Sweet Endings

Continuing my series on sweeteners, here is the last installment discussing neotame, agave, xylitol and sorbitol.

Neotame is an artificial sweetener made by adding 3,3-dimethylbutyraldehyde to aspartame.  It is much sweeter than aspartame so much less is needed.  There is less research done regarding the side effects of neotame, but given that it is made from aspartame the same caution should be used.  I would advise avoiding its consumption all together.  On ingredient labels, neotame can be listed as 961.

Agave syrup is a natural sweetener from the necter of the agave plant.  It is sweeter than honey and has a thinner consistency.  It is about 1.5 times sweeter than sugar but has a lower glycemic index and glycemic load.  It can be used in baking however recipes would have to be adjusted.  There are cookbooks available with recipes for agave.  The only down side to agave is that it is high in fructose so excessive consumption can trigger fructose mal­-absorption, metabolic syndrome or other fructose related issues.  Although you would have to consume a lot of agave syrup for this to happen.

Xylitol can be found in some sugar free chewing gums and candies.  It is found naturally in some fruits and vegetables although it is usually extracted for commercial use from hardwood or corn.  Xylitol can improve dental health, clear nasal passages and prevent ear infections.  It does this by preventing bacteria from sticking to teeth and nasal passages.  In addition to this, bacteria can’t digest xylitol like it does sugar, so it doesn’t grow.  It also has a very low glycemic index of 7 (sugar is 100).  Unfortunately it can cause diarrhea and gas.  I suspect this is because it is having an effect on the good bacteria in your gut not just the bad bacteria.  Although it is a natural sugar a chemical process is used to extract it.   If you are going to consume xylitol I would keep the dose low, watch closely for any side effects and if you develop any stop consuming it immediately.

Sorbitol is used as a sweetener in chewing gum, diet drinks, ice cream, mints, cough syrup and toothpaste.  It is also used as a thickener.  It is found naturally in apples, pears, peaches and prunes and synthesized from glucose. It is used as a diet sweetener because it has fewer calories than sugar but it also has half the sweetness.  It is used medically as a laxative with side effects such as nausea, diarrhea, stomach cramps and gas, so caution should be used if consuming it as a sweetener in large doses.

This is the end of the series on sweeteners.  Check back in a couple weeks for my next article.

References:

MedicineNet.com

http://www.medicinenet.com/sorbitol-oral/article.htm

Accessed 3 March 2013

Dr. Mercola

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/02/08/neotame-receives-fda-approval-but-is-not-widely-used-yet.aspx

Updated 8 February 2011

Accessed 2 March 2013

Natural News

http://www.naturalnews.com/022986_xylitol_health_sugar.html

Updated 10 April 2008

Accessed 2 March 2013

NineMSN Food

http://food.ninemsn.com.au/healthyrecipes/newsandfeatures/8306471/the-sweet-but-bitter-truth

Updated 25 January 2008

Accessed 2 March 2013

PubChem Compound

http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/summary/summary.cgi?cid=5780

Accessed 3 March 2013

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

Household Products Database

http://hpd.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/search?queryx=50-70-4&tbl=TblChemicals&prodcat=all

Accessed 3 March 2013

WebMD

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-996-XYLITOL.aspx?activeIngredientId=996&activeIngredientName=XYLITOL

Accessed 2 March 2013

Xylitol.org

http://www.xylitol.org

Accessed 2 March 2013

Aspartame - As sweet as we think?

Aspartame – As sweet as we think?

There is a lot of conflicting information about aspartame available to consumers.  Soft drink companies and government regulators will tell you that it is safe.  On the Food Standards Australia New Zealand website they state that “Scientific evidence to date supports the safety of aspartame for use as a sweetener in food.” but there is in fact a lot of scientific evidence to the contrary. 

Aspartame was initially approved in the US in 1974.  The initial approval process raised allegations of bribery and corruption, which prompted many people to doubt its safety, but governments have stood firm in their statements that it is safe.  Over the years there has been increasing evidence that this is not true.

The initial fear was that aspartame could cause cancer.  These concerns seem to be unfounded, but scientists have discovered it causes other problems.  Most recently a French study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, followed 66,000 women over 14 years.  The authors found that, compared to regular soft drinks, there was a 15% higher risk for diabetes in those who drank just 500ml/week of diet soft drinks, and a 59% higher risk for those who drank 1.5L/week. Although aspartame is suggested for people with diabetes, it may actually be making it worse.

In a 2011 study in the US, people who drank diet soft drinks, as an overall group, had a 70% greater increase in waist circumference than non-users. Those who were in the highest bracket and drank two or more diet soft drinks a day had a 500% greater increase in waist circumference than non-users.

One of the metabolites of aspartame is methanol.  There have also been studies that have found detectable methanol in the blood after chronic consumption of aspartame affecting the brain.

There have been many studies on rats and mice consuming aspartame.  Although these can’t be directly applied to humans, it is cause for caution.  Aspartame has been found to promote hyperglycemia and insulin intolerance and impair spatial cognition and memory.  It may accelerate atherosclerosis as well as lead to liver damage.  Aspartame and saccharin consumption, when compared to sucrose (sugar), resulted in increased weight gain even at the same caloric intake.  So even if you are eating a low calorie diet, you may not lost weight simply because you are consuming products containing aspartame.

Clinically, I have had patients lose weight just from taking diet soft drinks out of their diet even if they replace them with regular ones.

Artificial sweeteners are just that, artificial.  The body does not recognize them and so cannot digest them properly.  This can lead to the body holding on to fat and water in an attempt to dilute these unknown particles.

Make sure you always check labels especially on products that say they are low in sugar.  Aspartame can also be written as ‘951’ on an ingredients panel. 

Although regulators have deemed it safe, there is enough evidence to the contrary that it doesn’t seem worth taking the chance.


References:

Abdel-Salam OM, Salem NA, El-Shamarka ME, Hussein JS, Ahmed NA, El-Nagar ME, Studies on the effects of aspartame on memory and oxidative stress in brain of mice. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2012 Dec; 16(15):2092-101.

Abhilash M, Paul MV, Varghese MV, Nair RH, Effect of long term intake of aspartame on antioxidant defense status in liver. Food Chem. Toxicol. 2011 Jun; 49(6):1203-7.

Collison KS, Makhoul NJ, Zaidi MZ, Saleh SM, Andres B, Inglis A, Al-Rabiah R, Al-Mohanna FA, Gender dimorphism in aspartame-induced impairment of spatial cognition and insulin sensitivity. PLoS ONE 2012; 7(4):e31570.

Collison KS, Makhoul NJ, Zaidi MZ, Al-Rabiah R, Inglis A, Andres BL, Ubungen R, Shoukri M, Al-Mohanna FA, Interactive effects of neonatal exposure to monosodium glutamate and aspartame on glucose homeostasis. Nutr Metab (Lond) 2012; 9(1):58.

European Food Safety Authority

http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/topics/topic/aspartame.htm

Accessed 5 February 2013

Feijó Fde M, Ballard CR, Foletto KC, Batista BA, Neves AM, Ribeiro MF, Bertoluci MC, Saccharin and aspartame, compared with sucrose, induce greater weight gain in adult Wistar rats, at similar total caloric intake levels. Appetite 2013 Jan; 60(1):203-7.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand

http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumerinformation/aspartame.cfm

Accessed 5 February 2013

Frincu-Mallos C, ENDO: Use of Artificial Sweeteners Linked to 2-Fold Increase in Diabetes. Medscape News. www.medscape.com/viewarticle/704432

Accessed 5 February 2013

Iyyaswamy A, Rathinasamy S, Effect of chronic exposure to aspartame on oxidative stress in the brain of albino rats. J. Biosci. 2012 Sep; 37(4):679-88.

Jang W, Jeoung NH, Cho KH, Modified apolipoprotein (apo) A-I by artificial sweetener causes severe premature cellular senescence and atherosclerosis with impairment of functional and structural properties of apoA-I in lipid-free and lipid-bound state. Mol. Cells 2011 May; 31(5):461-70.

Science a Go Go

www.scienceagogo.com/news/20110527210526data_trunc_sys..shtml

Accessed 7 February 2013

Szponar J, Górska A, Majewska M, Tchórz M, Drelich G, Methanol poisoning in a 61-year old male with recently diagnosed diabetes--a case report. Prz. Lek. 2011; 68(8):521-2.

The Project

Theprojecttv.com.au/diet-diabetes.htm

Accessed 8 February 2013

Stevia

Sugar has been given a bad name these days and as a result companies have been searching for healthier substitutes.  But are these substitutes really better for you than good old fashioned sugar?  I will spend the next few articles discussing these sugar alternatives.  The first of these I’ll discuss is stevia.

Stevia has made its way into products and onto the supermarket shelves as a healthy sugar alternative.  Stevia is a plant from Paraguay and Brazil and has been used in these countries since before 1887.  The Japanese are also big consumers of stevia.  The benefits of stevia are that it is sweeter than sugar so you don’t need as much, it has almost no calories and it may actually have positive effects on type II diabetes and high blood pressure.  It is generally accepted to be safe to consume although it has been reported that stevia has been used to prevent pregnancy, so should be avoided if you are trying to get pregnant.

CSR’s “Smart Sugar Blend” is composed of a small amount of stevia (0.4%) mixed with cane sugar (sucrose).  Due to the higher sweetness intensity of stevia only half as much sugar is required to achieve the same sweetness.  This makes it difficult to use your old recipes but, in theory, you will eat less sugar by incorporating stevia into your diet.

Stevia is not commonly used without being mixed with something. This mix is because stevia on its own doesn’t actually taste that great.  To counter this problem companies also use masking agents.  These masking agents are often high in carbohydrates thus countering the good effects of stevia.  As with CSR’s “Smart Sugar Blend”, many products still use some sugar to keep the taste agreeable.  Of the 604 products that were launched in 2010 containing stevia, 60% of them still contained sugar.  And remember, even though a product may not contain sugar does not mean that it is good for you.  Processed white flour can have the same effect on blood sugar as sucrose and most sweet foods are often also high in calories due to their fat content.  So just because a product is sweetened with stevia does not mean you should consume more of it.

Stevia is slowly replacing aspartame in many products.  If all the benefits of stevia are true, then this is a positive step for the food industry.  Next time I’ll discuss why the adoption of stevia over aspartame is a good thing.

As we discuss sweeteners, it is important to remember that no matter what a product is sweetened with it should only be consumed as part of a healthy diet.  Sweets are great treats but only in moderation.

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