LIFE IS SWEET

You can have your cake and eat it too. Now a days sweeteners offer great options for reducing carbohydrate, lowering calories and yielding such delicious results that you simply do not miss real sugar. You will be spoilt for choice with this list..

Some of the popular Sugar substitutes / Sweeteners and their brand names :

Sugar substitutes

• Sucralose  - Splenda, Zero, Sugar Free Natura approved by FDA.
• Aspartame - Equal, Sweetex, Sugar Free, Sugar Free Gold.
• Stevia - Stevi0cal, Gwiser, Dr Shugar, So Sweet.
• Acesul - Sweet One.
• Saccharin - Sweet 'N' Low, Sweet Twin, Necta Sweet, Sweetex.
• Other sugar alcohols - Sorbitol, Xylitol, Mannitol, Malitol etc.

ADVANTAGES OF USING SUGAR SUBSTITUTES:

There are many advantages of using artificial / reduced calorie sweeteners. some of them are :

• Weight loss. Overweight / Obese individuals often choose to have artificial sweeteners in their foods so that they can reduce the total calorie intake in their diet, which in turn leads to weight loss by creating a negative energy balance. By doing so, they do not have to totally avoid or sacrifice the foods they love to eat.
• Diabetes Mellitus. With the increasing prevalence of diabetes in the world, especially type 2 diabetes, people have started using artificial sweeteners to limit their total calorie intake as well as maintain their sugar levels by avoiding simple sugars, and enjoying most of the foods they like.
• Dental problems. Sugar substitutes are not fermented by the micro flora of the dental plaque, and therefore they are tooth friendly.

Q. Is it advisable for people without any serious health-weight problems to be using sugar substitutes? Should it be used in moderation? Why?

A. Artificial sweeteners should still not play an important role in a healthy and balanced diet. In spite of the green signal given to most of the sweeteners, they are no substitute for good nutrition. They do not contain calories.