Is your goal to stay fit is cutting down calories and turning to artificial ingredients? Maybe understanding artificial sweeteners composition may be helpful for you. By: Tenten
If you want to reduce sugar and calories in your diet, you may turn to artificial sweeteners. If you think you are alone in this idea, not anymore. The use of artificial sweeteners is on the rise and manufacturers seek to satisfy as to what the consumer needs.
Artificial sweeteners are low caloric food additives used to replace table sugar or sucrose. It is helpful in controlling weight and insulin levels in our body system. They are also known as intense sweeteners because they are many times sweeter than sucrose. Today artificial sweeteners are found in a variety of food and beverages. They usually have the logos as “sugar-free” or “diet”. Some of these are soft drinks, chewing gums, jams and jellies, marmalades, baked goods and ice cream.
Let us list all the artificial sweeteners currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA):
· Acesulfame
- This is 180 -200 times sweeter than sucrose, as sweet as aspartame, about half as sweet as saccharin, one quarter as sweet as sucralose.
- This is also stable under heat and even under moderately acidic or basic conditions.
- It is also used in baking or products that require longer shelf life.
- Sunnett and Sweet One
· Aspartame
- Approximately 200 times sweeter than sucrose.
- The sweetness of aspartame lasts longer than sucrose which is often blended with other artificial sweeteners such as acesulfame.
- It is used in diet sodas, instant breakfasts, breath mints, cereals, sugar-free chewing gum, cocoa mixes, frozen and gelatin desserts, juices, laxatives, chewable vitamin and pharmaceutical drugs supplements, milk drinks, shake mixes, tabletop sweeteners, teas, instant coffees, topping mixes, wine coolers and yogurt.
- Equal, NutraSweet and Canderel
· Neotame
- This is between 7,000 to 13,000 times as sweet as sucrose.
- It is moderately heat-stable, extremely potent, rapidly metabolized, completely eliminated and does not accumulate in the body. It provides fewer “empty” sugar calories and a lower impact on blood sugar.
- Found commonly in fruit and vegetable juices.
- NutraSweet
· Saccharin
- This is much sweeter that sucrose, but has a bitter or metallic aftertaste in high concentrations.
- It is unstable when heated but it does not react chemically with other food ingredients. Also not water – soluble.
- It is often used together with aspartame in diet carbonated soft drinks. For diabetic people, in goes directly through the human digestive system without being digested. It can also trigger the release of insulin.
- SugarTwin and Sweet’N Low
· Sucralose
- It is approximately 600 times as sweet as sucrose, twice as sweet as saccharin, and 3.3 times as sweet as aspartame.
- Stable under heat and over a broad range of pH conditions.
- It is used in baking or in products that require a longer shelf life.
- Splenda, Sukrana, SucraPlus, Candys, Cukren and Nevella.
With this information, may we be guided thoroughly in using artificial sweeteners. In the end, it will still be use who will decide what we will do with our healthy lifestyle.
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