Artificial Sweeteners

High-Protein Diet Slideshow

Author: Betty Kovacs, MS, RD
Medical Editor: William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

• What role does sugar play in our diet?
• What is the difference between GRAS foods and food additives?
• What are sugar alcohols?
• Are there any safety concerns with sugar alcohols?
• What are nonnutritive sweeteners?
• Saccharin: What is the positive side?
• Saccharin: What is the negative side?
• Aspartame: What is the positive side?
• Aspartame: What is the negative side?
• Sucralose: What is the positive side?
• Sucralose: What is the negative side?
• Acesulfame K: What is the positive side?
• Acesulfame K: What is the negative side?
• Neotame: What is the positive side?
• Neotame: What is the negative side?
• Is it safe to blend artificial sweeteners?
• Can you get something for nothing?

Aspartame Safety Concerns Medical Author: Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD Medical Editor: William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR In response to research published by Italian scientists that suggests that the artificial sweetener aspartame can cause cancer, the U.S. consumer organization Center for Science in the Public Interest requested an urgent Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review of the product's safety in June 2007. Aspartame, which has been on the U.S. market since 1981, is composed primarily of two common amino acids, aspartic acid and phenylalanine. Each of these is also a building block for conventional foods such as protein and natural flavor molecules. Before its FDA approval, the safety of aspartame was tested in over 100 scientific studies. These studies were carried out in both humans and laboratory animals and included studies of rats that were fed aspartame in doses greater than 100 times the amount that humans would normally consume. The data that sparked the controversy were from a report by researchers at the European Ramazzini Foundation (ERF) in Bologna, Italy, published in 2005. The scientists carried out tests of over 4,000 rats that regularly consumed high doses of aspartame and were allowed to live until they died naturally. Scientists from ERF concluded from their study that aspartame causes cancer and that current uses and consumption of the sweetener should be reevaluated. Learn the FDA's stance on aspartame » Top Searched Aspartame Terms: side effects, is aspartame safe, pregnancy, cancer, aspartame disease, weight loss

What role does sugar play in our diet?

There are few people who can resist the taste of sweet foods. We are born with a preference for sweets, and it remains with us throughout our lives. However, too much of a good thing can lead to problems such as dental cavities, obesity and the health complications related to being overweight and obese (for example, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, and heart disease). Problems such as osteoporosis and vitamin and mineral deficiencies can also occur when high-sugar foods replace more nutritionally balanced foods. The solution for being able to satisfy our sweet tooth, without the disadvantages of sugar, was the invention of nonnutritive sweeteners. But is it really possible to have your cake and eat it too?

For many years, numerous fad diets have claimed that sugar is to blame for the obesity epidemic in our country. While our intake of sugar has gone up, weight gain will occur with the consumption of extra calories from any food, not just sugar. The Dietary Guidelines state that we are to choose beverages and foods to moderate our intake of sugars. In the United States, the number-one source of added sugars is non-diet soft drinks (soda or pop). Other major sources are sweets and candies, cakes and cookies, and fruit drinks and fruitades. Limiting your intake of these foods and avoiding foods with high amounts of added sugars is the best way to control your intake. A food is likely to be high in sugar if any one of these names appears first or second in the ingredients list on your food label:

• Brown sugar
• Corn sweetener
• Corn syrup
• Dextrose
• Fructose
• Fruit-juice concentrate
• Glucose
• High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
• Honey
• Invert sugar
• Lactose
• Malt syrup
• Maltose
• Molasses
• Raw sugar
• Sucrose
• Syrup