Artificial Sweeteners



homemade xylitol frosting on Pillsbury sugar free chocolate cupcake


A friend who's been reading my blog asked me a good question.  She knows that I like to eat organic if possible.  So what kind of sweetener do I use.

When my husband first started TNT, I was very uncomfortable with his use of artificial sweeteners.  Mostly he was getting them in the form of protein supplements and diet sodas.  When I was persuaded to go low carb myself, I began to do a lot more baking than previously because there aren't so many tasty and affordable low carb items in the marketplace.  Following my inclination toward natural & organic stuff, I tried to use stevia alone.  But I found the bitter aftertaste a little off putting.  Then I read somewhere that many companies that manufacture sugar free items combine two or more sweeteners to get a more natural sugar-like flavor.  Common combinations are Splenda + a sugar alcohol or acesulfame K + a sugar alcohol.  I tend to use Splenda + stevia to get a better overall flavor while reducing the total amount of artificial sweetener to achieve a certain sweetness.

I choose Splenda over the other common artificial sweeteners like Equal and Sweet N Low because it is the one artificial sweetener that is supposed to be the most stable when heated.  I also use small amounts of molasses, say in place of caramelized sugar when making a flan or in a tomato based sauce to cut the acid.  Molasses also has iron, which women & children could always use more of.  When I cheat & have pancakes or when I make low carb pancakes, I prefer the flavor of organic agave nectar over the artificial low carb maple syrups (not too keen on a strong maple flavor).  I chose agave nectar because it has a low glycemic index, i.e. it does not give you a big, quick blood sugar spike, and it is much sweeter than other syrups so I only need to use a tiny amount to get that big sweet flavor.  Pancakes with butter and gobs of Log Cabin syrup are one of my huge downfalls...just have to make efforts not to fall down too many times over the course of a month!  ;-)

There is evidently some debate about whether sugar alcohols are okay for those trying to reduce their carbs, whether you can subtract them from the total carbs when calculating net carbs.  (In case you are unfamiliar with calculating net carbs: total grams carbs - grams fiber = grams net carbs.  Some say this formula is okay: total grams carbs - grams fiber - grams sugar alcohol = grams net carbs.)  Our family has foods prepared with sugar alcohols as fun foods - treats like low carb ice cream on weekends or sugar free cake mix with homemade xylitol frosting for specials occasions or sugar free candies when that sweet tooth bites.  We don't use sugar alcohol as a tabletop sweetener.  Sugar alcohols vary in their sweetness and in their impact on blood sugar, so moderation in their use may be prudent especially for the insulin dependent diabetic.

Links:

• http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/artificial-sweeteners
• http://diabetes.about.com/od/nutrition/a/sugarsubchart.htm
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sucralose
• http://www.livestrong.com/article/440319-agave-nectar-vs-high-fructose-corn-syrup/
• http://spectrum.diabetesjournals.org/content/17/3/137.full