Sweeteners are added nutrients that make food taste good. There are many sweeteners to choose from. Some are better than others, and others are just bad. Let’s look at sweeteners and discover the ones that are sweet for our bodies.

Personal Story

Growing up, my CB handle was “brownie baker.” I loved to make brownies for my family.  We all enjoyed the sweet treats and, with eight in my family, they never lasted very long. I have learned a lot about sweeteners and which ones are better than others for our bodies.

The Good and Bad Sweeteners

Let’s face it! There are many choices to make when it comes to ways to sweeten our food. Let’s look at some possible choices.

The Bad

The “bad” sweeteners are those who have a negative effect on our bodies. These effects include:

• Interference with the use of nutrients
• Damaging metabolism on the cellular level
• Sugar addiction

“Bad” sweeteners include:

• Agave- because most brands are high in fructose
• Corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup- leads to carbohydrate craving, depletes minerals/vitamins, and leads to cellular dehydration.
• Sucrose (table syrup)- accelerated metabolic aging process
• Fructose (fruit sugar)- prevents hormone levels from rising to regular levels after a meal, accelerated metabolic aging process
• Maltose (grain sugar)- accelerated metabolic aging process
• Dextose- accelerated metabolic aging process
• Polydextrose- accelerated metabolic aging process
• Molasses- accelerated metabolic aging process
• Sorbitol- accelerated metabolic aging process
• Maltodextrin- accelerated metabolic aging process
• Xylitol- hard for our bodies to break it down

This chart lists brand names artificial sweeteners and what bad things they do to a body:

• Acesulfame Potassium – Sunnett, Sweet One
• Aspartame – Nutrasweet, Equal- aspartame breaks down to methyl alcohol, a substance poisonous to humans that causes anxiety, confusion, dizziness, headaches, memory loss, vision loss, and convulsive seizures.
• Saccharin – Sweet ‘N Low, Sweet Twin, Sugar Twin- contributes to accelerated metabolic aging process
• Sucralose – Splenda

Good Sweeteners

For the occasional treat, use a little natural sweetener or stevia.

• Natural sweeteners include: raw honey, pure maple syrup, molasses, or organic sucanant- a whole unrefined cane sugar.
• Stevia: the only recommended artificial sweetener. It comes from a plant. It is best to choose whole-plant extract in powder or liquid form that has no additives and is not mixed with artificial sweeteners. Possible brands include NuNaturals and Sweet Leaf, clear or flavored.

Action

Take some time to clean out your pantry of foods that contain the bad sweeteners and stock it with the good ones. Then enjoy a sweet treat that is good for your body.

May God bless your healthful endeavors!

Joni

P.S. What are your favorite nutritious sweet treats?

Resources:

The Schwarzbein Principle, by Diana Schwarzbein, MD

The Daniel Plan Cookbook, by Rick Warren and others

https://www.sharecare.com/health/artificial-sweeteners/what-common-brand-artificial-sweeteners