not been possible to confirm these results in human studies.

Many studies are also investigating whether sweeteners help you lose weight, stimulate appetite, or promote fat storage. Here too, it has not been possible to date to achieve a consistent result in human studies.

Therefore, no recommendations exist on the use of sweeteners or sugar substitutes if you are overweight. It is healthier in any case not to get too used to the sweet taste and to consume sweet stuff only in small quantities.

E numbers and complicated names

What do the complicated names and E numbers conceal?

And maybe there are differences between them after all?

In Europe, sweetening agents are divided into “sweeteners” and “sugar substitutes”. Almost all sweeteners have an ADI (Acceptable Daily Intake), which means that no more than a certain amount should be consumed in order to prevent health risks.

The suspected carcinogenic properties of sweeteners have not been confirmed for the time being. However, it has been proven that they have a negative impact on intestinal health. Sugar substitutes do not have ADI values – they can be used without restrictions. However, they do have a laxative effect when consumed in excess, which must be indicated on the packaging.

In the quantities that they are used, sweeteners do not have significant calories. This is different in the case of sugar substitutes, which, at 2.4Kcal per gram, have about half the calories of sugar (four Kcal/g). Neither sweeteners nor sugar substitutes cause caries; some of them even protect teeth against it.

Sweeteners: chemically synthesised artificial products

Sweeteners are mostly chemically synthesised artificial products.

The eleven sweeteners approved in Europe are for the most part synthetic. They include saccharin (E 954, which was discovered in 1878 and is the oldest synthetic sweetener), acesulfame K (E 950), aspartame (E 951) and sweeteners derived from aspartame: neotame (E 961), aspartame acesulfame salt (E 962), advantam (E 969) and the sweetener cyclamate (E 952).

They also include sucralose (E 955, obtained by chlorination of sucrose and which was only approved in Europe in 2004) and neohesperidin DC (E 959), which is obtained by chemical synthesis of the flavonoids in citrus fruits.

Other sweeteners, isolated from plants, include thaumatin (E 957) from the West African catamfe plant and steviol glycosides (E 960) from the stevia plant. It’s just a pity that the approved sweeteners obtained from plants have undergone extensive isolation processes and that in the end there’s not much naturalness left.

Sugar substitutes

Sugar substitutes contain natural raw materials that have been chemically or enzymatically modified.

The eight sugar substitutes are sorbitol (E 420), mannitol (E 421), isomalt (E 953), polyglycitol syrup (E 964), maltitol (E 965), lactitol (E 966), xylitol (E 967) and erythritol (E 968) ). In terms of chemistry, these are sugar alcohols that contain various natural raw materials.

The first sugar substitutes mentioned can be found in processed foods in stores. Erythritol and xylitol are also offered to the end consumer in pure form on the organic market or in drugstores. Erythritol is obtained by fermenting glucose with the help of certain mushrooms.

Erythritol has practically no calories and, compared to other sugar substitutes, only causes bloating and diarrhoea when taken in relatively large quantities (1 g / kg body weight). Erythritol can even be used like sugar in baking. However, this sugar substitute is ten times more expensive than sugar.

Xylitol, also known as birch sugar, is isolated from various types of wood. Xylitol has a calorie content of 2.4 Kcal / g and increases insulin levels only to half those caused by glucose. However, it is just as expensive as erythritol. An important characteristic of xylitol is that it protects teeth against caries, which is why it is often used in toothpaste and chewing gum.

And what about other sweetening foods?

Other sweetening foods like honey or agave syrup differ little from granulated sugar. What is positive about them is that they are not so processed. The small amounts of phytochemicals and minerals that they contain are of no importance quantitatively.

Natural and artificial sweeteners vary greatly in terms of how sweet they are.

The same applies to expensive coconut blossom sugar, which actually causes the blood glucose level to rise somewhat more slowly than conventional sugar does. However, this effect is only decisive if the sugar is consumed neat or in liquids.

When combined with dietary fibre or protein, other sugars are also absorbed more slowly, which causes the blood sugar level to rise more slowly too.

A tip for using sweeteners

In summary it can be stated that sweeteners of synthetic origin should only be consumed in exceptional cases. Because when products that contain sweeteners are consumed regularly, the maximum amount is reached quickly, with possible negative consequences for intestinal health.

Sugar substitutes cause bloating and diarrhoea when consumed in excess, but they also have positive effects. So if you can absolutely not do without something sweet in your coffee or tea, try xylitol or erythritol.