The law obliges food manufacturers to indicate their composition on the label. The modern buyer is increasingly paying attention to this list. Most questions arise for substances indicated by numbers under the letter " E ". These are nutritional supplements designed for various purposes. Some of them are included in the composition of the product to give it a sweet taste. Such components are united by the common name - "sweeteners". What is the reason for the appearance of these compounds in many food products, what benefits or harms can they bring to health, how do they differ from traditional sugar. The proposed article answers these questions.
What is a sweetener?
If you choose to read several articles from the first list on the Internet for the query "sweeteners", then the confusion in definitions immediately catches your eye. It arises when trying to classify and separate sugar substitutes into sweeteners and sweeteners. The criteria for differences are taken: energy value, origin (natural or artificial), chemical composition and others. Cases where the same drug is included, for example, in the table of intense sweeteners, and a few lines below is mentioned as a sweetener, are found everywhere.
Let's take this definition as a basis. Sweeteners are substances of natural origin or artificially synthesized that have a sweet taste. The drugs of this group are distinguished by a non-sugar nature, that is, they lack a glucose group. This determines a different than that of sugar, the nature of the impact on the human body. In the medical environment, it is customary to further divide sweeteners into 2 groups based on energy value, into high-calorie and low-calorie substances. Sources of sweet taste in sugar substitutes are carbohydrates, polyhydric alcohols and proteins.
What is the reason for the popularity of sweeteners?
Even preschoolers know about the dangers of excessive consumption of sugar. However, there is a paradox - despite widespread awareness of the negative effects, its consumption is constantly growing. People like sweets, they cheer up and deliver pleasant taste sensations. Scientists talk about the effect of addiction to sugar, it is similar to drug addiction. In addition to ordinary household use, there is also hidden consumption. Sugar is found in foods that are not sweet at all. For example, in a kilogram of ordinary sausages, it contains 90 g. Massive obesity, heart and stomach disorders, tooth decay, a sharp surge in the incidence of diabetes - this is the price for sugar abundance.
Do you know that...?
According to statistics, the average Englishman consumes 238 teaspoons of sugar per week. As a result, a quarter of people in the UK are obese. Residents of Foggy Albion spend 5.1 billion euros a year on the treatment of diseases that are provoked by excess weight.
Even a partial replacement of sugar with sweeteners significantly reduces the calorie content of the usual diet, lowers blood glucose levels, which contributes to weight normalization. At the same time, people do not feel taste discomfort. Sugar substitutes fully compensate for the sweetness of products, often without the consumer noticing. According to some medical scientists, a 40 percent switch to sweeteners can eliminate the problem of excess weight in most people and halve the likelihood of diabetes.
Sweeteners are in demand by the food industry, it is beneficial to use them. Most sweeteners are tens or even hundreds of times sweeter than sugar, which means that smaller doses of drugs are required for production. Thanks to this, warehouse space is freed up, less money is spent on transportation, and the yield of the main product increases by reducing the mass of the additive.
Benefits of using sweeteners and sweeteners
The benefits of sugar substitutes can be divided into two groups.
Economic and production:
- a significant reduction in the cost of production;
- reduction in the number of technological operations in production;
- enhancing the taste, enriching it with a combination of a sweetener with acids and flavors;
- release of warehouse space, reduction of transport load;
- products with the addition of sweeteners are stored longer than the same, but with sugar.
Consumer:
- Reducing calorie intake, which helps maintain a normal weight;
- Reducing the risk of destruction of tooth enamel, some sweeteners, on the contrary, strengthen it;
- Natural sweetener, made from vegetable raw materials, serves as an additional source of vitamins and minerals;
- There is an improvement in the functioning of the immune system, blood pressure normalizes;
- Certain sweeteners, such as stevia, remove “bad” cholesterol from the body.
It is impossible not to note the huge role played by sugar substitutes in the daily life of diabetics. Sugar substitutes are a real find for these people. They are forced to follow a rigid carbohydrate diet, which is exacerbated by a complete ban on the use of sugar in all forms. Artificial low-calorie sweeteners bring back the sweet taste to the sick. These substances do not increase blood glucose levels because they do not contain it. An extensive range of confectionery products, pastries, sweet mixes, drinks with sweeteners instead of sugar are now produced for diabetics.
Our company offers (Fig. 1) at a price of 229 rubles. for 1 piece and (120 g of powder in a plastic jar, the price for 1 piece is 910.10 rubles). One spoon is enough to get a glass of delicious drink. Products specifically for diabetics. Delivery in Moscow within a day.
Harm from sweeteners, possible negative consequences of their intake
- Most natural sweeteners do not match the "pure" sugar taste. One has a "metallic" taste, others are bitter. It should be noted that the extracts of these substances are completely free from this disadvantage.
- A significant excess of a single dosage of natural drugs causes nausea, upset stomach and intestines, diarrhea.
- Artificial sweeteners are the most problematic. In Europe, the USA and a number of other countries, there is a ban or restriction on the use of some of them. So, aspartame decomposes at temperatures above 30 0 C, releasing a certain amount of formaldehyde, its use is strictly regulated; cyclamate is banned in France, the UK and the US because it is suspected of causing kidney failure; Cesulfame is banned in Canada and Japan and is believed to cause allergies.
It should be taken into account that a serious struggle has unfolded in the world between sugar producers, on the one hand, and companies producing sugar substitutes, on the other hand. Any methods are used, provocative “stuffing” of allegedly reliable information is carried out, public and medical organizations lean to their side. As an illustrative example, we can cite the history of the recognition of the safety of stevia (Fig. 2). Initially, this plant was accused of being mutagenic and carcinogenic. Only thorough research conducted by the World Health Organization has completely "rehabilitated" honey stevia. (https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%BC%D0%B5%D0%B4% D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%8F).
Do you know that...?
As soon as the harvest time for sugar beets or sugar cane approaches, the number of articles on the topic of the harm of sugar substitutes increases dramatically in the world media. And publications about the negative role of sugar are practically disappearing.
Most Popular Natural Sweeteners
Sorbitol.(https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B1%D0%B8%D1%82). Refers to polyhydric alcohols. Used in the production of dietary products. Please note that the calorie content of the drug is one and a half times higher than that of sugar. For those who want to lose weight, it is not suitable.
Stevia.(https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%8F ). Almost no calories. Dried stevia leaf powder (Fig. 3) is 15 times sweeter than sugar. The herb and its derivatives are completely safe, do not cause allergies, and are recommended for use by diabetics. Great alternative to sugar. Fresh and dried leaves have a bitter taste. Stevia extracts fully match the sugar taste.
Xylitol.(https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9A%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%82). It has an excellent "sugar" taste. Does not destroy tooth enamel. The calorie content is almost the same as that of sugar. May cause diarrhea in overdose.
The most popular artificial sweeteners
Aspartame (E 951).(https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D1%81%D0%BF%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BC). By sweetness, it is 200 times “stronger” than sugar. To give a full-fledged sweetness to the product, such a small dose of this substance is needed that its significant calorie content is not taken into account. It is not used in cooking, because it decomposes at a temperature of 30 0 C. The preparation is demanding on storage conditions.
Saccharin (E954).(https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0%B0%D1%85%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BD). Sodium salt compound. Surpasses sugar in sweetness by 200 times. It is poorly soluble in water. Does not contain calories, is included in the list of products for diabetes. It has a noticeable "metallic" aftertaste.
Acesulfame K (E950).(https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D1%86%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%83%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%84%D0%B0% D0% BC). In relation to sugar, it is sweet in the same way as saccharin and also has a “metallic” aftertaste. The drug is approved for use in most countries of the world. It dissolves well in water and does not lose properties at high temperatures. All this allows acesulfame to be widely used in various branches of the food industry.
The table shows the products and fruits, which contain sweeteners.
Tab. 1. Popular sugar substitutes and their content in foods and fruits.
|
Sweetener name |
Products and scope |
|
Sorbitol and Xylitol |
|
|
Add to:
Tea is brewed. |
|
|
|
|
Aspartame |
|
|
Acesulfame K |
|
Where to buy sweeteners?
In fact, we buy sweeteners all the time, in the form of ingredients found in so many products. If you need to buy a pure sugar substitute, then there is no problem here either. Natural sweeteners are sold in pharmacies, in the diabetic nutrition departments of large supermarkets and online stores that manufacture these products. As for artificial sweeteners, they are sold both by retail chains and directly by wholesale suppliers and manufacturers via the Internet. Prices for goods are quite democratic, everyone can try to change their menu and get rid of sugar addiction forever.
Related videos
In terms of food intake, I almost completely abandoned the usual crystalline sugar. Refined products are already added to purchased products, why even at home pour it into food or drinks, increasing their calorie content and glycemic load on the body?
But life without sweets did not seem attractive, so I had to look for an alternative in order to deceive myself at first. I began to sort out sweeteners and sweeteners, one of which was liquid sweetener Milford Suss.
Price: 115 rubles.
Volume: 200 ml.
Production: Germany.
The sweetener is packaged in a transparent bottle with a wonderful dosing spout.
It looks like a clear syrup without color and flavor. It tastes so sweet that it's bitter. For some reason, some authors put this as a disadvantage, which is not logical - they still don’t drink a sweetener in its pure form ...
Composition Milford Suss, like most sold sweeteners, complex. There are two sweeteners, and the rest are additives to create the desired consistency.
One bottle Liquid Milford equivalent to more than 2.5 kg of granulated sugar, which is very economical.
Why do I love this sweetener?
Syrup dosing is a separate issue. The manufacturer made sure that there were no problems with this by supplying the bottle with a measuring cap. On the one hand, he has marks in milliliters, on the other - the sugar equivalent.
Additional explanations are printed on the label. It even says how many calories you won't eat by replacing Milford sugar.
If we talk about the shortcomings, I can only complain about the not very successful bottle and dispenser. The bottle is made of too dense plastic, and the red spout splashes sweetener with or without reason, you need to adapt.
Yes, and yet Milford not as sweet as my favorite baby sucralose. But this is already nit-picking.
If you look more globally, then like any other product, a sweetener Milford can cause an allergic reaction. In addition, it is not recommended for children, pregnant and lactating women. The latter, by and large, is not due to direct harm, but due to the lack of statistics collected on the effect of syrup components on the health of people from this “risk group”.
Otherwise, there are no complaints. Wonderful in its qualities, a convenient sweetener at an adequate price. You can take!
Sugar is one of those products, without which not only tea drinking, but also eating is indispensable. Store-bought treats, homemade jams, fruits, vegetables, and even bread are high in sugar.
But not only sweet tooth or diabetics need to be attentive to their diet - a healthy person today consumes sugar more than the norm recommended by doctors.
On a note! The daily norm of sugar for an adult is 30-50 g per day, for children - 10 g, taking into account all drinks and meals consumed per day.
According to experts, sweeteners are a vital product for diabetics.
But are they as useful as they tell us from TV screens? Perhaps this is a product of the near future, where all of humanity will abandon natural sugar and switch to the rational use of substitutes. Or is it a dangerous chemistry that can harm our body?
Why do we need sweeteners and sweeteners?
The constant use of sugar and the systematic excess of consumption can lead to a number of health problems, in particular, an increase in blood sugar levels and an increase in cholesterol levels in the body.
Sugar also provokes obesity, disrupts the mineral metabolism in the body, contributes to the appearance of caries and gum disease. With regular use of sugar, the risk of developing atherosclerosis, as well as diseases of the cardiovascular system, increases.
In diabetes mellitus, doctors categorically forbid patients to consume sugar and sugar-containing products. But knowing about the side effects of granulated sugar, many perfectly healthy people are also willing to give up this product. However, the complete rejection of sweet foods also means a lack of taste in many dishes.
Loudly advertised sweeteners and sweeteners come to the rescue in such a situation. Is this change useful? Let's figure it out together!
Types of sugar substitutes
Sweeteners are additives that are added to foods to make them sweeter. Sweeteners are made without adding the usual sugar (sucrose).
The main disadvantage of sugar substitutes is their calorie content. Sweeteners, unlike sucrose substitutes, do not contain calories and are not a source of energy for the body. They are used for diabetes, as well as for obesity.
All sugar substitutes are divided into two groups: natural (sweeteners) and synthetic (sweeteners).
Natural sweeteners include:
- Xylitol and sorbitol.
The most common artificial sweeteners used by nutritionists include:
What foods are most likely to contain sweeteners?
The first thing to remember is that sweeteners and sweeteners are found in all products marked “sugar-free”, “light”.
| Sweeteners and sweeteners | What products contain / where they add |
| - natural sweetener, which is obtained from fruits and berries. |
Fruits:
Vegetables:
|
| Xylitol and sorbitol- used in the production of ascorbic acid. |
|
| - a medicinal plant from which sweetener tablets are made. |
|
| - artificial sweetener. In its pure form, it is produced under the names Nutra Sweet or Sladex. |
|
|
|
| Cyclomat- there are two types of it: sodium (used more often) and calcium. |
|
|
What are the benefits of sweeteners and which ones are better?
Sweeteners and sweeteners are indicated for diabetes, but are they as healthy and low-calorie as their manufacturers describe?
Fructose is prescribed for:
- diabetes mellitus.
- Obesity.
- Diseases of the liver.
- Increased intracranial pressure.
- Glaucoma.
- Deficiency of glucose in the blood.
Xylitol and sorbitol:
Xylitol and sorbitol are prescribed for:
- diabetes mellitus.
- Overweight.
- metabolic syndrome.
Stevia is prescribed for:
- diabetes mellitus.
- Metabolic disorders.
- High pressure.
- Obesity.
- Improves the taste of foods.
- It is broken down into amino acids that are involved in metabolism.
- Retains the sweetness of foods when combined with acids.
- Does not lose its properties when exposed to temperature (heating and freezing), can be used in various culinary dishes.
- Well kept.
- It does not lose its properties during heat treatment, therefore it is used in compotes, juices, confectionery.
- Enhances the taste of foods.
- Along with aspartame, saccharin and cyclamate, thaumatin is also prescribed for diabetes.
- It is believed that this food supplement is absolutely safe for health. In many countries, it is used in large quantities in the food industry.
Why are sweeteners harmful?
According to doctors and some nutritionists, the use of artificial sweeteners is much more harmful than the use of natural sugar and its natural substitutes. Is that so?
Harm of sweeteners and sweeteners:
Natural sweeteners:
- Fructose in large quantities increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.
- Sorbitol is half the calories of sugar, so it is not suitable for losing weight. With excessive use, sorbitol can cause nausea, gastrointestinal upset, and bloating.
- Xylitol, when taken in large amounts, can cause flatulence and diarrhea.
Artificial Sweeteners:
- According to studies, saccharin contains carcinogens and it is not recommended to consume foods containing it on an empty stomach. Saccharin can also lead to the development of gallstones. It has been proven that in large quantities saccharin provokes the development of cancer.
- Aspartame is one of the most popular artificial sweeteners. When abused, aspartame can cause headaches, tinnitus, depression, insomnia, allergies, convulsions, joint pain, leg numbness, spasms, unreasonable anxiety. Aspartame is contraindicated in people with a rare disease - phenylketonuria.
- Cyclamate provokes kidney failure, so it is contraindicated in people with kidney disease.
It is not recommended to use certain artificial sweeteners on your own! Please consult with your physician prior to taking.
Sweeteners in the diet: what marketers won't tell you?
Diseases caused by sugar substitutes
Yes, natural sugar substitutes are practically harmless, but with their help you will not be able to lose weight - these substances are high in calories.
Synthetic sweeteners were created to replace natural sweeteners and advertised as a low-calorie product. However, even with their low calorie content, these substances add extra pounds and centimeters to you. The thing is that synthetic sweeteners awaken and increase appetite. And you, without noticing it, begin to eat more food than usual. In addition, with the intake of natural sugar in the body, insulin begins to be produced, which regulates the level of glucose in the blood.
But sweeteners "deceive" your body- in the future, when eating carbohydrate food, the body will turn carbohydrates into fats with increased intensity, being afraid to again feel a shortage of carbohydrates. Thus, synthetic sweeteners push the body to rebuild the metabolic process to increase fat stores.
However, excess weight is far from the main problem that sweeteners can cause. During the study of artificial sweeteners, it was proved that sucralose, contained in saccharin, can disrupt blood sugar levels. Its carcinogenicity and neurotoxicity have been experimentally confirmed - recent animal studies have shown that saccharin can cause toxicity b about more than cocaine.
Therefore, before adding another spoonful of artificial sweetener to food, think carefully about the consequences. Still, natural sweeteners contained in honey, rowan fruits, fruits and vegetables are much more useful than synthetic additives.
Can children be given foods containing sugar substitutes?
According to nutritionists, fructose, glucose and lactose are harmless for children. Children should use these sweeteners only in natural products. Fructose is found in almost all berries and fruits, glucose is found in large quantities in honey, white bread, grapes and some fruits. And lactose is found in all dairy products.
Moms take note!
- Sweeteners in tablets should not be given to children, as pills of unknown composition may contain food additives that are harmful to the health of the baby.
- Sugar substitutes aspartame and cyclamate are also not recommended for children to eat.
- Products and drinks with saccharin are not recommended even for adults (it is possible to use only as prescribed by a doctor and in small dosages), and children should not be given this muck!
- Even a minimal amount of artificial sweeteners in foods increases the risk of developing allergies in children.
Sweeteners during pregnancy and lactation
To maintain the level of vitamins and minerals in the body, a pregnant and lactating woman certainly needs natural sweeteners that are found in food.
On a note!
- If you are expecting a baby or have already become a mother, you can consume honey, dextrose (grape sugar), corn sugar, fructose and maltose (malt sugar) in reasonable doses, as long as they do not cause an allergic reaction in either you or your baby.
Artificial sweeteners that do not carry any benefit should not be consumed by pregnant and lactating women, as sugar substitutes can disrupt metabolism, cause excess weight or be addictive. The exception is pregnant women with diabetes. In this case, you should consult with a specialist who will individually prescribe you a fairly safe sugar substitute.
Health care or marketing ploy - advice for diabetics
The safest sweeteners are honey, dried fruits, and fresh fruits. But with diabetes, the use of such products is limited and minimized, since in large quantities they can increase blood sugar.
On the shelves of stores you can find a huge number of products with sweeteners, produced specifically for patients with diabetes. But it is not necessary to abuse such products due to their carcinogenic and neurotoxic properties.
If you need to consume sweeteners due to illness, limit yourself to 2-3 sweets or bars per week. This dosage will not harm the body. Experienced doctors recommend alternating natural sugar with artificial substitutes.
Diet Coke And Other Myths That Are Killing Your Health!
We have collected for you the most popular myths about products containing sweeteners.
Myth 1: Soda labeled "diet" can't be harmful.
Any soda is unhealthy, whether it's labeled "light" or "no sugar." The only difference is that diet sodas have replaced natural sugar with sweeteners (aspartame or sucralose). Yes, the calorie content of such water is slightly less than a regular sweet drink, but the health damage that a diet product with substitutes causes is just much greater than from regular soda.
Myth 2: Sugar syrup is better than sugar.
For the first time feeling the harm of artificial substitutes, buyers turned their attention to their new-found alternative - glucose-fructose syrup. The ad for the product talked about a healthy, empty-calorie product. As a result, such an advertising move was called a deception of gullible buyers: both syrup and sugar consist of a mixture of fructose and glucose (approximately 1:1). So sugar and sugar syrup are one and the same. Conclusion: products are equally harmful in large quantities.
Myth 3: Sweeteners are diet pills.
Sweeteners are not a panacea for excess weight. They do not have a pharmacological effect aimed at weight loss. By using sugar substitutes, you are only reducing your calorie intake in your diet. So, replacing sugar with sweeteners in cooking saves about 40 g of sugar every day. But with a serious approach, by reducing calorie intake and with the help of a balanced diet along with physical activity, you can achieve weight loss. At the same time, you should remember the main disadvantage of sweeteners - many of them increase appetite, which is far from good for you.
Opinions of doctors and nutritionists
Synthetic sweeteners are not high in calories, but are very dangerous to health. Take any soda in the store - for the most part, such water will be made on the basis of aspartame (sometimes called "nutrisweet"). The use of this sugar substitute in the beverage industry is very beneficial - it is 200 times sweeter than sucrose. But aspartame is not resistant to heat treatment. When heated to 30 degrees, formaldehyde, a class A carcinogen, is released from it in soda water. Conclusion: side effects lie behind every artificial substitute. You can use sweeteners only on the recommendation of a doctor.
Artificial sweeteners are food additives based on chemicals. Sugar can be replaced with the same dried fruits that contain fructose. But this is a slightly different fructose. Fruit is also sweet, but it is a natural product. Even honey is a dessert, but only natural. Of course, it is much more useful to use the products that nature has given us than their synthetic counterparts.
The ability to lose weight by replacing natural sugar with artificial sweeteners can also have a downside - chemistry damages the digestive system, kidneys and liver. So, saccharin can cause tumors and gallstones. Sweeteners pose a serious danger to the body and can only be used as directed by a doctor.
I set out to reduce the amount of sugar in my diet. The main task is to choose a tasty, safe sweetener without calories, with minimal impact on the body. There is a sea of information on the net, however, I had to go through the archives of medical libraries and food chemistry textbooks, since there is very little material with links to sources. Most of the articles on the Internet are a retelling of myths about the dangers of sweeteners, statements without evidence.
I settled on the 4 most studied and 100% safe non-calorie sweeteners: aspartame, cyclamate, saccharin and sucralose.
Aspartame E951
It is difficult to find a more studied nutritional supplement than aspartame. It's a shame that so many resources have been spent on studying the simplest safe molecule, aspartame, instead of solving really important public health problems.
Aspartame 3D molecule model and molecular formula.
E951 is a synthetic non-caloric sweetener that is 180 times sweeter than sugar. Such sweetness is due to the ability of the molecules of the substance to linger on the taste bud. In the book "Sweetness and Sweeteners. Biology, Chemistry, and Psychophysics” describes in detail the mechanisms of the sensation of sweet taste and its genetic components. The book has been added to the file with additional links.
Properties
- Chemical formula C14H18N2O5
- Molecular weight 294.31 g/mol.
- The sweet taste appears slightly slower than that of sucrose, but forms a stronger bond with the receptor. The aftertaste of most sweeteners is connected with this - it is more difficult for saliva to wash off their molecules from the receptor.
- Doesn't make you thirsty. Thirst from drinks with sugar substitutes is another very common myth.
- Does not increase appetite and glucose levels (7, 8, 9, 10).
- Does not affect the intestinal microflora.
- Loses sweetness when heated for a long time, so it is not suitable for baking and boiling.
From the discovery of the sweet taste of aspartame in 1965 to the present day, there have been more than 50 years and more than 700 studies on bacteria, animals, healthy people, diabetics, breastfeeding mothers, and even infants (1).
The question arises: if its safety has been proven, why so many controversies and “revealing” programs on TV? Apparently, the matter is in metabolites: methanol, formaldehyde and aspartic acid. Let's get this over with once and for all.
Effect on the body
E951 cannot be detected in the blood, even if several times the recommended daily dosage is exceeded. In our stomach, the sweetener breaks down into three lighter molecules:
- Phenylalanine 50%
- Aspartic acid 40%
- Methanol 10%
These substances are absolutely habitual components of the diet and are even produced by our body.
| Source |
(g/100 g food) |
(g/100 g food) |
| Soya beans | 1,91 | 4,59 |
| Peas | 1,39 | 2,88 |
| raw lentils | 1,38 | 3,1 |
| Peanuts all kinds | 1,34 | 3,15 |
| Chickpeas and beans | 1,03 | 2,27 |
| Flax seeds | 0,96 | 2,05 |
| Pork, salami | 0,94 | 2,1 |
| Beef | 0,87 | 2 |
| chicken, fish | 0,78 | 1,75 |
| Whole eggs | 0,68 | 1,33 |
| Whole milk | 0,15 | 0 |
Phenylalanine
It is an essential amino acid required for DNA codons and the formation of melanin, norepinephrine and dopamine. We cannot synthesize it and must get it from food. Problems with the absorption of phenylalanine occur only in people with the rare genetic disorder phenylketonuria. In 0.5 liters of drink with sweetener E951 - no more than 0.15 g.
Aspartic acid or aspartate
An amino acid involved in protein biosynthesis, a neurotransmitter that stimulates the secretion of growth hormone, prolactin and lutein. Aspartate protects the liver from ammonia (2). We know how to produce aspartic acid, but we get some of it from food. 0.5 l of Cola Light contains up to 0.17 g of aspartate.
methanol
Wood alcohol or methanol CH3OH is found in air, water and fruits, is produced by intestinal bacteria and is determined in blood, saliva, exhaled air and urine (average urinary methanol level is 0.73 mg / l, in the range of 0.3-2.61 mg / k) (4).
30 mg of methanol is the maximum you can get from 0.5 liters of aspartame drink.
Health-threatening amounts of methanol are present in 5 liters of tomato juice, 30 liters of light cola, or several buckets of sweetened tea. You need to drink all this at once in order to feel the toxic effect of methanol.
Wood alcohol is partially converted to formaldehyde, which has long been suspected of carcinogenicity (associated occupational exposure with poison and upper respiratory tract cancer) (5). But dietary intake of formaldehyde, found in vegetables, fruits, and sugar substitutes, is not dangerous—one would have to drink 90 liters of soda a day for two years to cause the side effects of ingesting the toxin. It is a natural biological compound that is always present in the cells, tissues and fluids of our body at a constant concentration of 0.1 mmol (3 mg/kg b.w.). It does not accumulate and is quickly excreted.
The metabolism of aspartame and its components is described in detail in Critical Reviews in Toxicology Volume 37, 2007. The review analyzed the epidemiological, clinical and toxicological studies of E951 from the 70th to 2006.
What is ADI and NOAEL
ADI of aspartame(permissible daily intake) 50 mg/kg body weight, equivalent to 130 cups of sweetened tea. This dose has been approved by the WHO, ESFA, FDA, JECFA, SCF and about 90 other organizations in 100 countries.
ADI (acceptable daily intake) is calculated by dividing the maximum dose that does not show toxicity and side effects in animals by 100 (NOAEL no observable adverse effect level). For all approved dietary E-Necks, daily and life-long consumption within the ADI does not affect health.
In other words, you will not be able to eat more than one percent of the safe dose. I found a good example: the maximum allowable amount of salt is about 6 g per day (new WHO norms), and the ADI for salt would be 60 mg (6 grams divided by a factor of 100). But we consume about 10-12 g of salt per day at a minimum, thereby exceeding the allowable daily intake by 200 times (6).
Conclusion: aspartame is the best safe sugar substitute for diabetics and people who control their weight with the only drawback - you can’t add it to baking.
Sodium cyclamate E952
Properties
- Chemical formula C6H12NNaO3S
- Molecular weight 201.216 g/mol
- Intensely sweet crystalline powder, 30 times sweeter than sucrose.
- Shelf life of 5 years.
- Combined with saccharin and other sweeteners, it gives a natural sugar flavor.
- Masks the unpleasant aftertaste of drugs.
- Doesn't make you thirsty.
- Does not affect blood sugar, appetite, a good choice for diabetics.
- Resistant to baking and boiling.
Effect on the body
99.8% of the substance is excreted unchanged in the urine and feces, but about 0.2% can be converted by some intestinal bacteria into the toxic hydrocarbon of the amine group cyclohexylamine. The normal daily dose of cyclamate is not absorbed by the intestines and is completely eliminated (12, 13).
Since this amine is neurotoxic, it is being carefully studied in the context of its effect on heart rate and pressure in diabetics: taking cyclamate does not affect the heart ().
According to EU laws, nutritional supplements are tested annually, the results of observations are analyzed and entered in the register. E952 is no exception and hundreds of toxicological, epidemiological and clinical studies have accumulated during its existence.
Carcinogenesis, chronic toxicity and genotoxicity have never been confirmed for sucralose (30).
Drink with the addition of E955
Sucralose ADI 15 mg/kg of body weight per day. The actual consumption of the supplement depends on the dietary habits of the individual. E955 is now increasingly added to the composition of ketchups, desserts, drinks and other products. In this regard, two thousand American families were monitored for 2 weeks. The researchers calculated the amount of sugar in the volunteers' diet and replaced it with sucralose (empirically). The figure turned out to be 14 times less than ADI. In a word, it is impossible to exceed the permissible maximum.
Conclusion: sucralose is the best non-caloric sugar substitute at the moment, but for industrial use. As a desktop option, it has to be mixed with fillers, in which there are calories, alas.
Acesulfame potassium. Sweetener flavor enhancer
E950 almost always pairs with aspartame and cyclamate as an enhancer and flavor enhancer for sweeteners. If acesulfame potassium is added to sweeteners, the mixture becomes twice as sweet and more close to the sugar taste. It is never used on its own, nor is it necessary.
The substance is excreted by the kidneys by 100%, unchanged. ADI of acesulfame 15 mg/kg. In Europe, the norm is 9 mg / kg.
Acesulfame-K has a low level of acute and chronic toxicity, two times lower than that of table salt (and put it incomparably less). This is due to the fact that it is not metabolized or accumulated. In the USA in October 2005, a study was conducted in the context of the National Toxicology Program on the effect of the substance on mice. In this case, mice from two lines with a propensity to form tumors received a daily dose of acesulfame-K equal to 4-5 g/kg b.w. within 9 months. Tumors did not develop more frequently than in the control group. The amount of acesulfame corresponded to a daily intake of 315 g per person weighing 70 kg (25).
Sugar modifier S6973 and S617
Sweet taste enhancer. In 2012, the JECFA Commission on Food Additives issued a positive opinion on the safety of these compounds. Thanks to the modifier, it is possible to reduce the amount of sugar in the product by 50% while maintaining the intensity of sweetness. Toxicological evaluation of two flavors with modifying properties S6973 and S617 is published in Food and Chemical Toxicology.
- Chemical formula C 15 H 22 N 4 O 4 S
- Molecular weight 354.425 g/mol
The additives have extremely low bioavailability, are not absorbed in the intestines, do not show genotoxicity and cytotoxicity (2 generations of rats). Modifier studies were conducted in rats and monkeys during 3 months of feeding with a daily dose of 20 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg. Maternal toxicity test (effect on the fetus) - 1 gram per kg did not have any effect. Toxicology clean. All details with charts are on the link above.
So, if you meet the sugar modifier S6973 or S617 in the composition of the product, you will already know what these additives are. They say that somewhere on sale there is sugar labeled "sweet", which contains S6973, but I have not seen it.
Natural sugar substitutes and a new generation of synthetic
Of the natural calorie-free sweeteners, the only available stevia extract is Stevioside E960, which tastes like rusty nails. There will be a separate article on stevioside, but I do not include it in my rating of tasty and safe sugar substitutes.
Chemists are developing a number of super-sweet and expensive compounds of plant origin: curculin, brazzein, glycoside from Monk's fruits, miraculin, monatin, monelin, pentadine, thaumatin (E957). If you set a goal, almost all of this can be bought and tried right now.
All other substances, such as fructose, erythritol, xylitol, sorbitol and others, have non-zero calories. I will not write about them.
Neotame
A modified form of aspartame, 8,000 times sweeter than sugar on average. Resistant to baking, has a zero glycemic index. Safe for people with PKU. Its metabolism differs from that of aspartame: only 8% of methanol will be obtained from the E961 molecule. The volume of aspartame is 40 times less. Although these applications remind me of marketing in the spirit of "non-GMO mineral water." You have already seen about methanol from aspartame in the tables above.
Neotame ADI 0.3 mg/kg b.w. or 44 cans of cola on E961 (they don't make one yet). It is currently the cheapest synthetic sweetener at 1% of the cost of sugar.
Advantam (Advantame)
The newest sweetener, which has not yet received its E. It is made on the basis of aspartame and isoviline, but is 20,000 times sweeter than sugar. Due to the homeopathic quantities in the product, it is suitable for PKUs. The advantam molecule is stable at high temperatures. The body is not metabolized. ADI advantama 32.8 mg per kg of body weight. The FDA approved the substance in 2014 after a series of animal tests. But as a homemade sweetener, we are unlikely to try it in the near future.
On the basis of aspartame, not only advantam has been developed. A few sweeter options than E951: alitame E956 (trade name aklam), acesulfame-aspartame salt E962 (I drink Pepsi on this mixture, delicious), neotame.
The link between diabetes, obesity and sweeteners. Hypotheses and facts
There are several hypotheses linking obesity and diabetes to non-caloric artificial sweeteners. I conducted a separate investigation on them, since it was this topic that bothered me the most. Let's go through the most popular hypotheses and actual data.
Sugar substitutes make you want to eat more sweets
Everything tasty causes a desire to "repeat" (36). This property is associated with endorphins. The production of endorphins is a reaction to blood glucose and pleasant taste sensations. The hypothalamus actually motivates us to eat tasty, fatty, sugary foods (37).
Clinical studies show that stress hormone levels are reduced and endorphins are increased from both sucrose and saccharin (38). If you really seize stress, then something tasty and light at the same time.
The pain-relieving properties of the sweet taste have been studied in infants. An experiment with a prick of the heel of a newborn established the analgesic effect of the sweet taste without the participation of glucose (cyclamate + saccharin). Infants should not be given sugar solutions and honey as a sedative and pain reliever due to the risk of developing necrotizing enterocolitis, so scientists are always on the lookout for a harmless alternative (39).
Conclusion: if we enjoy the taste of the product, then we want to eat more. Regardless of whether it contains glucose, aspartame or stevioside. Amino acids do the same to our taste buds.
Sweeteners trigger insulin release
There is a saying that the sweet taste causes insulin to be produced and catastrophically lowering glucose levels. This is not true. Insulin reacts insignificantly to the signals of taste buds, it is even impossible to fix it in the framework of laboratory methods. The "release" of the hormone occurs only in response to an increase in blood glucose (40).
Conclusion: Everything that enters the mouth and tastes like food (amino acids, etc.) causes a weak response of the pancreas, and then everything depends only on blood glucose (41).
Research in Pediatrics
In 2011, Pediatric Clinics of North America published a review of 70 studies on the effects of artificial sweeteners on metabolism and weight in children, initiated by the Research Program of the National Institutes of Health (…). The review covered four FDA-approved substances: aspartame, saccharin, neotame, and sucralose.
A few takeaways from the review:
- There is no direct relationship between sweeteners and obesity in children, but overweight children drink more light drinks (logically, I think).
- Probably, knowing about the low calorie content of the product leads to a cognitive error - the so-called calorie overcompensation: we allow ourselves to eat more. This phenomenon has been well studied on products labeled as "fat-free": a person eats 2-3 times more, because "it's not fat."
- The effect on gut bacteria is not supported by high-quality placebo-controlled studies, but work in this direction is ongoing. Some doubtful data are available only for saccharin (see below).
- Non-caloric sweeteners do not affect the production of glucoregulatory hormones such as insulin.
Is calorie overcompensation real?
Several dozen studies have focused on calorie overcompensation with sweeteners. Two clinical observations seemed most interesting to me:
- 8 obese patients were kept in a hospital, and did not know that they were participating in the experiment for 15 days. The sugar in their diet was secretly replaced with aspartame (it was 1977, then this could have been a ride without a trial). The hidden sugar substitution led to a 25% reduction in caloric intake without overcompensation. People didn't know that their diet was less energy intensive, so there was no thought to "add". Unfortunately, 8 people is not a sample, but the observation is interesting (42).
- A group of 24 volunteers received cereal breakfasts for 5 days: unsweetened; with sugar; with aspartame. Half of the subjects knew the full composition of the breakfast, for the second half of the group the composition was not reported. In the second group, none of the options had an effect on subsequent meals, but in the first group, those volunteers who knew that their breakfast did not contain sugar compensated for it with a “reward” later.
Conclusion: in a word, for a person, it’s not a matter of physiology at all - when you know that coffee contains not 3 tablespoons of sugar, but a sweetener tablet, then you can easily afford 3 sweets or heavy cream. I know this all too well from my own experience, and "looking from the outside" of such experiences allows me to better control myself and not make such cognitive errors.
Effects on hunger and thirst
Water with sugar does not quench thirst. Pure water is best, and sweetened water is a little worse (43). Another question is whether it is worth drinking anything other than water when you are thirsty. The impact of sweetened beverages on hunger is an equally hackneyed research topic: aspartame-fueled diet soda 30 minutes before dinner significantly reduces subjective hunger, compared to mineral water of the same volume (44, 45).
Sweeteners lead to weight gain
Depending on the methodology, the results of studies vary significantly:
- Experimental Clinical Studies show that replacing sugar with sweeteners either reduces weight or stays the same. A database review does not support the concept that sugar substitutes lead to increased calorie intake and weight gain (46).
- Observations without clinical control, or according to the completed questionnaires converge to weight gain and correlations with the use of sweeteners.
When you read a high-quality, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study, the result is always in favor of losing weight or maintaining weight. One such example is a study of the effect of sugary soda on the weight of children in the Netherlands. It was attended by 642 children from 5 to 12 years old. Bottom Line: Reducing “liquid sugars” is more effective in reducing weight than reducing other calorie sources (47,48)
Another children's study shows that sweetened drinks an hour before meals suppress appetite better than water. This is good for a fat child, but bad for the unwilling (49).
Impact on the gut microbiome
This conclusion was reached by Israeli scientists from the Department of Immunology, Weizmann Institute of Science. The study was published in Nature in 2014 (50).
“Artificial sweeteners induce glucose intolerance by altering the gut microbiota,” was the title of the paper in a peer-reviewed journal. The researchers cheated for the sake of a beautiful headline - only saccharin was involved, the generalization was a "dirty" trick.
Scientists have argued that in mice on a daily mixture of saccharin and glucose, certain types of microorganisms begin to multiply, which produce glucose. Sterile mice were planted with the feces of the experimental ones and they also began to have problems. The mice were later given antibiotics and the effect wore off within 4 weeks.
Next, a six-day study was conducted on 7 people of different ages and gender (!), Who were given 10 packets of sweetener per day. After 6 days, human feces were planted in sterile mice, their glucose increased. Four of the volunteers began to show the same symptoms (no).
What's wrong with this study?
- Animals received not pure E954, but sugar + saccharin (95% sugar), which could well contribute to a more active reproduction of bacteria, some of which produce glucose. This is precisely what has been proven by hundreds of studies on sugar (51).
- Only an observation is described, without a mechanism for the occurrence of glucose intolerance. No analysis of the obtained data is carried out. Still, E954 has survived hundreds of similar studies over a hundred years. Saccharin injections, intraperitoneal injections, feeding and other manipulations that are not related to reality have never led to such results.
- Seven people is not a sample. Usually, even I don’t read such studies, and it’s not clear how this got into Nature. If they tried to publish such material in a clinical journal, it would be wrapped up.
- Sterile mice were planted with human feces, they became ill. I don't even know how to comment on this.
- The lack of control over the use of a substitute, the diet of volunteers has not been described. By the way, half of the group survived 6 days on saccharin without any changes.
The data in the charts combined days 1-4 and 5-7, carried out in two waves. If you build a graph from 1 to 7 days, the results do not show statistical significance.
Graphs for microflora are built from days 1 to 7, but the third volunteer on day 5 had some magical results that influenced the construction of the curve. Given that the growth of "diabetic" bacteria is associated with a high-protein diet, yogurt, alcohol, then saccharin has nothing to do with it. But we do not know what these people ate.
The influence of a certain diet on the reproduction of intestinal bacteria
A strange study that contradicts data accumulated over 100 years. The conclusions of such experiments can influence political decisions, as happened with cyclamate. It is good that reviews of accumulated data are published periodically, and it is not necessary to rely on only one opinion (52).
That's all. If you have read to the end, the work has been done in vain. Of course, I don’t have answers to all questions, and if I missed something, ask in the comments, I’ll look!
Links
All links from the article are collected in one file on Google Drive, with comments and a book about the evolution of taste.
Popular science video with neurologist Nikita Zhukov (creator of the hit list of drugs) about sweeteners:
Sugar, as almost everyone who is interested in healthy eating today knows, has many harmful properties. Firstly, sugar carries “empty” calories, which is especially unpleasant for those who are losing weight, who can hardly fit all the essential substances within the allotted calorie content. Secondly, sugar is instantly absorbed, i.e. has a very high glycemic index (GI), which is very harmful for diabetics, as well as people with reduced insulin sensitivity or metabolic syndrome. It is also known that .
Therefore, for a long time people have been using various substances that have a sweet taste, but do not have all or any of the harmful properties of sugar. Experimentally confirmed the assumption that . Today we will tell you what types of sweeteners are, and list the most common modern sweeteners, noting their features.
Let's start with the terms and main types of substances related to sweeteners. There are two categories of substances that replace sugar.
The first is the substances commonly referred to as sweeteners. These are usually carbohydrates or structurally similar substances, often found in nature, which have a sweet taste and a noticeable calorie content, but are absorbed much more slowly. Thus, they are much safer than sugar, and many of them can even be used by diabetics. But still, they do not differ much from sugar in terms of sweetness and calorie content.
The second group - substances that differ significantly in structure from sugar, have a negligible calorie content, and actually carry only taste. They are tens, hundreds or thousands of times sweeter than sugar, they are often called sweeteners.
Let us briefly explain what “n times sweeter” means. This means that in "blind" experiments, people, comparing different dilutions of sugar solutions and the test substance, determine at what concentration the sweetness of the test substance is equivalent, to their taste, to the sweetness of the sugar solution. In relation to concentrations, a conclusion is made about sweetness. In fact, this is not always an exact number; sensations can be influenced, for example, by temperature or dilution. And some sweeteners in a mixture give more sweetness than individually, and therefore it is not uncommon for drinks to use several different sweeteners at once.
Let's start with sugar substitutes.
Fructose.
The most famous of the substitutes, natural origin. Formally, it has the same calorie content as sugar, but a much lower GI (~20). However, fructose is about 1.7 times sweeter than sugar, respectively, allowing you to reduce calories by 1.7 times. normally absorbed. Absolutely safe: suffice it to mention that we all eat tens of grams of fructose every day along with apples or other fruits. We also recall that ordinary sugar inside us first of all breaks down into glucose and fructose, i.e. eating 20 g of sugar, we seem to eat 10 g of glucose and 10 g of fructose.
Maltitol, sorbitol, xylitol, erythritol
Polyhydric alcohols that are similar in structure to sugars and have a sweet taste. All of them, with the exception of erythritol, are partially absorbed, therefore they have a lower calorie content than sugar. Most of them have such a low GI that they can be used by diabetics without any problems. However, their "indigestibility" has an unpleasant side: undigested substances serve as food for some intestinal bacteria, so large doses (> 30-100 g) can lead to bloating, diarrhea and other troubles. Erythritol is almost completely absorbed, but is excreted unchanged by the kidneys. Here they are in comparison:
All sweeteners are also good because they do not serve as food for bacteria that live in the oral cavity, and therefore are used in “tooth-safe” chewing gums. But all of them do not remove the calorie problem, unlike sweeteners ..
Sweeteners
Sweeteners are so much sweeter than sugar that whether the substance is digestible like aspartame or non-digestible like sucralose, its calorie content is negligible when used in normal amounts.
We have listed the most commonly used sweeteners in the table below, pointing out some of the features. We did not list some sweeteners there (cyclamate E952, acesulfame E950), since they are usually used in mixtures added to ready-made drinks, and, accordingly, we do not have a choice how much and where to add them.
| Substance | Sweetness for sugar | Taste quality | Peculiarities |
| Saccharin (E954) | 400 | metallic taste, aftertaste | The cheapest (presently) |
| Stevia and derivatives (E960) | 250-450 | bitter taste, bitter aftertaste | Natural by origin |
| Neotame (E961) | 10000 |
| Not available in Russia (at the time of publication) |
| Aspartame (E951) | 200 | Weak aftertaste | Natural for a person. Does not withstand heat. |
| Sucralose (E955) | 600 | Pure taste of sugar no aftertaste | Safe in any quantities. Expensive. |
Saccharin.
One of the oldest sweeteners. Opened at the end of the 19th century. At one time it was under suspicion of carcinogenicity (80s), but all suspicions were removed, and it is still sold all over the world. Suitable for baking and hot drinks. Its disadvantage is a “metallic” aftertaste that is noticeable at large doses, as well as an aftertaste. The addition of cyclamate or acesulfame to saccharin significantly reduces these disadvantages.
Due to its long-standing popularity and cheapness, it is still one of the most popular sweeteners with us. Do not worry, after reading another “study” on the Internet about the “terrible consequences” of its use: so far not a single experiment that has revealed the danger of adequate doses of saccharin for losing weight has been confirmed (very large doses of it can affect the intestinal microflora), but the cheapest a competitor is an obvious target on the marketing front.
Stevia and steviosides
- 5-10% stevioside (sweetness on sugar: 250-300)
- 2–4% rebaudioside A - most sweet (350–450) and least bitter
- 1–2% rebaudioside C
- ½–1% dulcoside A.
At one time, stevia was under suspicion of mutagenicity, but a few years ago, bans on it in Europe and most countries were lifted. However, until now, in the USA, stevia is not completely allowed as a food additive, and only purified rebaudiosides or stevioside are allowed to be used as an additive (E960).
Therefore, stevia can now be bought without problems, although at a cost it is much more expensive than saccharin. Can be used in hot drinks and baked goods.
Aspartame
Officially used since 1981. It is characterized by the fact that, unlike most modern sweeteners that are foreign to the body, aspartame is completely metabolized (included in the metabolism). In the body, it breaks down into phenylalanine, aspartic acid and methanol - all three of these substances are present in large quantities both in our daily food and in our body.
In particular, compared to aspartame soda, orange juice has more methanol, and milk has more phenylalanine and aspartic acid. Therefore, if someone will prove that aspartame is harmful, he will have to prove at the same time that either freshly squeezed orange juice is twice as harmful, or natural yogurt is three times more harmful. Despite this, marketing wars have not bypassed him, and from time to time another nonsense falls out on the head of a potential consumer. It should be noted, however, that the maximum allowable dose for aspartame is relatively small, although it many times overrides reasonable needs (about a hundred tablets per day).
In terms of taste, aspartame is noticeably superior to both stevia and saccharin - it has almost no aftertaste, and the aftertaste is very small. However, aspartame has a serious drawback compared to them - it does not allow heating.
Aspartame is currently available in Russia both in terms of price and prevalence.
Sucralose
A newer product for us, although it was discovered in 1976, and has been officially allowed in different countries since 1991. It is 600 times sweeter than sugar. It has many advantages over the above sweeteners:
- best palatability (virtually indistinguishable from sugar, no aftertaste)
- allows heating, applicable in baking
- biologically inert (does not react in living organisms, is excreted unchanged)
- a huge safety margin (at working doses of tens of milligrams, the theoretically calculated safe amounts from animal experiments are not even grams, but somewhere around half a glass of pure sucralose)
The only downside so far is the price. In part, this, apparently, can explain the fact that while in all countries sucralose actively replaces other types of sweeteners, we, if you are not in Moscow, have a problem finding it on the counter at all. And since we are moving on to more and more new products, we will finally mention one more of them, which appeared relatively recently:
Neotame
A new sweetener, 10,000 (!) times sweeter than sugar (for understanding: in such doses, potassium cyanide is a completely safe substance). Similar in structure to aspartame, metabolized to the same components, only doses are 50 times less. Allows heating. Since it actually combines the pros of all other sweeteners, it may someday take their place. At the moment, although it is allowed in different countries, including Russia, no one has seen it here.
Well, what is better, how to understand?
The most important thing is to understand that
- all permitted sweeteners are safe in adequate amounts
- all sweeteners (and especially cheap ones) are the objects of marketing wars (including those with sugar producers), and the number of lies about them significantly exceeds the limits that a simple consumer can understand
- choose what you like best, this will be the best option.
We will just summarize the above with comments on popular myths:
- Saccharin is the cheapest, longest known, and most widely used sweetener. It is easy to get everywhere, and if its taste suits you, then this is the most affordable replacement for sugar in every sense.
- If you are willing to sacrifice other qualities of the product for the sake of making sure that it is "natural", choose stevia. But still, understand that naturalness and safety are not related things.
- If you want the most researched and most certainly-certainly safe sweetener, choose aspartame. All the substances into which it breaks down in the body are both in food and in the body itself, even if you did not eat any aspartame at all. But aspartame is not suitable for baking.
- If the main quality of the sweetener is important to you - compliance with the taste of sugar, and the maximum theoretical safety margin is important - choose sucralose. It is more expensive, but perhaps for you it will be worth the money. Try.
That's all you need to know about sweeteners. Well, the main knowledge is, and if you cannot refuse the sweet taste, then sweeteners are your choice.