sweeteners « Dr. Susan Mitchell

August 26, 2009

Just a Spoonful of Sugar…How Much is Too Much?

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: added sugars, corn syrup, Dr. Susan Mitchell, food label, grams, nutrition, Nutrition Facts, nutritionist, registered dietitian, sugar, sweeteners — admin @ 1:51 pm

Get out of the way trans fat, sugar is in the hot seat now. This week the American Heart Association (AHA) released new guidelines for the amount of sugar to consume…to be accurate and specific, the amount of added sugars to consume versus naturally occurring sugar as found in whole foods such as fruit. What are ‘added sugars’? Think of added sugars as the sugars and syrups added to foods during processing or added by you at the table. Examples of added sugars include sugar, honey, molasses, brown sugar, high fructose corn syrup, agave syrup…you get the idea.

Why all the commotion about added sugars? The data is just too clear to ignore any longer. A diet with a hefty intake of added sugars is tied to the rise in weight gain and obesity in the US. According to the American Heart Association, added sugars in large amounts are also associated with increased risks for high blood pressure, high triglyceride levels, and inflammation. Remember, we talked before about inflammation in the body, the link to heart disease and the potential role of an anti-inflammation diet. You can find the podcast on the anti-inflammation diet in the Nutrition & Health Center podcast archives at WDBO.com or on my site at susanmitchell.org.

Another reason that added sugars can be a big concern is that the calories they provide to the body are referred to as ‘empty calories’? What do think empty calories are? You got it….calories with zero, zip nutrition punch to your body. These calories aren’t providing you with any health benefit…no vitamins and minerals or naturally occurring phytonutrients found in real food…just calories that can easily end up on your belly or backside when consumed in large quantities. Let me stop here a second…the discouraging part for most of us is the term ‘large quantities’. The reality is that it doesn’t take a lot of extra…discretionary calories if you will…to put on the pounds.

By the way, do you know what the number one source of added sugars in the US is? Candy? Ice cream? It is soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages.

Ok, the new recommendations from the AHA suggest:

Most women should consume no more than 100 calories (about 25 grams) of added sugars per day.
Most men should consume no more than 150 calories (about 37.5 grams) each day.
That’s about six teaspoons of added sugar a day for women and nine teaspoons for men.

Here’s the deal. The data shows that Americans are swallowing over 22 teaspoons of added sugars each day. How many grams is that equivalent to since the food labels have sugars listed in grams? Here’s your nutrition 101 lesson for the day: the conversion of sugar grams on a food label to teaspoons. Let’s say your favorite can of root beer contains 120 calories per cup and 31 grams of sugar according to the Nutrition Facts label. One teaspoon of added sugar is roughly 4 grams so if our soda contains 31 grams of added sugars…that almost 8 teaspoons of added sugars….well on the way to that 22 teaspoons that most Americans consume each day.

Let’s go back to the AHA recommendations and make sense of them. The suggestion is for women to limit added sugars to 25 grams per day. Ok, put your math to work. Remember 1 teaspoon is 4 grams and you have 25 grams as the suggested intake for the day…or about 6 teaspoons per day. For the guys, your suggested intake is 37.5 grams of added sugars per day which would be about 9 teaspoons…right…1 teaspoon is 4 grams multiplied by 9 teaspoons is equal to 36 grams…so close to the 37.5 gram suggestion.

In case you are wondering where the 100 calories of added sugars for women and 150 calories for men came from, let me explain. We’ve talked about how to convert grams to teaspoons. Well converting grams to calories is easy too. Four is the operative number here again. There are 4 calories per gram of added sugars so if the suggestion for women is 6 teaspoons or about 25 grams…at 4 calories per gram…that’s the 100 calories. Nine teaspoons or about 37.5 grams of added sugars for men is 150 calories. Now you’re an expert and can convert grams to teaspoons on a food label!

Be a sleuth. Notice what foods your added sugars are coming from. Notice how much you are consuming and what part in your diet added sugars are playing. If your intake is high, think about where you might cut back on these empty calories a bit.

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April 8, 2009

Sweetener Update: Agave and Stevia

Filed under: Healthy Food — Tags: agave, agave nectar, agave syrup, dietitian, Dr. Susan Mitchell, herbs, noncaloric sweeteners, nutrition, nutritionist, stevia, sweeteners — admin @ 12:35 am

One of the big trends in food is the move away from processed foods with chemical additives to more natural foods. Since there is no legal food definition for the word natural, let say it’s a movement back to foods closer to the way they exist in nature. This trend is true for sweeteners as well. There are many new sweeteners on the market as you notice every time you go to the grocery store. Let’s take a quick look at two ….agave nectar and stevia. Google and you’ll find loads of information but many times the hype is full of misinformation versus evidence-based science. Here’s the lowdown on these two sweeteners so you can separate fact from fiction.

Agave nectar also called agave syrup is a sweetener from the Mexican cactus. You will find it in all types of food products ranging from nutrition bars to drinks and desserts. It’s one of 2009’s trendy flavors and a trendy sugar alternative frequently used in cocktails. Agave has been touted for its delicate taste and is popular with chefs for use in desserts as well as to sweeten teas and health drinks. It’s one more choice to be included among honey, maple syrup, sugar and high fructose corn syrup.

Is agave better for you than any other sweetener such as sugar, maple syrup or honey? Agave is promoted as a low glycemic alterative for diabetics. Is it? If you’re diabetic or have friends or family members who are, you don’t want to miss this. Here’s why. Agave and sugar have approximately the same number of calories….about 16 per teaspoon. Agave is sweeter than sugar so you could save a few calories by the amount you use. Sugar is technically called sucrose which is composed of 50% fructose and 50% glucose when it is broken down in the body. Agave varies in its fructose content with a range from 55% up to 90%. It all depends on the processing method used which can affect the fructose content. Agave nectar with 55% fructose is about the same as high fructose corn syrup so there would be no benefit in agave at 55% fructose over sugar, high fructose corn syrup or honey from the standpoint of composition, only taste and personal preference.

The reason you hear …theoretically… agave nectar touted as safer for diabetics is that a higher fructose composition typically doesn’t cause dangerous spikes in blood glucose. Currently, we don’t have clinical studies as to agave’s safety in diabetes. Unless there is a label stating the exact percentage of fructose in the agave nectar, it can range as we just talked about from 55% up. So if you are diabetic, your blood glucose may or may not be spiked…all depending on how much fructose is in the particular agave product consumed and your particular case of diabetes. Plus fructose sweeteners may increase blood triglycerides if you have diabetes so be sure and discuss this with your health care provider.

Stevia falls into the noncaloric sweetener category. Stevia extract comes from the Stevia rebaudiana plant, an herb native to Central and South America. Stevia is 200-300 times sweeter than sugar with a slightly bitter aftertaste depending on the plant components used. This bitter aftertaste is the reason you may find stevia blended with other ingredients.

For example, some stevia products are often blended or ‘cut’ with a sugar alcohol called erythritol found naturally in vegetables and fruit so the product is less sweet than pure stevia. Erythritol is not metabolized or absorbed so it doesn’t spike blood glucose levels or cause the gas or bloating of some sugar alcohols like sorbitol or mannitol. Most of the products work well for people with diabetes but it’s smart to read the label and see what stevia is blended with and if the product has calories. Expect to see stevia used as a sweetener in many products and sold as a tabletop sweetener under various names.

Stevia and agave are just two of the many new sweeteners on the market. If you have diabetes, be sure and check the labels closely before you make a decision on which ones to try.

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