Sugar is all around you.. It’s added to damn near everything: peanuts, ketchup, granola, canned fruit, might even be sugar underneath the seats of your couch. This is all with the challenges of an excessive sugar intake being well-documented. Dental woes, a nudge toward type 2 diabetes, brain fog, unwanted weight gain, increased cravings, acne, mood swings, energy lapses, and so on.
So what’s the solution? Cut down on sugar, eliminate it, or reach for a substitute right? In fact a sugar substitute seems as if it could be the best of both worlds without the downside. That “seems” is almost reality, but not quite. Here’s what I mean exactly.
SECTIONS:
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The Problem With Sugar
Sugar converts to blood glucose. Your body releases insulin in response to glucose in the bloodstream.
The insulin wants to use or put the glucose away, so when you consume simple carbs you get an immense rush of insulin.
Your blood glucose spikes shortly after consumption, then crash lands after insulin finishes its sweep.
This causes low energy, mental fogginess, etc.. Experiencing this process too often can lead to insulin resistance, which is when your body starts not responding entirely to insulin or begins to no longer produce a sufficient amount.
This can lead to type 2 diabetes.
Related is the amount of sneaky foods with high sugar content (juice for example). Natural or not you’ll have the same response to sugar in this context. To further discredit juice.. It’s missing fiber, because it’s not the whole fruit, leaving only your body to fight off the sugary effects.
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How To Identify Sugar In Foods
The chemical name for sugar is sucrose and somehow this sweetly flavored simple carbohydrate knows how to keep us coming back for more. We established that the run of the mill, table sugar is to be limited. We’re now considering reinforcements, yet before we get to those I want to add a little about table sugar and how to identify it. Check your label is the answer, however this can be a little confusing so here’s a breakdown.
[1] Nutrition Facts Pointing Out Total And Added Sugar Rows
There are added sugars and total sugars. They aren’t quite the same. Total sugar takes into account naturally occurring sugar that was part of the dish before processing IE a fresh apple, as well as added sugar.
Added sugar is extra. This doesn’t always mean it’s artificial, because it can derive from a natural source, but it does mean it didn’t naturally occur in the dish. Take this label for instance - 25 g total with 23 g added means 2 grams of sugar occurred naturally.
There’s no official recommendation for “total” sugar, but added is suggested to be less than 51 grams daily to limit risk of type 2 diabetes and such. I recommend considering total sugar - your body doesn’t distinguish between naturally occurring and added sugar. Honey can lead to the same issues as M&Ms.
Now substitutes. In the quest to limit sugar it’s not uncommon to dabble in the artificial sweetener arena, but is that a step up, down, or no step at all?
What Are Artificial Sweeteners
Last paragraph i asked a question, the answer is: it’s complicated.
Artificial sweeteners are chemicals created to give that sugary flavor without the sugary harm. Common examples are: sucralose, aspartame, acesulfame potassium, advantame, neotame, and saccharin.
Don’t let the word artificial fool you.. They pack a punch. In fact they commonly range from 200-20,000 times sweeter than table sugar.
What’s good is artificial sweeteners have no sugar and no calories, so they won’t directly contribute to weight gain or a blood sugar spike in the manner table sugar would. Thus when you drink your no calorie diet soda you are safe in one arena, but there’s another.
Cravings.
Artificial sweeteners cause intense cravings. While you may save on calories in the short-term, you may make up for those savings, and then some, later if you aren’t intentional.
Life is a rat race right? In this rat study the rodents had the access and ability to chow at will. They were also given beverages to see how it influenced their habits. One group’s source contained an artificial sweetener; the other’s had table sugar.
The artificial sweetener group gained 4 times as much weight as the table sugar group [3]. The issue is that artificial sweeteners provide a similar taste, but fail to satisfy calorie regulating hormones. The flavor without the sustenance leaves your body still in search of those expected calories hence: cravings.
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What Is Sugar Alcohol
Sugar substitutes don’t stop at artificial sweeteners, there’s also sugar alcohol.
Sugar alcohol is not “alcohol” - you won’t blow a Texas 0.08% if you rip through a pack of Winterfresh. It’s a sugar substitute, which can be natural, yet is usually processed from other sugars.
Sugar alcohol is used as a viable substitute, for it contains less calories than regular sugar.
Table sugar is 4 calories per gram.
Sugar alcohol comes in at 1.5-3 calories a gram [2].
This is because the body doesn’t do as well at absorbing sugar alcohol, so it isn’t fully digested. This can cause a laxative effect - be aware or beware.. Depends on if you’re home alone or not.
Common sugar alcohols:
Sorbitol
Maltitol
Hydrogenated starch hydrolysates
Mannitol
Xylitol
Lactitol
Isomalt
Erythritol
Note: it’s not uncommon to find sugar alcohol in tandem with artificial sweeteners. Processed foods are king at this.
In summation sugar alcohol is better than table sugar on its face, however some of the same sugar issues exist like a higher likelihood of sugar diabetes.
Another note: some products may say sugar free, but contain sugar alcohol - stay woke.
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My Thoughts
All three of these categorical choices have varying impacts, but ultimately it’s about calories in versus calories out for weight management.
It’s about your complete sugar intake and how you manage carbohydrate choices for avoiding the non-weight related quarrels - opt for lower glycemic foods more often than not.
So sugar is sugar. You know how sugar gets down. You have to contain your intake if you want to optimize any sort of results, whether in the health, performance, or aesthetics department. This includes natural sugar; insulin will respond the same, or not respond if you’re insulin resistant.
If sugar is a 10 on a 1-10 scale with 10 being the most severe, then sugar alcohol is a 7 or an 8. Better? Yes, but don’t treat it as a consequence-free zone.
Artificial sweeteners have the widest range when it comes to encroachment. It can be your best friend or worst enemy.. 0 or 10.
If you have a good track record of monitoring your food and solid discipline; artificial sweeteners can be a game changer for you in the positive way.
If you have a not so good track record artificial sweeteners could influence you to binge, which would leave you better off with the real deal.
Know thyself.
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So, It’s About That Time
It’s all about putting yourself in position for success so here’s the deal with sugar alternatives. Keep your sweet desires in check, for they all have potential pitfalls on this quest. Comment below and let me know your experience with sugar substitutes. Awareness is great, now use that information as you put those muscles to use and Be Great.
Sources:
[1] Fda.Gov/Food/New-nutrition-facts-label/Added-sugars-new-nutrition-facts-label
[2] Ynhh.Org/Services/Nutrition/Sugar-alcohol.Aspx