By David Blyweiss, M.D., Advanced Natural Wellness

July 27, 2012

• Decoding the alphabet soup of sugars
• The distinction between natural and artificial…and all the ground in between
• What I recommend instead when you need some sweet

When the FDA ruled that “high fructose corn syrup” could not be re-named “corn sugar,” health advocates breathed a rare sigh of relief. And indeed, as I shared in a previous issue to you, it is good news.

But for people like you and me, who have to struggle through the supermarket and make healthy eating choices amidst a sea of additives and preservatives and chemicals, it didn’t lighten our load as much as we might have liked.

There are still dozens of confusing ingredient names on labels. And sweetener names are perhaps the most challenging to decipher.

Take, sucralose, for example. It sounds a lot like sucrose – which is the name for what most people consider basic “table” sugar – processed white cane sugar. But it’s not. Sucralose is an artificial sweetener that is 600 times sweeter than sucrose, twice as sweet as saccharin, and 3 times as sweet as aspartame.

And it’s created by injecting a molecule of chlorine into sucrose! A very important piece of information to have when you’re deciding on a sweetener that is healthy for you. (It’s not healthy, just to clear that up right away.)

That’s why I wanted to clarify the sweetener confusion in this issue. I’ll share some of the names you might run across on labels. And you’ll discover if they’re artificial or natural (or something in between). Plus, which I’d recommend you use…

Let’s start with artificial sweeteners, which I highly recommend you eliminate completely. The Big Four (by generic and brand name) are:

• Aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal)
• Saccharin (Sweet’N Low, SugarTwin)
• Acesulfame K (Sunett, Sweet One)

You might remember the saccharin debacle. After years of quelling rumors that it caused cancer and was unsafe, the FDA finally lifted the veil of secrecy and revealed that saccharin does, indeed, cause cancer. Not coincidentally, that fact was not revealed until it came off patent protection. And it was followed up very quickly by the announcement of a new artificial sweetener, aspartame.

Since its introduction, aspartame has amassed its own long list of health complaints, including headache, weight gain, depression, dizziness, nausea… the list is actually quite long. Some reports have suggested aspartame is behind a full 75% of food additive complaints received by the FDA.

Neither the track record of the FDA, nor the clinical studies I have seen, convince me that safe artificial sweeteners exist.

Which leaves us with “natural” forms of sugar. I use this term “natural” with quite a bit of trepidation.

The corn industry, for example, would like you to consider high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) a natural sweetener because it’s a corn product. However, it’s a little like saying that a diamond and a piece of coal have the same value. The process of making HFCS drastically alters the molecules and changes the enzymes, until it is nothing like “nature” intended for corn consumption.

That said, here are the names of sweeteners derived from nature. You might find any combination of these on your food labels:

Agave nectar Barley malt Beet sugar Blackstrap molasses Brown sugar Cane crystals Cane juice crystals Cane sugar Caramel Confectioner’s sugar Corn syrup Corn sweetener Corn syrup solids Crystalline fructose Date sugar Dextrin Dextran Dextrose Diastatic malt D-mannose Evaporated cane juice Ethyl maltol Fructose Galactose Glucose

Glucose solids Granulated sugar Grape sugar HFCS High-fructose Corn Syrup Honey (raw or processed) Lactose Malt syrup Maltodextrin Maltose Mannitol Maple syrup Molasses Organic raw sugar Powdered sugar Raw sugar Refiner’s syrup Rice Syrup Sorbitol Sorghum syrup Sucrose Sugar Turbinado sugar Yellow sugar

These sugar forms vary greatly. Some are more heavily processed, like Confectioner’s sugar, which is used for icing and baking. These are more readily absorbed, and contain less nutrients and vitamins. Others such as Blackstrap molasses are on the other end of the spectrum, and are high in nutrients.

Now that you know all the names, you’ll also start to see just how much sugar, artificial sweetener and high fructose corn syrup is in everything you buy. Particularly in processed foods.

Finally, here are a few more confusing facts about sugar you need to know to make healthy choices:

 

• Just because a food doesn’t list sugar as an ingredient by any of the names above, doesn’t mean it’s sugar-free. It just means no sugar has been added. Or, it may include ingredients such as “grape juice concentrate,” which are often included for sweetness, and do contain fructose – sometimes at very high levels.
•  Labels touting “sugar-free” or “less sugar” often mean artificial sweetener is combined with or has replaced either cane sugar or HFCS. Check the label closely. Products with less sugar and no artificial sweetener added, work. Artificial sweeteners, don’t.
• A “low fat” diet is often extraordinarily high in sugar, since sugar is often substituted for fat for flavor. If you are still convinced that “low fat” foods are better for you, let today be the day you change your mind. Odds are these foods are doing you more harm than good.Last but not at all least, here’s the sweetener I recommend most: Stevia. It’s a natural sugar substitute derived from an herb in the sunflower family. It has a negligible effect on blood glucose, doesn’t contain any calories, and even has some other health benefits.

 

In the next issue, I’ll tell you more about stevia. There’s plenty to know. So be sure to check back in.