Oct. 26--EL PASO -- When you reach for a sweetener to flavor your iced tea or coffee, your options can be confusing.
With packets of sugar nestled in restaurant caddies alongside colorful packets of the artificial sweeteners aspartame, saccharin and sucralose, consumers must decide what's best for their health, their diet and their taste buds.
When products like honey and stevia are added to the choices, the options can be overwhelming -- but they don't have to be. They're really not very different, experts said.
The key is to consume whichever sweetener you prefer, as long as it's in moderation and doesn't exceed your recommended daily caloric intake, said Maria Duarte, chairwoman of the Department of Health Promotion at the University of Texas at El Paso.
"If you are a person who wants to consume natural foods, I would stay with sugar. If you are into more processed foods or artificial sweeteners, it could be any of those approved by the FDA," she said.
"Anything could be used to enhance the flavor -- in moderation."
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved several artificial sweeteners, including aspartame, which is found in Equal; saccharin, found in Sweet 'N Low; and sucralose, found in Splenda.
Natural alternatives to sugar include honey, agave nectar and stevia, which is found in Truvia.
"The primary difference in all of these has to do with calories," said Paula Ford, assistant professor in UTEP's Department of Health Promotion. "Essentially, all
sugars don't provide a whole lot of nutrition, but provide a lot of calories."
Artificial sweeteners provide the sweet flavor of sugar without as many calories.
Dietitian Angela Lemond, a representative of the Texas Dietetic Association from Dallas, said water is the absolute best beverage a person can consume, but people who want a sweetened beverage may want an artificial sweetener.
"Artificial sweeteners are made available for people mostly to still get the sweet taste without the calories," she said. "As a member of the American Dietetic Association and the Texas Dietetic Association, our stance on the approved sweeteners is they are considered safe."
As many Americans try to count calories to fight growing waistlines, Lemond said, artificial sweeteners allow people a way to cut out some calories.
"Take a soft drink. A typical soft drink is 150 calories, and it's all sugar calories," she said.
She said a regular cola has about 38 grams of sugar, about 10 teaspoons' worth.
"Instead of those 150 calories, you can get so many nutrients from different foods," Lemond said. "You could be eating half a baked potato or something with 150 calories that has nutrition."
She said eating a nutrient-rich diet -- staying away from high-calorie, low-nutrient food -- can improve a person's health.
Duarte also stressed moderation and recommended consuming fewer processed foods in general.
Although rumors persist that artificial sweeteners are linked to cancer, studies do not support the assertions, Lemond said.
The National Cancer Institute, which is part of the National Institutes of Health, states that saccharin -- which was linked to the development of bladder cancer in rats in the 1970s -- is no longer deemed to present such a risk because humans do not have the same physical system as rats.
The agency states that aspartame, which was feared to cause brain cancer, does not show any evidence of increasing the likelihood of the disease.
However, people who have the rare disorder phenylketonuria should avoid consuming aspartame.
"The FDA tightly regulates these sweeteners. They have to be under tight scrutiny before they're open to the public," Lemond said. "They don't come on the market until they're very well researched."
Duarte said some people might find they're sensitive to an ingredient in an artificial sweetener and could develop headaches if they consume too much.
Lemond said that though some studies have indicated that consuming artificial sweeteners might lead to people overeating, the studies are not conclusive enough to be reliable.
In the end, it's simply a matter of calories -- and taste.
"Some people like stevia (a naturally sweet herb used as a sweetener), and some people think it has as bitter taste. Many people think Splenda tastes more like real sugar. Saccharin has more of a taste that's very well known," Lemond said.
"If you find one distasteful," Ford said, "you can try something else."
Erica Molina Johnson may be reached at emolina@elpasotimes.com; 546-6132.
How much is safe?
The FDA"has established the following acceptable daily intakes for artificial sweeteners:
--Aspartame, found in NutraSweet and Equal: 50 milligrams per kilogram, or 18 to 19 cans of diet cola for a person who weighs 150 pounds.
--Saccharin, found in Sweet 'N Low and SugarTwin: 5 milli grams per kilogram, or 9 to 12 packets of sweetener.
--Sucralose, found in Splenda:"5 milligrams per kilogram, or about six cans of diet cola.
Source: www.mayoclinic.com.
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