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Sweeteners: natural vs artificial

FRIDAY, JULY 04, 2003

It makes the most unsavoury foods taste like heaven, fuels the body with energy and keeps the brain functioning. Yet, for an increasing number of people, sugar is not the sweetest thing for weight and wellbeing.

Excess sugar intake overstimulates insulin, the hormone which is involved with the storage of these surplus sugars into body fat. It has also been found to contribute to insulin resistance, a condition associated with such diseases as diabetes, obesity and heart disease.

Thanks to advances in food technology, we now have a wide range of sweeteners on the market today. All claim to deliver the same sweet taste of sugar but without the kilojoule content or the impact on insulin – great news for all those on a carbohydrate-reduced program for weight management.

But while many of us think of sweeteners such as Splenda^®, aspartame and saccharin as artificial, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) classes all sweeteners as "intense sweeteners", even stevioside, the sweet extract of the herb stevia, used to sweeten some protein powders and health food products.

But are "natural" sweeteners such as stevia healthier than the "artificial" ones? How natural is natural?

Let's take a closer look at three sweeteners on the market today:

• Aspartame is an intense sweetener consisting of three chemically linked compounds - two amino acids called aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and a type of alcohol called methanol. Aspartame is the sweetener used in Nutrasweet® and Equal® and can be identified as sweetener (951) in the ingredients panel.
• Sucralose is available commercially as Splenda^®, a natural table sugar modified to inhibit its digestion.
• Stevia is a herb most commonly used in concentrated extract form as stevioside. While the whole herb is natural, stevioside is significantly different in chemical structure and intensity, and is classified as an intense sweetener. Unlike aspartame and sucralose, stevioside is not permitted in foods sold in Australia and New Zealand.

Many protein purists look for unsweetened and unflavoured protein powders. Is it necessary at all to use sweeteners in some protein powders? Aussie Bodies nutritionist Luke Summers explains.

"Concentrated, high quality proteins are naturally bland because they are low in sugar and fat. Most consumers prefer that protein supplements have a sweet taste. However adding sugars (such as sucrose, fructose, dextrose or maltodextrin) will compromise protein levels and influence insulin responses, risking an increase in body fat.

"Aussie Bodies uses 100 percent cold-filtered whey proteins and water-washed soy protein to ensure all growth factors remain intact, yet these superior processing techniques can still leave a bland taste, so we add Splenda^® which delivers the sweetness of sugar without the calories or insulin impact. Those who prefer no sweetening at all should use Perfect Protein Vanilla or Chocolate, or Perfect Soy Protein."

Summers explains why Aussie Bodies gives Splenda^® the nod over stevia.

"Splenda^® has the taste profile of sugar¹ with negligible insulin impact, virtually no side effects and is legal. It is essentially modified table sugar which prevents its impact on blood sugar and insulin. This is because the body does not recognise Splenda^® as a carbohydrate and simply eliminates it without digesting it.

"Splenda^® is supported by decades of strong research attesting to its efficacy and safety, and is fully approved by FSANZ.²

"FSANZ does not permit the use of stevioside, the extract of stevia, in Australian and New Zealand food products due to a lack of research to support its safety.³

"Ground stevia leaf is a dark green, fibrous powder whose colour and disagreeable flavour is extremely hard to mask. Although a natural herb, stevia has historical use as a male contraceptive in Paraguay.⁴ Some studies on animals suggest it compromises sex hormone function.⁵ While it does not elevate blood sugar, stevia and its extract stevioside both stimulate insulin, which can affect weight gain and overall wellbeing.^8,9"

Glycemic Index (GI) refers to the rate at which sugars enter the bloodstream, which in turn can indicate the level of insulin released. The higher the GI, the faster the absorption and the greater the surge of insulin (low GI is 1-33, medium 34-66 and high 67 and above).

"While most intense sweeteners have a GI around zero, bear in mind that insulin can be stimulated by the by-products of the sweetener during digestion. For example, both stevioside and its metabolite steviol from the stevia herb have an impact on insulin.^8,9"

Some companies use aspartame to offset the taste of protein powders formulated using ion exchange methods.

Aspartame enjoyed initial popularity due to its head start on many other intense sweeteners. Despite being plagued with controversy over the years, aspartame was eventually deemed safe to use, initially getting approval by the US Food & Drug Administration in 1981 and, since then, by FSANZ (Splenda® was not released until ten years later).

"Aspartame has a poor taste profile. However, in addition to this, there are health-related reasons for Aussie Bodies' choice not to use it," Summers said.

"On digestion, aspartame liberates phenylalanine and is therefore hazardous for phenylketonurics. Another reason is aspartame's poor stability. During normal shelf life, aspartame degrades and the product loses its sweetness and if subjected to temperatures above 30^oC (if you wanted to cook with a product) aspartame becomes very unstable and degrades rapidly."

For more information on intense sweeteners visit www.foodstandards.gov.au/whatsinfood/intensesweeteners.cfm or call Aussie Bodies customer enquiries for a free information brochure on 1800 24 77 57.

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