Which is better sweetener? Harm and benefit of a sugar substitute

Invented sweeteners for a long time. However, from the very first day of their appearance, there is no point in the market as to whether these supplements are useful or harmful. For someone, this is an opportunity to cook the usual dishes and not feel strangled. This applies to patients with diabetes mellitus. Others remember about such supplements when they want to lose extra pounds. Today we want to tell you about which is the best sweetener of those that can be found on the shelves of shops and pharmacies. Among them there are also quite innocuous, but some representatives of this family need to stay away.

The history of sweet tablets

As early as 1878, this discovery was made by a chemist, doing the usual work in his laboratory. By his own negligence, he did not wash his hands after working with chemicals and started eating. His attention was attracted by a sweet taste, and when he realized that his source was not food at all, but his own fingers, he hurried back to the lab to check the guess. Then it was still difficult to say how sulfamine-benzoic acid will affect our health, but the discovery was made, saccharin was invented. Later, he rescued during the war, when there was not enough sugar. However, progress does not stand still, and today there are more than one saccharin, and several dozen different substitutes are sold in any pharmacy. Our task with you is to understand which is better. The sweetener can help a lot, but you must be sure that it is completely safe.

What is better - ordinary sugar or its analogues?

This is an important question that you should ask your doctor. What is the best sweetener and should you use it? Daily intake of regular sugar does lead to a serious malfunction or metabolic syndrome. That is, the metabolism is disrupted, and the result will be a number of serious diseases. This is our fee for a sweet life and love for refined products, which include white flour and sugar.

What are the analogues of sugar

Gradually, we come to the main topic, of all their diversity which is better. Sugary substitute is a substance that gives a sweet taste without using the usual product, supplied in the form of sand or refined sugar. First of all, you should know what two main groups distinguish, these are high-calorie and low-calorie counterparts. The first group is natural sweeteners. By caloric content they are identical to sugar, but they will have to be added more, since they are inferior to it in terms of the degree of sweetness. The second group is synthetic sweeteners. They practically do not contain calories, which means they are very popular for those who are looking for an alternative to sugar in order to reduce their weight. Their influence on carbohydrate metabolism is insignificant.

Natural sweeteners

These are the substances that are closest in composition to sucrose. However, family ties with useful fruits and berries make them irreplaceable in order to cure the life of diabetics. And the most famous among this group is fructose. Natural sweeteners are perfectly digested and are completely safe, but they are also caloric. The only exception is stevia, possessing all the virtues of natural sweeteners, it does not contain calories.

So, fructose. Our body is perfectly familiar with this substance. From the earliest childhood, when you are not yet familiar with sweets and cakes, moms start giving you mashed potatoes from fruits and vegetables. They are their natural sources. In addition, it should be noted that fructose does not affect the level of sugar in the blood so it is permissible for diabetics to use it. Plus, it's one of the few sweeteners used to make jams and jams. An excellent effect is obtained by adding fructose to baked goods. However, in large quantities, it increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. Therefore, it is permissible to consume not more than 30-40 g per day.

Stevia in tablets

This is a common herb that grows in Brazil. The glycosides of its leaves make this plant very sweet. It can be said that this is an ideal sugar substitute, excellent and very useful for health. Stevia is almost 25 times sweeter than sugar, so its price is quite low. In Brazil, stevia is widely used in tablets as a safe sweetener, which contains 0 calories.

If you plan to go on a diet, but can not refuse sweets, then this is your best assistant. Stevia is nontoxic. Most often it is well tolerated and has good taste qualities. Some note a slight bitterish taste, but you quickly get used to it. It retains its properties when heated, that is, it can be added to soups and cereals, compotes and tea. The benefit of the sweetener is also that stevia is a source of vitamins. Its use is recommended for those whose diet contains few fresh fruits and vegetables that have a meager diet. In a day, you can consume up to 40 grams of stevia.

Synthetic sweeteners

This group includes a large number of different additives. This is saccharin and cyclamate, aspartame, sucrasite. These are pacifiers that deceive the taste buds and are not absorbed by the body. However, our body quickly recognizes deception. Sweet taste is a signal that carbohydrates will now come. However, they are not, and therefore after a while you will have a strong appetite. Moreover, after deception in the form of "dietary" "Cola" any carbohydrates that will enter the body within 24 hours, will cause a strong sense of hunger. However, let's talk about everything in order. So whether the sweetener is harmful or, in comparison with ordinary sugar, it takes a more advantageous position, we will find out further.

Aspartame

We can often meet it in a variety of lemonades. It is the most popular sweetener today. Studies that would talk about his harm, no, but any doctor will say that it is better to reduce its consumption to a minimum. In European countries, it is treated with great caution and forbids adding it to the nutrition of children under 14 years of age. It is not recommended for aspartame and adolescents, but it is very difficult to exclude this substitute from the diet. But in fact practically all lemonades with a minimum of calories are produced with the addition of this sweetener. At high temperatures, aspartame is destroyed, so check the composition of the product before use in cooking. This applies primarily to jams, which we add to the baking. From the pluses one can note the absence of an unpleasant aftertaste, as well as sweetness, 200 times greater than that which has sucrose. Is the sweetener called aspartame harmful? Of course, to call it useful is quite difficult, but in reasonable quantities, it can be used for food.

Xylitol

It is most often added to chewing gums that go under the logo "without sugar."Get it from the corn cobs and husks of cotton seeds. Calorie and sweetness are equal to ordinary sugar, so you will not get much benefit from its use if your goal is weight loss. However, unlike simple sugar, it very favorably affects the condition of the teeth and prevents the development of caries. On the market, it is not popular and is rarely found in the form of a food additive, that is, a sweetener.

Saccharin

This is the first substitute, which was discovered by a chemist, known from that time. Sweetener tablets quickly became known and gained high popularity. They have an amazing quality, sugar yields 450 times to them for sweets. It should be noted that in acceptable doses it is normally tolerated by our body. The maximum daily dosage is 5 mg per 1 kg of body weight. Regular increase of this dose can cause various failures in the body. It should be noted that the chances of daily receiving a significant dose of this substance are quite large. It is widely used in the production of ice cream and creams, gelatinous desserts and other confectionery products. Look for additive E 954, under this name is hidden saccharin. When preparing jam or compotes, you need to take into account that this substitute is not a preservative.

Cyclactes

This is the second large group of synthetic sugar substitutes. Experts do not recommend using them to pregnant women, as well as children under 4 years old. However, this does not mean that everyone else can use it without restrictions. The permissible dosage is 11 mg per 1 kg of body weight. Cyclamate and saccharin are the optimal duo that gives the perfect sweet taste. It is this formula that underlies almost all popular sweeteners in our country. This is "Tsukli", "Milford" and a number of other popular names. All of them are suitable for dietary nutrition, however this group( like saccharin) is constantly accused by doctors of carcinogenicity.

"Milford" - sweetener for you

This is a sweetener based on cyclamate and saccharin sodium. That is, before you a complex food additive, which includes lactose. Produced in Germany, which already has to trust. In the Russian Federation it is registered, there are studies confirming its safety. Milford is a sweetener, which is produced both in the form of tablets and in the form of drops. To use very conveniently, 1 tablet can replace 1 teaspoon of usual sugar. A caloric content of 100 g of the drug is only 20 kcal. This sweetener is widely used in the production of low-calorie compotes, jams and jams. Do not use this product during pregnancy. It is also necessary to note a strong enough choleretic effect, so regular use in food can be unsafe in the presence of cholelithiasis.

Sucralose - safe sweets to be

We have reached such a sugar substitute as sucralose. Harm or benefit from it to the body, let's take it apart. In fact, this is the only synthetic sugar, about which doctors and nutritionists respond quite normally. Experts say that pregnant women and young children can easily take it for food. The limitation, however, is - no more than 5 mg per 1 kg of weight. However, in industry, sucralose is almost never used. Harm or benefit from it we have already determined, according to the statements of nutritionists, it is absolutely safe. It seems that this should determine the popularity of this sweetener. However, it is quite expensive, which means that more accessible analogs intercept the palm tree.

"Fit Parade"

This is by far the real hit, which is just gaining popularity. The main feature is the absence of a specific taste, which is famous for stevia."Fit Parade" is created specifically for those who follow a strict diet and can not afford to consume sugar. In the composition of polyol-erythritol and hips, as well as intense sweeteners, it is sucralose and stevioside. Calorie content - only 19 kcal per 100 g of product, this alone means that it is worth accepting the "Fit Parade".Endocrinologist's comments confirm that this is a natural sweetener of a new generation, which lacks the flaws of most of its predecessors. Like stevia, it is a completely natural product that has a wonderful sweet taste. It does not contain GMOs and is absolutely harmless to health.

What is contained in the "Fit Parade" sweetener? Dietitian's comments say that, besides everything, it is a real sweet pharmacy that contains vitamins and macronutrients, inulin and pectin substances, fiber and amino acids. That is, a glass of sweet tea will not only be harmless, but also beneficial to your health. Its main components are stevioside, erythritol, artichoke extract and sucralose. About the extract of stevia, we already talked about sucralose, too. Jerusalem artichoke is the source of pectin substances and fiber. Erythritol is a polyhydric sugar alcohol, which is a part of many fruits and vegetables. At the same time, it is almost not absorbed by the body, which determines its low caloric value. Thus, the sweetener "Fit" is an innovative sweetener of the highest quality. If you care about your health, then try using it together with sugar. It is heat-resistant, which means it can be added to baking. It can be used in food for diabetics, for which sugar is contraindicated. It is widely used by the beautiful half of humanity during tedious diets, when one wants so much sweet.

Novasweet from NovaProduct AG

This huge concern has been producing quality diabetic products since 2000.And the products are widely known not only in Russia, but all over the world. The drug Novasweet( sugar substitute) is based on fructose and sorbitol. Pros and cons of fructose, we have already described, let's now talk about sorbitol. It is a natural sweetener, which is found in apricots and apples, as well as in rowan. That is, it is a polyhydric sugar alcohol, but simple sugar is three times sweeter than sorbitol. In turn, this sweetener has its pros and cons. Sorbitol helps the body to reduce the consumption of vitamins and improve the microflora of the digestive tract. This is a wonderful cholagogue. However sorbitol is 50 times more calorie than sugar, it does not suit those who follow their figure. If it is used in large quantities, it can cause nausea and upset stomach.

Who uses this sweetener? Reviews suggest that usually they are people suffering from diabetes. The main advantage of the product is that Novasweet is manufactured exclusively from natural ingredients. That is, in the composition there are vitamins of group C, E, P, minerals. Fructose and sorbitol are those substances that our body regularly receives from vegetables and fruits, that is, they are not alien and do not cause problems with metabolism. For a patient with diabetes, safety is one of the main selection criteria.

This sweetener is not supplemented with GMOs that could harm the health of patients. The use of this substitute allows slowing down the process of sugar processing in the blood and thereby controlling the level of glucose. Numerous reviews indicate that this sweetener is the optimal choice for diabetics. It has no side effect and does not harm the body. But for weight loss, such a sweetener is not suitable, since it is too high in calories, it is much easier to simply reduce the intake of normal sugar.

Thus, we brought the basic sugar substitutes, which today exist on the market. After analyzing their pros and cons, you can choose for yourself the one that suits you best. All of them have undergone studies that have confirmed their safety. Depending on the goals, they can be used both on a permanent basis and as a sugar substitute for the time of maintaining a short-term diet. However, some must be used in limited quantities, which must be taken into account. Do not forget to discuss your choice with a dietitian beforehand to be sure that you are making the right choice. Be healthy.