One Last Sugar Substitute

One last sugar substitute that I want to talk about is agave nectar. This is derived from a plant native to Mexico. It is not calorie-free, but is does contain more calories than refined sugar. More importantly, agave nectar has a lower glycemic index than sugar, so it is less likely to drive to blood sugar levels high. Refined sugar has a glycemic index in the 60's while agave nectar is in the 30's.

For more on glycemic index, see my February 19, 2009 post. The bottom line is the lower the glycemic index the less likely the blood sugar will be raised into levels that are really dangerous for our bodies.

Agave nectar can help you actually lose weight, because you will be using less of it than you would refined sugar.

Natural Sweeteners

One of the best natural sweeteners that has been around for literally centuries is stevia. Many of you may be familiar with stevia. The USA took a long time before they would allow stevia to be sold here. The FDA has approved stevia (not that I necessarily agree that if the FDA has approved anything it is good for you). But what will happen now is that we are likely to begin seeing foods made with stevia.

My recommendation regarding stevia is to be sure you get pure stevia. There are products out there like Truvia and PureVia which actually not only have stevia in them, but the manufacturers mix the stevia with erythritol. See yesterday's post regarding erythritol. I do not recommend the blended stevia products.

There are some other natural sweeteners out there and those include raw honey, organic maple syrup, and sorghum syrup. Unlike stevia, these three natural sweeteners have about the same number of calories as refined sugar. But they are far better for your body then refined sugar.

Sugar Substitutes Continued

I just want to say a couple more things about sugar substitutes. It probably all boils down to this, why would you put a chemical into your body that has the potential to create so much harm? Are the calories from sugar that important? The media has made us believe that they are. But why not utilize natural sugar or natural sweeteners instead. Moderation is the key my friends.

I failed to mention one other sweetener that is out there called erythritol, which is a sugar alcohol. Once again this is a chemical that has been manufactured, and while it is advertised as natural, it is not. The chemical compound is one that has been manufactured and has the potential for side effects just as any manufactured compound.

Now I also don't believe in just using sugar, because refined sugar is a lot of empty calories that just leaves you wanting more. I do believe in natural sweeteners and I'll talk about those tomorrow.

Sucralose

I was talking about sucralose yesterday and I want to give you more information about this artificial sweetener. I mentioned the problem with chlorine yesterday, but there are other problems with this product. One of the most significant findings in the research is the shrinking of the thymus gland as well as shrinking of the lymph follicles in the spleen and thymus. This is all part of your immune system. So what is happening here is that sucralose affects your immune system decreasing it's abilit to function properly.

Is this important? Yes, by all means! Without a strong immune system your body is not only unable to fight off disease, but it also cannot win the fight against cancer cells which are in our bodies every day of our lives. The reason that most of us don't get cancer is because of our immune system.

Sucralose also affects the liver and kidneys, which in turn affect our ability to produce red cells to carry oxygen around our bodies. It can also affect pregnancy and your unborn child.

Lastly, sucralose can result in diarrhea. Not a lethal problem, but certainly an unpleasant one.

One last thought here for the diabetics out there. Sucralose is not the answer for you. Studies have shown that the hemaglobin A1C actually rises. This blood test is an indicator of glycemic control and we know that as it rises so does the number complications for diabetics.

Sugars and Sugar Substitutes

There is a lot of controversy over what to use, a sugar substitute or real sugar. I was asked this recently and so I want to give you my thoughts. First, let's talk about the big three substitutes, saccharin, aspartame and sucralose. The first of these to hit the market was saccharin back in 1957, so it has been around a long time. There is lots of research out there and most of it says the saccharin increases the risk of cancer.

Aspartame was introduced as being superior to saccharin, however, it too has been shown in research studies to increase the risk of cancer. About 17 years after aspartame came sucralose, which is not the safest substitute out there by any means.

Sucralose is manufactured by chlorinating sugar. Now my first problem here is that we don't need more chlorine in our bodies competing with our thyroid gland. I'll talk more about this tomorrow.