| If you have read the link above which deals with the research, you would think lab rats are an indication that artificial sweeteners may actually plump everyone up. A recent study of laboratory rats published in Behavioral Neuroscience concluded that consuming diet sodas and other products containing a sugar substitute may lead to weight gain and even obesity by interfering with the way the body registers and responds to calories.
I mean who can you trust? Even the FDA a couple of years ago was touting sugar substitutes as calorie free, with this asinine headline: Artificial Sweeteners: No Calories... Sweet!
"Low-sugar" is the successor to the "low-carb" craze, even though they are essentially the same thing. According to the New York Times, by the end of this summer 11% of the food items on supermarket shelves will be labeled "reduced sugar" - most of those targeted at kids and their health-conscious moms. Sales in granulated sugar have dropped four percent in the past six months. What's behind this trend? Splenda.
Products featuring Splenda are perceived as "natural" because even the FDA's press release about sucralose parrots the claim that "it is made from sugar" - an assertion disputed by the Sugar Association, which is suing Splenda's manufacturer, (McNeil Nutritionals). The FDA has no definition for "natural," so please bear with us for a biochemistry moment: Splenda is the trade name for sucralose, a synthetic compound stumbled upon in 1976 by scientists in Britain seeking a new pesticide formulation. It is true that the Splenda molecule is comprised of sucrose (sugar) - except that three of the hydroxyl groups in the molecule have been replaced by three chlorine atoms.
Here we have another crazy site with this appearing in its heading: How to Choose an Artificial Sweetener. Read on and see if you can spot the oxymoron:
Nobody really knows if Splenda is safe yet. In short term studies, rats showed shrunken thymus glands and enlarged livers and kidneys after exposure. In some humans sucralose has caused rashes, diarrhea, numbness and muscle aches. If you experience these symptoms cut out your use of sucralose.
Trouble is that people have been using artificial sweeteners for several decades. Some react poorly, some don't and the problem is, you never know how it affects you until you're already sick. Aspartame for example, is the main ingredient in Equal and NutraSweet. It is responsible for the most serious cases of poisoning, because the body actually digests it.
The main thing to remember is that artificial sweeteners are chemicals, not food! They're toxic and your body will have to work extra to get rid of them. Which brings me to the natural sweeteners. Looking for alternatives to refined sugars? No problem. Natural sweeteners like unrefined brown sugar, barley malt, rice syrups, maple syrup, molasses, honey and agave nectar are available in most health food stores and supermarkets.
Maple syrup: my kids love it. It is simply the boiled down tree sap of the sugar maple tree and it's twice as sweet as ordinary white sugar and has a delicious caramel flavor. Great with oatmeal, buckwheat pancakes and muesli. And coffee! Throw away that artificial sweetener.
Honey: I could write a whole book on honey. It is available everywhere and if you know a local beekeeper, chances are that he's selling his/her produce. Here are just a few of what's around, good in coffee as well as tea, and in just about anything you care to pour into:
Wildflower, generally dark with a range of flavors and aromas depending on the flowers that provided the nectar; Acacia, possibly one of the best loved honey because it remains in a liquid state for a long period of time due to its high concentration of fructose. Lovely flavor with a hint of vanilla; Orange Blossom, a distinctive citrus flavor and aroma and quite light in color; Tupelo, fragrant, light & mild tasting; Clover, delicately flavored with a pleasing, mild taste; Buckwheat, dark brown honey of strong, distinct flavor; Lavender, it has an exceptional long-lasting fragrance, and though I'm biased, being from Provence, this honey is king in my book. There are literally dozens more, ranging from the Thyme honey to Tulip poplar honey. It is the nectar of the Gods.
And of course you would have heard of the incredible Manuka honey from New Zealand whose significant health benefits are numerous. Check the link.
Molasses: It is a pity that most people seem to forget about molasses. With its strong, fragrant dark caramel flavor, it's about 65% as sweet as sugar, and is in fact produced during the refining of sugar. (The syrup remains after the available sucrose has been crystallized from sugar cane juice.)
From Wiki: Light molasses is from the first boiling of the cane, dark molasses is from the second, and blackstrap, the third. Though molasses can be sulfured or unsulfured, we prefer unsulfured molasses, meaning that the fumes used in manufacturing sugar aren't retained as sulfur in the molasses.
Agave: agave nectar is a multipurpose sweetener obtained from the core of the Mexican Agave cactus (the same plant whose sap is a source of tequila) and is about 90% fructose. It resembles honey and has a neutral flavor.
Barley sugar: it's made from soaked and sprouted barley, which is dried and cooked down to make a thick syrup, barley malt is a sweetener that's slowly digested and gentler on blood sugar levels than other sweeteners. Who doesn't remember those boiled barley sweets they used to make? Rice syrup is made in almost the same way, and is usually a combination of rice and barley.
Can you throw away that artificial sweetener? Yes, you can. |
