Nutritive Sweeteners
Sweeteners that provide calories, or food energy, are considered nutritive sweeteners. Each one provides about the same number of calories per gram. Sugars occur naturally in fruits, vegetables, honey, and milk. They are the building blocks of complex carbohydrates, such as starch. All carbohydrates must be broken down into usable energy blood sugar which is also called glucose. This occurs in the digestive tract or the liver.
Non nutritive Sweeteners
Non nutritive sweeteners do not contribute any food energy to the diet. The most widely used non nutritive sweetener is saccharin. It is approximately 300 times as sweet as sucrose and is colorless, odorless, and water soluble. Americans consume nearly 25 pounds of non nutritive sweeteners per year. This is an increase of 20 pounds per person since 1973.
Cyclamate is another non nutritive sweetener. It is 30 times sweeter than sucrose and has no aftertaste. The disadvantage of cyclamate is that it was linked with cancer and banned from the marketplace by the food and drug administration (FDA) in the late 1960s. The delaney clause, the 1958 food additives amendment of the pure food and drug act, prevents the addition of compounds that have been shown to cause cancer. Although recent studies do not prove that cyclamate causes cancer, there are still sufficient concerns to keep it from being reapproved.
Acesulfame (Sunette) is the most recent sweeteners to be introduced. It was approved by the FDA in 1988 for use in chewing gum, powdered drink mixes, puddings, and nondairy creamers. It is 200 times sweeter than sucrose, it contributes no calories because it is not broken down by the body.
Does the use of artificial or intense sweeteners lead to weight reduction? Or, do they actually increase hunger and lead to weight gain? A summary report 46 of published studies reveals mixed results. Studies involving young children (2 to 5 years old) and normal weight young men show that they compensate for any reduction in calorie consumption by eating more. For example, in one study of young men, researchers reduced the caloric content of lunch by 400 calories, largely by substituting aspartame for sugar. The young men made up for their caloric deficit on every day of the study, and their daily energy intakes remained constant despite their reduced calorie lunches. In contrast, other studies show that older children and lean or overweight women don’t compensate much when artificial sweeteners are used. In one study, a 400 calorie deficit at breakfast led to a 110 calorie increase at lunch, with no further compensation the rest of the day. In another study of obese and lean women, those who ate lower calorie breakfasts had lower total energy intakes at the end of the day. In still another study of 19 to 50 year old women, the use of intense sweeteners, such as those found in no calorie soft drinks, was associated with a drop of 165 calories in energy intake each day. These studies indicate that low calorie compensation is influenced by the body’s inherent need for energy. People who require more energy compensate for low caloric intake by eating more, people who require less energy (overweight adults) don’t compensate by eating more.
Although a consensus opinion about the relationship between artificial sweeteners, hunger, and body weight has yet to emerge, there is no evidence that the consumption of intense or artificial sweeteners leads to weight gain. Neither can it be proved conclusively that it leads to weight loss. There are no hard data on how many people might become overweight if low calorie foods were not available.
Other Common Nutritive Sweeteners
Included in this group of sweeteners are corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, sugar alcohols, and aspartame. Corn syrup is often used in foods as a partial or complete replacement for sucrose (table sugar) because it is less sweet and provides texture. High fructose corn syrup is sweeter than sucrose and is the main nutritive sweetener in soft drinks. Because it is sweeter, it can be used in smaller quantities, which results in a slightly lower calorie product. Sugar alcohols, such as sorbitol, are less sweet than sucrose and are used to add texture to hard candies and gums. Aspartame, which is marketed as nutrasweet, has about the same number of calories as sucrose but is 180 to 220 times as sweet. Therefore only a small amount is needed to sweeten products. The taste of aspartame is similar to that of sucrose, and it leaves no aftertaste. Because aspartame is derived partially from the amino acid phenylalanine, products containing it must be labeled to warn individuals who have the inherited disease phenyl ketonuria.
Tags:calories, complex carbohydrates, food additives amendment, food and drug, food energy, Health Food Plan, intense sweeteners, nutritive sweeteners, saccharin sweetener