[ad_1]
"Natural" holds true for food and beverage trends, and the category of low calorie and calorie-free sweeteners is no exception. Sales of stevia sweetener – mainly led by the natural sweetener Truvia – overshadowed sales of artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose and saccharin. Last August, research firm Nielsen announced that sales of stevia had increased 11.9% over the previous year, while sales of artificial sweeteners had decreased by 6.6% on average.
Monk fruit is another popular non-nutritive natural sweetener. Nielsen's data dating back to April 2018 showed that monk fruit use was up 20% in foods such as cereal and nutritional bars and over 150% in vitamins and lactose-free milk.
It is not surprising that natural sweeteners without sugar are gaining popularity. Americans are the main consumers of sugar in the world, an average person taking a quarter cup of added sugar a day. However, we are well aware that overconsumption of sugary foods and drinks is associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and fatty liver disease.
Consumers want to reduce their sugar intake while maintaining a little sweetness. Artificial sweeteners used to be a solution, but their popularity is less and less concerned that they do not contribute to weight management and may even lead to weight gain, metabolic syndrome and high blood pressure. are used constantly.
Natural sweeteners have the healthy halo of being herbal and seem to tick all the good boxes. But are they as innocent as they look?
What is the difference between these sweeteners?
Stevia leaves have been used as a sweetener since the 16th century, but the extract has been approved as a food ingredient in the United States only in 2008 and in Europe since 2011.
The full name of the stevia plant is stevia rebaudiana Bertoni. It is a shrub native to South America that is also grown in Japan and China. The leaves are harvested, dried and then soaked in hot water. The resulting liquid is filtered and purified to isolate the sweet compounds called glycosides, the most common of which are stevioside and rebaudioside A (also called reb A). Then the stevia extract is dried to be used as a sweetener.
Its natural sweetener has no calories and does not contain sugar.
Stevia is 200 to 300 times sweeter than sugar, so you only need a small amount to sweeten foods and beverages. It contains enough calories to qualify as a "zero calorie" sweetener. To give it more volume so that it can more easily replace sugar, other sweeteners, carbohydrates and fiber are usually added to the packages and bags of stevia that you see at the grocery store.
A disadvantage is that some stevia compounds, especially steviosides, tend to have a bitter aftertaste. This is another reason why other sweeteners are sometimes added.
Truvia is the best-selling stevia brand in the United States. Its natural sweetener contains no calories and does not contain sugar. It is sweet with the A reb and consists mainly of erythritol, a sugar alcohol needed to provide bulk and help measure it like sugar. Natural flavors are also on the list of ingredients.
The monk fruit, also known as lo han guo, is a small Chinese melon. The sweet component, mogroside V, is extracted from fruit or dried juice and is 150 to 250 times sweeter than sugar. The Monk fruit sweetener contains 2 calories per teaspoon, which is low enough to carry the name "zero calories".
Monk's fruits have a different taste of sugar and can have an aftertaste. Like stevia extracts, the monk fruit is often mixed with other sweeteners, starches and fiber to give volume and improve taste.
Consumers want to reduce their sugar intake while maintaining a little sweetness.
What is the best for your health?
A systematic review from last year revealed that natural and artificial sweeteners are often considered a group instead of separate compounds, making it difficult to determine if some are better than others.
It was determined that Stevia was safe for use by the general population, including children. The acceptable daily intake (ADI) was set at four milligrams per kilogram of body weight. So, according to the Food and Drug Administration, if you weigh 150 pounds, you can have up to 273 milligrams of stevia – the equivalent of about 10 packets of stevia sweetener per day .
Animal studies suggest that stevia extracts are not toxic. To date, no negative reaction has been reported in humans. And a study of the effect of stevia extracts on fecal bacteria showed that the bacterial balance was not significantly affected.
Research also shows that stevia does not raise blood sugar levels and does not cause caries as sugars do. This can also help reduce insulin levels compared to artificial sweeteners: A study conducted among 19 lean adults and 12 obese adults revealed that having stevia before a meal significantly reduced the levels of artificial foods. 39, insulin after the meal compared to aspartame, an artificial sweetener without sugar.
It is feared that low-calorie sweeteners will make people more hungry because of the anticipation of calories with a sweet taste. The above-mentioned study in meager and obese subjects revealed that when participants took stevia before a meal compared to sugar, they did not make up for more calories and did not show any difference in levels of hunger sensation. . A study in Singapore, however, revealed conflicting results. Thirty healthy men were randomized to get a drink containing stevia, monk fruit, aspartame or sugar. They were served lunch an hour later. The results showed that sugar-free beverages, whether natural or artificial, forced men to eat more at lunch than they had the sweet drink.
It is feared that low-calorie sweeteners will make people more hungry because of the anticipation of calories with a sweet taste.
The Monk fruit sweetener contains little or no carbohydrates and zero sugar. It does not increase the level of sugar in the blood. The monk's fruits are generally recognized as safe by the FDA, but no limit on the ADI has been set. Overall, monk fruit research is too young to be able to say much about the effects of these diseases on human health.
The million dollar question is: do they help people lose weight? Until now, the evidence does not support the idea that low calorie sweeteners stimulate weight loss.
What about other ingredients?
Erythritol, inulin and cellulose are among the best ingredients to look for in your sweeteners. Dextrose, maltodextrin and lactose are among the least desirable additions.
Erythritol is a sugar alcohol that is naturally found in grapes, mushrooms and beer. The food additive version is made from corn starch sugar or wheat fermented by yeast; the compound is then separated and purified. Erythritol contains 0.24 calories per gram, while sugar contains four, but is as sweet as 70% sugar. It also helps fight cavities.
This sweet alcohol has minimal impact on blood sugar levels and does not appear to affect intestinal bacteria. Erythritol is considered safe based on animal studies on toxicity, cancer risk and reproductive health.
But be warned that overdoing sugar alcohols can cause bloating and other digestive problems, especially in people with irritable bowel syndrome. Erythritol is one of the least harmful sugar alcohols because, unlike most others, it is resistant to fermentation by the bacteria in your colon.
Among other ingredients – and positive – blends of stevia and monk fruit include fiber such as inulin and cellulose. Inulin is mainly extracted from the chicory root. This prebiotic has many potential health benefits and stimulates good bacteria in the intestines. It can also help control blood sugar and manage weight. Cellulose is found in the walls of plant cells and is the insoluble fiber that promotes regularity.
Stevia brands such as Stevia in the Raw and Pure Via as well as several sweet fruit sweetening companies add dextrose or maltodextrin to their blends. These simple sugars have a high glycemic index. The quantities are small enough that if you have just one pack or two, it will have little effect on your blood sugar. However, the amount of carbohydrates you consume can add up if you use a lot of these sweeteners.
Some brands will use lactose as a bulking agent. Although the quantities are small, this could be a concern for lactose intolerant and particularly sensitive people and / or people using high-calorie sweeteners.
The bottom line
Are sweeteners with monk fruits and stevia better because they are natural? The plant and the fruit are natural, but the extracts of your sweeteners have been processed and refined to create something that can be added to food and used instead of sugar.
Do not forget that "natural" does not automatically mean "better". For example, whole stevia leaves and raw (less purified) extracts of stevia are not approved for use in foods because of concerns related to kidney health.
It's also important to think about how you use stevia sweeteners and monk fruit sweeteners. Do you put them in your morning coffee instead of sugar so you can have that extra donut? So you miss the point.
Low calorie sweeteners should be used as a way to help reduce the added sugars in your diet. Even so, you should try to keep your use of these substances within reasonable limits to help your taste buds adapt to less softness over time. Another key strategy: choose more nutritious foods, such as fruits, to obtain fiber and nutrients as well as natural sugars.
– Christy Brissette is a dietitian, nutrition editor, television contributor and president of 80TwentyNutrition.com.
[ad_2]
Source link