Sweeteners are becoming more common and more common around the world, both natural and artificial.
However, many people are afraid of what consequences may arise, is it really carcinogenic?
We’ll go over that in this article!
All about different kinds of sweeteners
What are artificial sweeteners?
Artificial sweeteners are basically chemicals that are added to various foods and drinks to make it sweet, without adding sugar. When sweeteners are used in products, it takes much less amount than sugar to get it sweet. Many sweeteners are up to several thousand times sweeter than regular sugar. Although some sweeteners contain calories, the amount needed is so small that the calories will be minimal.
Sweeteners are a kind of sugar molecule. Your tongue is covered with taste buds, each of which contains several flavor receptors. When you eat, your taste receptors meet the food molecules, when a perfect fit between flavor receptors and food molecules occurs, signals are sent up into the brain that can identify the taste. Artificial sugar molecules are made to suit your taste receptors perfectly, which is why we perceive it in the same way as regular sugar. However, the molecule is too different from sugar molecules for the body to break them down into calories, that in conjunction with low amount gives artificial sweeteners sweetness without adding any calories at all.
Some common artificial sweeteners are
1.) Aspartame, which is 200 times sweeter than sugar. Aspartame is synthetically produced using two amino acids, phenylalanine and asparagus.
2.) Acesulfame potassium. Also known as acesulfame K, it is 200 times sweeter than table sugar.
3.) Aspartame-acesulfame salt, it is 350 times sweeter than table sugar.
4.) Neohesperidin, it is 340 times sweeter than table sugar
5.) Saccharin, which is 700 times sweeter than table sugar.
6.) Sucralose, it is 600 times sweeter table sugar.
7.) Neotam, this sweetener is 13,000 times sweeter than table sugar.
Natural sweeteners
Unlike artificial sweeteners, natural sweeteners are found in nature. Three of the most common are:
Stevia
Stevia is a very popular and common sweetener with a low calorie content. It is taken from the leaves of a plant called Stevia rebaudiana, it is a plant that is naturally sweet. It is several hundred times sweeter than regular sugar, and contains virtually no calories at all. Stevia even has health benefits, such as lowering high blood pressure and maintaining a good level of blood sugar.
Erythritol
Erythritol is another sweetener that has a low caloric content. It is a sugar alcohol found naturally in some fruits. When you eat something sweetened with the help of erythritol, blood sugar or insulin levels are not affected, nor does it affect blood fats in any way. However, too large a quantity can cause gases, diarrhea or difficulty with digestion, but it is difficult to get up to that amount.
Xylitol
Xylitol is another sugar alcohol that contains only 2.4 calories per gram. This sweetener also does not affect blood sugar or insulin levels, it can even reduce the risk of holes in teeth. According to some studies, xylitol can also counteract osteoporosis and help gut health. However, this high-dose sweetener can also cause stomach gases and diarrhoea.
How do sweeteners affect weight and appetite?
Some people believe that sweeteners can increase appetite and in turn lead to increased weight, given that it does not satisfy the reward system in the same way. Many also believe that sweeteners increase appetite and hunger. That’s not true, new studies that have been done show that participants who participated in the studies feel less hunger and eat fewer calories when choosing foods with sweeteners instead of sugar.
Sweeteners have also been proven to reduce obesity and increased body weight. That’s because you can eat more for less calories, as well as tackle the cravings for sweets in a different way than through sugar. Choosing foods without added sugar is an easy way to reduce your daily calorie and sugar intake without having to take away the good in life. A recent study divided people with obesity and overweight into different groups. One group was allowed to drink one liter of diet soda per day, one group was allowed to drink 1 liter of regular soda every day and one group was allowed to drink 1 liter of water every day for 6 months. The result after these 6 months was that those who drank only diet soda had 24-31% less abdominal fat, 32% lower cholesterol levels and 10-15% lower blood pressure than before the study. Believe it or not, those who drank water got the same results as those who drank diet soda.
Sweeteners and dental health
Caries that cause cavities occur when the bacteria in the mouth convert sugar into harmful acids. Unlike sugar, bacteria do not react to sweeteners. Thus, it does not form harmful acids when they come into contact with sweeteners, on the contrary. Sweeteners help neutralize the acid in the mouth, thus preventing holes in the teeth.
Sweeteners and cancer
It has always been discussed whether sweeteners cause cancer or not. That idea was planted when a study done on mice showed that it could lead to an increased risk, but the fact is that mice metabolize sweeteners in a different way than humans. Since then, a large amount of studies have been done on humans to solve this mystery, and it has been shown that there is no connection between cancer and sweeteners!
Sweeteners in diabetes
Diabetes is, as many people know, a disease in which the person with the disease cannot regulate their own insulin production. Regular sugar affects blood sugar and then insulin is needed to lower levels. Sweeteners do not affect this in any way, which makes foods with sweeteners a great option for people with diabetes.
Are sweeteners dangerous?
All sweeteners used in Swedish food have been approved by the Swedish Food Agency and SCF. They are very carefully studied, both at the cellular level, on animals and on humans. They are considered to be completely harmless without long-term consequences and that there are rules that all food producers must adhere to.
However, there is a disease called phenylketonuria, also called PKU. It is a disease that means that the person cannot break down aspartame. For these people, aspartame is dangerous as the levels of phenylalanine become so high in the blood that the nervous system and brain are damaged.
The bottom line
Sweeteners are used to sweeten foods without using sugar. Sweeteners are not harmful to health in any way, quite the opposite. It is better for, among other things, your teeth, blood pressure, blood fats and blood sugar. It is also very beneficial for those who want to lose weight as the amount of calories is incredibly small, basically non-existent. And perhaps the most important result to perform, sweeteners do not increase the risk of cancer in any way.