Choosing a Better Sweetener Written by Jen Allbritton, CN Although desserts should not be viewed as a source of nutrients, but as treats, the ingredients should still be safe, pure, and as nourishing as possible – not only for health, but for flavor as well. Furthermore, when you do eat healthy, satisfying treats just a few will be enough. With that said, one of the trickiest ingredients to get around when you are making healthy treats at home is the sweetener. When choosing a sweetener, it is important to learn what goes into and out of the product as well as how fast the body will break it down. White is not only stripped of all of its original nutrients, but it also endures numerous stages of processing that involve high heat and toxic chemicals. Furthermore, refined are broken down rapidly in the body, which causes havoc. Insulin levels soar, followed by a quick crash, which increases the likelihood of health problems such as immune system dysfunction, fatigue, and decreased brain function. The faster the breakdown, the more problems sugar causes. Generally, the more processing a sweetener endures, the faster it breaks down and the fewer nutrients it contains. There are four sugars that can make up a sweetener: , , , and . Maltose is more of a complex carbohydrate, thus it is slower to absorb into the bloodstream than the other sugars and causes the least blood-sugar fluctuations. Therefore, maltose-based sweeteners are usually the healthiest. Below is a description of alternative sweeteners. My favorite choices, due to nutrition and/or a slower absorption rate, have a º in front of the name. Agave is the nectar of the “Blue Agave” plant, a relative of aloe vera, and is mostly fructose and absorbs into the bloodstream fairly slow. Because it is sweeter than , less is used and fewer calories are ingested. This product is similar to , is a good substitute for corn , and is available in both a light version, which is sweeter, and a dark version, which contains more minerals. ºAmasake is an unrefined, sweet cultured Japanese mixture of water and sweet rice with the bacteria koji. This thick -like drink is absorbed slowly and can be consumed as a sweet warm or cold treat or used to sweeten baked goods. ºBarley Malt Syrup is made from sprouted barley. It is slow cooked with water to make thick syrup that contains mostly maltose. It is broken down slower than other refined sugar, preventing rapid fluctuations in blood sugar. It is half as sweet as white sugar and has a distinctive flavor. For baking, use 1 ½ cups of barley malt in place of 1 cup of sugar and reduce the liquids by 1 to 2 tablespoons. ºBrown Rice Syrup is brown rice that has been soaked, cooked, and treated enzymatically to chop the complex carbohydrates into sugars, namely maltose, and is absorbed very slowly. It is half as sweet as white sugar and has a mild flavor. Use the same cooking conversion as for barley malt syrup. is made the traditional way white sugar is made, but with a small amount of molasses added back in. Other names are raw sugar and turbinado sugar. ºDate Sugar is made from dried pulverized dates. This sweetener is more natural, unrefined, and less sweet than most sugars. Sprinkle it on yogurt and baked goods or dissolve in hot water to make a syrup that resembles honey, , or rice syrup. Evaporated Cane is a term used to describe many different products. Most follow a same basic method of processing. First, the juice is pressed from the sugar cane. Then, it is washed, filtered, and evaporated before being crystallized. Unlike white sugar the refining stops here, which means this sugar remains closer to its natural state. Nevertheless, the processing it does go through removes most of the molasses and thus most of the nutrients that naturally occur in sugar cane juice. To compensate for the nutrient loss, some companies add molasses back. Since the amount added is generally proprietary, it is difficult to compare products. Most often though, the more molasses that is added, the darker the product, and the more nutrients it contains. Names of filtered evaporated cane juice products include ™, cane crystals, dehydrated cane juice, granulated cane juice, milled cane, raw cane juice, and unrefined cane sugar. There is one unfiltered evaporated cane CF190 – Updated 8/04 1 juice called ºRapadura made by Rapunzel. Because it is unfiltered it is unlike the products discussed above and contains all the ’s minerals, vitamins, and micro-nutrients intact. Evaporated cane juice can be substituted cup for cup with white sugar. Side note: if an ingredient is listed as evaporated cane juice it most often means little to no molasses has been added back in, making it similar to white sugar. Nevertheless, it still is a healthier product than white sugar due to better processing. Fructose is a natural sugar found in fruit, however commercially produced fructose is a highly refined product that is made from corn or beet and is about 60% sweeter than white sugar. Fructose goes through the liver during metabolism, thus some of this sugar gets stored in the liver instead of flooding the bloodstream. However, fructose has a greater tendency to convert into fat. Too much of it in the diet may lead to elevated triglyceride levels, elevated LDL (bad cholesterol) levels, and copper deficiency.1 Fruit Juice Concentrate is a highly refined source of sugar and bears little resemblance to the fruit from which it was originally derived. The concentration of the sucrose in this sweetener can quickly flood the bloodstream. FruitSource™ is a brand name product that contains along with fruit juice concentrate, which provides a slower absorption rate. ºHoney is one of the oldest sweeteners in use and unfiltered versions contain nutrients and enzymes and require little to no processing. It is 60% sweeter than white sugar, and quickly absorbs, thus less is needed. In general, the lighter the color the more mild the flavor, the darker the color the richer the flavor. ºLo Han is a Chinese perennial vine in the Cucurbitaceae (cucumber or melon) family. Lo Han fruits are used both inside and outside the People's Republic of China as a food, beverage, and traditional medicine. The most unique chemicals reported for the plant are the triterpene glycoside non-caloric sweeteners known as mogrosides in Lo Han fruits. When extracted, Lo Han can be as much as 200 times sweeter than cane sugar and is said to have little effect on blood sugar. The products we carry with Lo Han include Slim Sweet by Trimedica and Sweet n Slender by Wisdom of the Ancients (both are mixed with fructose, which does contribute some calories and reduce its ). ºMaple Syrup is made from the sap of maple trees and contains some minerals. Usually, the darker it is the more nutrients it contains. Favor certified organic varieties, as some syrup producers use formaldehyde to prolong sap flow. Tip: blend fresh fruit, like strawberries, with maple syrup to lower the sugar content and boost the nutrient content of your pancake and waffle topping. ºMolasses is the rich flavored by-product of sugar production. It contains more nutrients than most sweeteners. Barbados molasses is what remains after the first pressing of the sugar cane. Blackstrap molasses remains after total extraction of sugar crystals, therefore it is less sweet and more nutritious. ºSorghum syrup or molasses is made from the boiled juice of the sweet sorghum plant, a cereal grain commonly grown in the southern United States. It has a high iron content and a smoky, sweet taste. It is comparable nutritionally to blackstrap molasses and has similar effects on body metabolism. ºStevia (last but definitely not least) is a no calorie herbal sweetener. It can be cooked with and is 200 to 300 times sweeter than white sugar. Since there are too many things to say about this sweetener, there is another customer file dedicated to just stevia. Be sure to ask a vitamin aisle employee for a copy. A last tip: To use liquid sweeteners in a recipe that calls for sugar, substitute ½ to ¾ cup of honey, maple syrup, or molasses for one cup of sugar and decrease the other liquids in the recipe by ¼ cup for each ¾ cup of sweetener. To cut down the amount of sugar you can reduce the amount of sweetener and replace it with amasake, unsweetened applesauce, , or mashed sweet potato. We all are going to indulge in some sweet treats once in a while. Your best bet is to make your own, using whole grain flours, organic oils and butter, and the healthiest sweeteners you can. The descriptions and suggestions above should give you a better understanding of how to use healthier sweeteners. Keep working on reducing your “sweet meter”. For example, start using Rapadura as a . Then cut down the sweetness by using half brown rice syrup or date sugar. This way your taste buds will slowly become satisfied with less sweet, which will be better for your health in the long run! CF190 – Updated 8/04 2 Other alternative sweeteners Vitamin Cottage carries in certain products and/or bulk: Sorbitol is a . Sugar alcohol is neither a "sugar" nor an "alcohol". In this case it is used in the scientific definition, "of a processed liquid." Sugar alcohols, which include sorbitol, xylitol, maltitol, are found naturally in berries, apples, and plums. They also are produced commercially from carbohydrates such as sucrose, glucose, and starch. Most sugar alcohols are approximately half as sweet as sucrose. As a group, sugar alcohols are incompletely absorbed and metabolized and consequently contribute fewer calories than other carbohydrates. Sugar alcohols affect blood glucose levels less dramatically than sugar and therefore require little or no insulin for metabolism. Thus, sugar alcohols are often used in foods for diabetics. Keep in mind, sorbitol has been implicated in cataract formation. Additionally, sugar alcohols in general can cause uncomfortable gastrointestinal bloating, cramps, and diarrhea when taken frequently.2 Xylitol is made from wood or other plant-products and is a sugar alcohol (as mentioned above). It is expensive to process, therefore is rarely seen in foods, but can be found in chewing gums and jams. Since this product is metabolized differently than sugar it may be used safely for diabetics and hypoglycemics. Bacterial salivary organisms do not feed, grow, or ferment on xylitol as they do on other simple sugars. "Sugar-Free" chewing gum contains xylitol because it does not produce the bacterial support for increase of cavity causing acids, particularly when it makes up 60% of the product. Keep in mind, some resources say sugar alcohols can stimulate hunger and cause addictive allergies similar to sugar.2 This sweetener is found in several prepared products as well as bulk. Erythritol is a naturally occurring sugar alcohol. It can be found in minute amounts in some fruits such as watermelon, pear, and grape. It is also present in mushrooms, cheese, and fermented foods such as wine, sake, beer, and soy sauce. It can readily be used for baking.3 Erythritol is manufactured through a process of fermentation by converting glucose to erythritol. The main sources used are wheat and corn starch. In its final state it is white, odorless, crystals that have a sweetness approximately 60-80% that of sucrose. There is no toxicity concerns with erythritol and has an extremely low potential for causing allergic reactions. The only concern is loose stool or a laxative effect when using large amounts, which is the case with all sugar alcohols. In a test focusing on gastrointestinal tolerance, only a few people experienced symptoms such as abdominal pain, nausea, intestinal rumbling, flatulence and thirst. In Food Additives, A Shopper’s Guide to What’s Safe and What’s Not, erythritol is described as being “ better tolerated than other sugar alcohols.”4 This sweetener is found in several prepared products, but has not been produced in bulk for baking at this time. Sucralose, aka Splenda™, is a no-calorie sugar substitute derived from sucrose (white sugar). The structure of the sugar molecules is changed so that it is up to 600 times sweeter than sugar. It has been used internationally since 1991 and appears to be safer than most of the other artificial sweeteners. However, one small study had poor results with diabetics and sucralose. There are limited human studies and no long-term studies of this product. Some professionals believe that this product will cause less damage to the body than sugar. However, since a percentage of this product is absorbed it has the potential to impact the body similar to sugar. Overall, substituting sugar with this sweetener in your diet will not make your diet healthier. We carry one product with this sweetener, the Ultra Lo Carb 2 bar by Country Life (Bio Chem). Updated 7/02

1 Wood, Rebecca. 1999. The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia. Penguin, NY, NY. p. 135. 2 Gittleman, Anne Louise, M.S., C.N.S. Get the Sugar Out. Three Rivers Press. New York. 1996. 3 European Commission, Scientific Committee on Food on Erythritol. SCF/CS/ADD/EDUL/215 Final. March 5, 2003. Available from http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/sc/scf 4 Farlow, Christine Hoza. “A Shopper’s Guide to What’s Safe and What’s Not.” 2004. KISS for Health Publishing, Escondido, California.

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