Sugar Substitutes

Two types:• Artificial Sweeteners– Not metabolized by the body (no kcals)– Metabolized by the body

• Sugar Replacers

Sugar Substitutes: Artificial Sweetners

Not metabolized by thebody:• Saccharin (Sweet and

Low)– Rapidly excreted in the

urine; does not accumulate in the body

– 300-700 x as sweet as sugar

– Used in soft drinks and as a tabletop sweetener (coffee, on cereal)

Believed not to cause cancer. NOWARNING LABEL REQUIRED

Sugar Substitutes: Artificial Sweetners

Not metabolized bythe body:• Acesulfame – K– 200 x as sweet as sugar– Used in chewing gum,

dry beverage mixes, breath mints, cough drops

Sugar Substitutes: Artificial SweetnersNot metabolized bythe body:• Sucralose (Splenda)

– Derivative of sucrose – replaced 3 hydroxyl groups of sucrose with chlorine atom not recognized as CHO so it passes through GI tract unabsorbed

– 600 x as sweet as sugar: SWEETEST

– can be used in baking, table top sweetener, dairy products, soft drinks

Sugar Substitutes: Artificial SweetnersMetabolized by the body:• Aspartame (Equal-approved

in 1981 as Nutrasweet)– made up of 2 amino acids and

a methyl group so has 4kcal/gm like protein, but since so little is used no caloric effect

– dangerous for people with PKU – phenylketonuria since it continues the a.a. phenlalanine which people with PKU cannot metabolize accumulation causes mental retardation

– 200 x as sweet as sugar– used as a tabletop sweetener

Sugar Substitutes: Sugar ReplacersSugar Alcohols• occur naturally in fruits and

vegetables: mannitol, sorbitol, xylitol, isomalt, lactitol, maltitol

• used in “sugar free foods” but yield kcalories (1/2 much as sucrose): hard candies, jams, jellies, gum, cookies

• side effects: gas, abdominal pain, diarrhea – may act as a laxative!

• body absorbs sugar alcohols less quickly than sugar – have a lower glycemic effect