Article: Not Only Sugar Is Sweet

[Guest guest]

This is for those wanting to know a little bit more about stevia - a

natural sugar substitute ...

 

*Smile*

Chris (list mom)

 

http://www.alittleolfactory.com

 

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Not Only Sugar Is Sweet

http://www.cookingwithstevia.com/reportnotonlysweet.html

 

by Alexandra Greeley

Plain table sugar and its numerous taste-alikes may be one of our most

popular food commodities. People come by their love for sweetness

naturally. According to the experts, humans are born generally

preferring sweet over bitter or sour tastes.

Sweeteners make many foods taste better. And natural sugars have a host

of other valuable culinary?and practical?uses, including adding bulk to

baked goods, helping foods to brown, and facilitating fermentation. But

despite their immense popularity, sweeteners, particularly table sugar,

have

generated their share of sour publicity because of health concerns.

What Is Sugar?

Traditionally for most consumers the generic term ?sugar? means simply

the white sugar crystals, or table sugar, that are stirred into or

sprinkled on foods.

These familiar crystals are technically known as sucrose. Sucrose is a

disaccharide--that is, it's composed of two simple sugar units, in this

case, glucose and fructose. White sugar comes from sugar cane or sugar

beets that have undergone a rigorous refining process. White sugar

crystals can be used as is, compressed into cubes, or further pulverized

to superfine, then to confectioner?s, or powdered, sugar. Brown sugar

results from mixing white sugar crystals with molasses. Other forms of

sucrose are beet sugar, maple sugar, turbinado sugar, and raw sugar.

Sucrose, however, is only one of a subgroup of sugars (see accompanying

chart), and all sugars are carbohydrates. Monosaccharides, or single

sugar units, include glucose, fructose and galactose. Monosaccharides

also are the digestive end product of polysaccharides, the complex

carbohydrates (starches) in fruits, grains and vegetables. Other

disaccharides besides sucrose include lactose (glucose and galactose),

also called milk sugar, and maltose (two units of glucose), also called

malt sugar.

For labeling use and for making comparative claims, the Food and Drug

Administration defines sugars as all mono-, di-, tri-, and

tetrasaccharides and their derivatives, such as sugar alcohol, says

Youngme Park, Ph.D., a nutritionist with FDA's Center for Food Safety

and Applied Nutrition. He says this includes all carbohydrate sweeteners

with the same functional and physiological effect that can be used

interchangeably in the food supply.

After complex carbohydrates are broken down to simple sugars (most

sugars and carbohydrates are eventually broken down to glucose), the

sugars are absorbed into the bloodstream and go to the liver. There they

may be stored as glycogen or used immediately as glucose for energy by

the body or brain.

" The body uses glucose as its simplest form of energy, " says Judith

Wurtman, Ph.D., research scientist in the Department of Brain and

Cognitive Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. " So for

people who need calories, that is, those who are recovering from an

operation or who are shipwrecked, sugar can keep them alive. "

Thomas Jukes, Ph.D., professor of biophysics at the University of

California at Berkeley, tells of his experiments feeding laboratory rats

protein, vitamins, minerals, and sugar as the sole source of

carbohydrates. The rats thrived, he says. " Fish is not a brain food, "

concludes Jukes. " Glucose is. "

Sucrose occurs naturally in most green plants, says Sarah Setton, vice

president for public affairs, The Sugar Association, Washington, D.C. It

is produced by photosynthesis, which is the use of the sun's energy in

the formation of food by plants. People would have to stop eating fruits

and vegetables and any products incorporating them to cut sugar out of

their diet. People seem to think that there is a difference between

sugar in an apple and sugar in the sugar bowl, " she adds. " But the way

the body uses sugar is all the same. The body can?t tell where the sugar

is from. "

A Taste for Sweets

Americans have become conspicuous consumers of sugar and sweet-tasting

foods and beverages. We have developed a relentless sweet tooth, " a

severe addiction to sweetness, " says Joan Gussow, Ed.D., professor of

nutrition and education at Columbia Teachers College, Columbia

University in New York City.

According to U.S. Department of Agriculture data on the amount of

caloric sweeteners used in food, there has been an increase of more than

16 percent on a per person basis over the past two decades, and more

than half of the increase has occurred in the past five years. Caloric

sweeteners include sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, pure honey, and

edible syrups.

Paul Lachance, chairman of the department of food science at Rutgers

University in New Jersey states it another way. He estimates that, based

on a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet, the average American consumes about 300

calories from sugars added to food. That comes to nearly 14 teaspoons of

table sugar a day.

Gussow has her own theory about why sugar is so prominent in the

American diet. It's for taste, she says. " I grow my own vegetables and

fruit. And when I pick, cook and eat my parsnips, for example, they are

as sweet as sugar, " she says. " But food is shipped all over the place,

and when food gets too old, much of the sugar turns to starch. The

natural sweetness is gone, and people sugar food to give it flavor. "

As yet, no scientist has established any limits for sugar consumption.

In the typical American diet today (composed of about 45 percent

carbohydrates, 20 percent protein, and 30 to 35 percent fat) all added

and naturally occurring sugars account for about 21 percent of the total

daily caloric intake. A 1986 FDA report estimated that sugars added to

food accounted for 11 percent of calories consumed.

Yet if people eat increasingly larger quantities of caloric (nutritive)

 

sweeteners in general, these could compete with and crowd out other

nutrients, warns Jane Hurley, associate nutritionist at the Center for

Science in the Public Interest, Washington, D.C. People may consume many

of their calories each day from a sugary soft drink or candy bar. " Those

foods have few important nutrients we need, " she says. " People are

better offhaving an apple as a snack than a candy bar. "

The Safety Issue

Over the last several decades, sugar has taken on the villain's role in

the

American diet. General sugar-bashing has led to " sugarphobia " as Jukes

calls it and the unfounded fear that eating refined sugar causes many

health problems, including heart disease, diabetes, anxiety, fatigue,

depression, hyperactivity, and even criminal behavior.

But, in fact, added sugar at current levels is not detrimental to

health.

According to the landmark 1986 FDA Report of Sugars Task Force, sugar,

when consumed normal or moderate quantities, cannot be linked to any

disease, nor does it create a dependency.

Walter Glinsmann, M.D., FDA's associate director for clinical nutrition

and senior author of the task force report, explains that members of the

task force estimated the intake figures and trends of both added and

naturally occurring sugars, based on USDA data. They also reviewed the

scientific literature dealing with possible harmful effects of sugar

consumption on numerous conditions, including tooth decay, glucose

tolerance, diabetes mellitus, lipidemias (high blood fat),

cardiovascular diseases, obesity, gallstones, and cancer. " Based on that

work, " says Glinsmann, " we decided that sugars are safe as they are now

used in the food supply. " If there is a significant change in the way

Americans consume sugars, he adds, then scientists must reevaluate their

role.

As Glinsmann observes, FDA does not say that eating unlimited amounts of

sugars is safe. " There are not good or bad foods, only good or bad

diets, " he says. " If half your diet is pure sugar, that is not healthy.

.... In a normal, varied diet, there are no adverse effects of sugar

itself. "

The task force did find that sugar can cause dental cavities, he says,

but

adds that so can other fermentable carbohydrates, such as dried fruit

and honey, under the right conditions.

Despite the report, some consumers persist in linking sugar consumption

with assorted ills, such as hyperactivity and aggressive behavior in

children. This is often reported by parents who say that their children

are uncontrollable after eating candy and other sugary sweets.

Glinsmann points out that sugar has not been shown to be a factor in

hyperactivity. Studies of children and adolescents at the National

Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., and elsewhere have looked at

groups of individuals served sugar or a placebo (an inactive substance

given as a control when testing another substance). Glinsmann points out

that no researcher has found that sugar has had any discernible negative

effect on children's behavior. To the contrary, sugar often has a

soothing effect.

It also calms adults, says Wurtman, who has studied the relationship

between carbohydrate consumption and mood. When people report having a

sugar high or jitters, Wurtman asks them what was happening before they

took a mouthful of something sweet. " When people feel the need to eat, "

she says, " They usually are jittery. But 20 minutes after eating, they

are no longer jittery. " In fact, the opposite happens: After eating

sugar, people become calm or even sleepy, she says, an effect caused by

sugar raising the level of a calming brain chemical called serotonin.

Sugar in its pure form is the best nonprescription antidepressant, she

says.

Sugar by Other Names

Numerous nutritive and nonnutritive substitutes for sucrose vie for its

place as a sweetener. All nutritive substitutes - such as honey,

concentrated fruit juices, dextrose (also known as glucose), maple and

corn syrups, fructose (levulose or fruit sugar), sugar alcohols, and

high-fructose corn syrup contain and contribute calories.

Perhaps the most commonly used nutritive sweetener is high-fructose corn

syrup, a sweet product manufactured from cornstarch and containing a

high level of fructose, explains Kyd Brenner, director of public affairs

for the Corn Refiners Association in Washington, D.C. High-fructose corn

syrup is very close to the composition and calorie content of cane

sugar, he says, and the syrup can be used as a direct and inexpensive

substitute for cane sugar when liquid sweeteners are called for. It is

used extensively in soft drinks, condiments, jams, jellies, and wine and

is not available for home use.

Of the sugar alcohols, sorbitol (60 percent as sweet as sucrose with

about the same number of calories per gram) is used in such products as

hard and soft candies and chewing gums. Xylitol, another sugar alcohol,

has limited FDA approval for special dietary uses. A third sugar

alcohol, mannitol, has been removed from the GRAS (generally recognized

as safe) list, and is regulated as an 'interim' food additive. This

means that its current use is considered safe, but some questions have

been raised that must be resolved to fully determine what limitations,

if any, should be imposed. Mannitol is still being used in some

products.

Both mannitol and sorbitol, when taken in large amounts, can cause

diarrhea. Products whose reasonably foreseeable consumption may result

in a daily ingestion of 50 grams of sorbitol or 20 grams mannitol must

bear the labeling statement: " Excess consumption may have a laxative

effect. "

The sugar polymer polydextrose, because of its bulking properties, is

used to replace a number of the technical effects of sucrose in various

baked goods, salad dressings, frozen desserts, and candies. Because of

its structure, polydextrose is not readily digested, so it is a

low-calorie sucrose substitute. But it does not provide sweetness, so it

is likely to be used with a nonnutritive sweetener. FDA is presently

considering petitions for its use in other products such as in fruit and

peanut butter spreads, sweet sauces, toppings, and syrups, and as a

formulation aid in film coatings in vitamin and mineral supplement

tablets.

Nonnutritive Sweeteners

Nonnutritive, or high-intensity, sweeteners satisfy America's sweet

tooth

without adding calories. Presently, manufacturers are using three such

sweeteners to replace sugar in a variety of food and nonfood items such

as mouthwashes and pill coatings.

One of these is saccharin, 300 times sweeter than table sugar and with

zero calories. It is sold in liquid, tablets, packets, and in bulk.

Saccharin has had a stormy past, with studies in the United States and

Canada implicating it in the development of certain cancers. In the late

1970s, FDA contracted with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to

study cancer-causing agents and toxic substances in foods, including

saccharin. NAS reports showed that saccharin is a potential

cancer-causing agent in humans. A congressional moratorium protecting

saccharin's continued use has been renewed periodically

by Congress. The required label warning on saccharin states, " Use of

this product may be hazardous to your health. This product contains

saccharin which has been determined to cause cancer in laboratory

animals. "

Aspartame - about 200 times sweeter than table sugar and with the same

number of calories per teaspoonful has been shown to be safe. However,

some people have reported that they are sensitive to it, although such a

sensitivity has not been confirmed by scientific studies. Certain

individuals suffering from a rare genetic disease called phenylketonuria

cannot tolerate the amino acid phenylalanine, one of the building blocks

of aspartame as well as naturally occurring proteins. Therefore,

products containing aspartame must bear on the label a statement that

they contain phenylalanine. Aspartame is available in packets and is

used in numerous foods, including cereals, beverage bases, and

ready-to-drink iced tea, but because it is not generally heat stable, it

is not used for cooking. Food technologists have been working on ways to

overcome this instability.

Acesulfame K (K is the chemical symbol for potassium)-130 times sweeter

than table sugar?was approved by FDA in July 1988 as a sugar substitute

in packets or tablets and as an ingredient in such products as chewing

gum, dry drink mixes, and gelatins. The body does not metabolize

acesulfame K so it contributes no calories. Soluble in water, it is

stable at normal temperatures and does not break down during cooking.

FDA banned the use of the sweetener cyclamate in 1970 because of

concerns over its safety, but cyclamate is again under consideration for

use in specific products, such as tabletop sweeteners and nonalcoholic

beverages.

Under Development

Scientists continue to develop new sugar substitutes. For example, among

the nutritive sweeteners, petitions for the use of the sugar alcohols

isomalt (in gelatins, hard and soft candies, and baked goods), maltitol

(in candy and cough drops), lactitol (in candy, chewing gum, baked

goods, and frozen dairy desserts), and hydrogenated starch hydrolisates

(in candy, chewing gum, and confections) are under current FDA review,

says Art Lipman, Ph.D., a supervisory consumer safety officer with FDA's

direct additives branch.

FDA has also received numerous inquiries about the regulatory status of

a naturally occurring high-intensity sweetener known as stevia> (or

stevioside), says Lipman. Extracted from a plant grown in South America,

<stevia is 300 times sweeter than table sugar and is used for sweetening

in Japan and other countries. Lipman says no petition has been filed for

its use in the United States.

Two nonnutritive sweeteners are being studied, says George Pauli, Ph.D.,

chief of the novel ingredients and policy development branch. These are

alitame (Pfizer), which is chemically similar to aspartame, and

sucralose (McNeil Specialty Products Co.), a chlorinated sucrose that

has been made indigestible. FDA is also considering petitions for

additional uses of the sweetener acesulfame K in beverages and baked

goods and of aspartame for bulk use and in breakfast cereals, malt

beverages, candies, and cooked foods.

Eating foods sweetened with nonnutritive sweeteners rather than sugar is

an individual choice, says Laura Tarantino, an FDA consumer safety

officer. Our law says only that we [FDA] need to assess the safety of a

new food additive and its technical effect, " she says. " Nonnutritive

sweeteners are safe to use. But we don't tell people to replace sugar

with artificial sweeteners. "

In the future, consumers wanting to know which sweeteners are present in

their foods need only read the label. According to an FDA labeling

proposal, all sweeteners will be listed together in the ingredient list,

under the collective term 'sweetener,' when more than one sweetener is

used in a product (following the collective term, each sweetener would

be listed in parentheses in descending order of predominance by weight

of the sweetener in the food). According to an FDA proposal published

late in 1991, it would be mandatory for all complex carbohydrates and

simple sugars to be listed on the nutrition label, says Lynn Larsen,

Ph.D., director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition's

Executive Operations Staff.

People may have an inherent preference for sweetness, and that may have

helped our ancestors survive, since bitter-tasting plants are generally

not fit to eat. But beyond survival, people seem to have discovered that

sweet flavors really help make eating pleasurable.

Alexandra Greeley is a freelance writer in Reston, Va. Sweet Talk

Type of Sweetener Regulatory Status

Common Sugars

Monosaccharides

Glucose (also called dextrose) GRAS

Fructose (also called levulose) GRAS

fruit sugar

Galactose none; cannot be directly added to food

Disaccharides

Sucrose (glucose + fructose) GRAS

white table sugar, beet sugar,

turbinado sugar, raw sugar

Lactose (glucose + galactose) GRAS petition under

consideration

milk sugar

Maltose (glucose + glucose) GRAS

malt sugar

Sugar Alcohols

sorbitol GRAS

xylitol limited FDA approval for

special uses,

mannitol removed from GRAS; regulated as

" interim food additive "

Nonnutritive and High-Intensity Sweeteners

Aspartame approved

Acesulfame K approved

Cyclamate banned

Saccharin remains on market through

congressional moratorium

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Stevia/sugar conversion chart

http://cookingwithstevia.com/stevia_conversion_chart.html