Page 28 - LVAC-Summer-2017

understanding

sugar

and its Substitutes

By Crystal Petrello

merica has a very large sweet tooth. The sources such as maple syrup. A popular way affects weight gain is through the bacteria in
average American consumes about 23 of marketing sugar is labeling the package as our gut that direct our metabolism. Research
A teaspoons of added sugar daily. That using "real sugar” in the form of sugar cane, shows that these sweeteners encourage the
adds up to more than three cups of added sugar turbinado sugar or white sugar. We purchase growth of the types of gut bacteria that turn
a week! the product with the belief that if it is natural, the energy supplied by those sugar calories
it’s ok. This is not the case. Your goal should into fat storage. Thus, the bacteria that want
Using the definition of the FDA Nutrition Facts be to steer clear of added sugars altogether. us to be fat are thriving! The imbalance of
labeling laws, added sugars are sugars or Although sugar does make the taste of some bacteria may also be impacting the hormones
syrups that are added during food processing, foods more pleasurable, it does not add any that shape our eating behaviors.
preparation or before consumption. For nutritional benefit to our bodies. It simply
example, milk has a natural sugar called adds unwanted calories. The following grid shows you how to read
lactose. When you drink 2% milk, you are the label of a sweetener in order to find
drinking a combination of naturally occurring If you are trying to decrease your added sugar, non-nutritive and nutritive sugar substitutes.
fat, protein and carbohydrates in the form of I recommend caution when substituting with Do not let the word nutritive fool you. Sugar
lactose. Thus, 2% white milk has no added sugar-free items. These products have been substitutes have no nutritional value. Nutritive
sugar because the sugar occurs naturally in the labeled ‘Generally Recognized as Safe’ (GRAS) sugar means it contains calories where as non-
milk. Chocolate milk however, is considered under the Drug and Supplements Educational nutritive sugar does not contain calories. For
milk with added sugar. Act. While recognized as safe, there is new example, one of the main classes of nutritive
research that has shown that these products sweeteners is sugar alcohols. Sugar alcohols
The current FDA recommendation is to keep may interfere with your ability to lose weight. come from plant products such as fruits
added sugars to less than 25 grams, or 6 In fact, they may be one of the culprits that and berries. The carbohydrate in these plant
teaspoons, a day. To put this in perspective, lead to weight gain. products is altered through a chemical process.
a 12-ounce can of soda contains about 10 The labeling and marketing of these products
teaspoons of sugar in the form of high fructose Most adults consume sugar-free sweeteners states that they are sugar free. This is tricky
corn syrup. The recommendation does not (non-nutritive sweeteners also known as NNS) because they do not have real sugar in the
refer to naturally occurring sugar from the from beverages. This comes from either bottled form of sucrose, but they have sugar alcohols.
recommended food groups; dairy, fruit and beverages or from the rainbow of colored For people with diabetes, sugar alcohols do
whole grains. It is referring to sugar that is packets on your restaurant table. The increase affect your blood sugar.
added during processing or preparation. in the frequency of consumption of these
sweeteners has been connected to the increase As a registered dietician, my counsel would be
Added sugar can come in many forms. Most in weight gain. There are several proposed that if you want something sweet, have a piece
commonly used by food manufacturers is high reasons for this. One reason is that when we of fruit. If you enjoy an occasional treat with
fructose corn syrup (HFCS), but it can also consume a food with a sugar free sweetener, added sugar, do it right and eat real sugar.
come from natural sugars such as fruit juices. we think it frees us to eat a calorie-laden food Just try over time to eat less and less of it.
Some companies will add items from natural in its place. Another possible way that NNS