A doctor with 23 years of experience tells.
All sweeteners are divided into synthetic (from chemical compounds) and natural (natural).
How do they differ?
🌱 Synthetic ones have no nutritional value and are completely eliminated from the body.
🌱 Natural ones have some kind of calorie content, everyone is different, but they do not cause a sharp rise in insulin due to the fact that they are slowly broken down. I.e natural sweeteners are involved in the metabolism, like sugar.
🌱 Exceptions: stevia and erythritol have no energy value and do not participate in carbohydrate metabolism, although they are natural compounds. That is why I consider them the best, but here, as they say, the taste and color.
🌱All synthetic substitutes are much sweeter than sugar and natural can be either more or less sweet. Stevia, for example, is an intense sweetener.
Let's talk about the most popular natural sweeteners.
🌱Fructose
Fructose does not cause blood sugar spikes and has long been considered a safe substitute. However, it is now known that if you regularly consume more than 50 grams of fructose per day, then this can lead to excessive accumulation of adipose tissue, especially in the liver and pancreas, and then to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
50 g of fructose is 6-7 tangerines, 2-3 sweet pears, 80 g of dates, 4 apples.
There is a lot of fructose in honey - about 60-70% by weight.
I have a scientific paper on fructose published on the renowned scientific site PubMed - The role of fructose in the formation of kidney stones.
🌱Sorbit E 420
It is a 6-atom alcohol, not a carbohydrate, so no insulin is required to absorb this substance. Found in apples, mountain ash, for example, and not as sweet as sugar.
When consumed excessively, it weakens. No more than 15 g per day.
🌱Xylitol E 967
This is also alcohol, but it is made from wood or organic waste. Not harmful to teeth and also works as a laxative.
🌱 Erythritol, also called "melon sugar", erythrol, E 968.
Extracted from fruits and vegetables.
It has no calories, does not cause caries, many people note a pleasant chill in the mouth when taking it. But this is not always appropriate, which is why erythritol is often mixed with stevia.
🌱Stevia.
I have already written a lot about her (link at the end).
This good sweetener, with no calories at all, is nearly 200 times sweeter than sugar. According to some sources - 300 times!
Stevia is now on the market with almost no herbaceous flavor.
But to many it seems bitter.
🌱Isomalt (E 953)
It is a sugar isomer, which is then hydrogenated. When heated, isomalt becomes transparent and, solidifying, forms a strong caramel, therefore it is often used by confectioners. However, it is important not to overeat it: isomalt strengthens the intestines, and can cause bloating and pain.
Next time - about artificial sweeteners.
Your Doctor Pavlova
Read also about stevia.
