This is my current list of sweeteners that I advise family and friends to stay away from for the reasons specified. Opposing opinions are welcome here.
F.Y.I., I don't use a lot of sweeteners in general, but the current sweeteners that I use are:
1. I use pure Stevia , but be careful, some Stevia products are now mixed with Maltodextrin(often GMO corn based), dextrose, and other questionable ingredients (sigh……).
2. I use The Ultimate Sweetener Xylitol made from Birch trees. Xylitol is technically a "sugar alcohol", not a sugar. The problem is that Xylitol can also be made from GMO corn. They say it may not be totally digested by some people, but it helps fight tooth decay and other good qualities. It's not an "ancient" food tested through time, it was invented in the late 1800's. Birch Tree Xylitol "seems" OK for me now, but I am continuing to research it. I keep thinking about how I got fooled with the agave syrup.
3. I use real organic raw honey, various brands, but it expensive. When you purchase less expensive honey, make sure it is quality honey. I'm a big fan of real honey right now.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
# 11 Conventional White Table Sugar
I don't think I really have to say much about this one.
We all know the deal here don't we. I simply don't "knowingly" consume it, and I buy few products with a complex ingredient list where they can slip it in on me.
I eat stuff with some organic sugar such as a bar of gourmet chocolate, but I think ate about 3 of those total in 2011.
In the end, we simply eat too much sugar in this country. I read that we went from 5 pounds in colonial times pounds to 150 pounds per year per person today. WOW!!
I keep a couple of packets of pure Stevia Leaf powder in my wallet to use it in case I hit a coffee shop.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
# 10 Brown Sugar
Brown Sugar is really nothing but conventional table sugar with molasses put back in to change the color to brown.
I think many people gravitate to brown sugar over white because the brown color appears to be more natural or healthy.
From what I understand, molasses have a good nutrient profile, but you would have to eat a heck of a lot of brown sugar to reap any molasses nutrient benefits, assuming the molasses is put back in it's natural state, which is doubtful.
I tell family and friends to look at brown sugar the same as regular sugar.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
# 9 Stevia products containing Maltodextrin or Dextrose (read your labels!!)
This label was taken from the back of a stevia label. I have noticed that a lot of stevia products are pure stevia leaf. Many seem to be watered down with Maltodextrin or Dextrose.
Maltodextrin is a somewhat sweet carbohydrate usually produced from corn starch. For me it's the corn that is the real issue. It seems that maltodextrin is a product that is readily available because our GMO corn industry run amuck. If the product does not say organic and contains Maltodextrin, then its a safe bet that it's GMO corn. I try to stay away from it, I have to take control of the sugars that go in my body. This sweetener thing is complicated enough, and I don't need them throwing something else new at me.
Dextrose is Glucose by another name, and is a simple sugar. It is produced from the starches of corn, wheat, cassava, and some others. Once again the GMO corn is the issue for me because most dextrose in the USA is produced from corn starch (sigh……)
Stevia is a natural product and a whole food in it's traditional form, but beware of the "other ingredients".
I ran a cross a blogger who wrote a good article on other ingredients in stevia as they relate to Candida .
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
# 8 Truvia
My issue with Truvia is that they promote their product as a "natural" stevia based product.
The issue is that Truvia is not the traditional stevia leaf that has been used for hundreds of years. The product is basically made with a stevia derivative called Rebiana, a processed, chemically modified derivative of Stevia.
Thus, they say "contains stevia" or "made with stevia" but Rebiana is not Stevia in it's traditional sense . I don't like to go back and forth arguing studies, cause I'll be in a quagmire of information. But some studies have shown that Rebiana can me a "mutagen", that is, a substance that alters genes and cause DNA damage.
Stevia leaves have been used in the pre-Columbus Americas for hundreds of years. I personally don't trust products invented in the last 25 years. Truvia is not traditional stevia leaves.
Plus, it seems Cargill is the mastermind behind this creation, and I don't trust them at all. Nonetheless, we have freedom of choice, we all have different opinions, but I advise family and friends to stay away from Truvia and keep a packet or two of real stevia leaf in the wallet or purse. If you choose to consume Truvia, just think about digging a little deeper into it's components, and realize that this is not real stevia leaf, but an altered, and untested derivative of stevia. Here is a good article on Truvia and Stevia .
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
# 7 NutraSweet
Nutrasweet is basically an artificial sweetener containing aspartame.
I think aspartame is perhaps the worst product to be incorporated into the human food supply since the dawn of man (along with High Fructose Corn Syrup).
If you ask NutraSweet company if aspartame is the most complained about substance to the FDA, they will say NO!!
What they won't say is that the recordings of complaints stopped in 1992 when the FDA quit categorizing the complaints as a "NutraSweet" grievance. They began putting the complaints into generic categories not related to aspartame, such as death, for example, if death by seizure was reported as a reaction to aspartame, the death was recorded as seizure only and not as an “aspartame” seizure.
So after 1992, specific aspartame complaints within the FDA stopped. Before this time, beginning two years after NutraSweet came on the market, between 78% and 85% of all FDA complaints were about aspartame
I never touch the blue packets. NEVER.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
# 6 Conventional Honey (as opposed to raw Organic real honey which I love to death)
The funny thing about conventional honey is the often times it is not even honey, based upon the definition of real honey. Most commercial honey has the pollen filtered out to allow for a longer shelf life, as well as allow for a lighter more consistent color to the honey.
Worse still, much honey comes from China, and there is no way of telling how the honey was processed.
Here is a good article on various brands of commercial honeys that were tested and found to not contain true honey.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
# 5 Splenda
Splenda is a sweetener that contains sucralose. Sucralose is not actually sugar, in spite of Splenda being advertised as "made from sugar". It is a chlorinated artificial sweeter closer to aspartame or saccharin.
Once again I hate to argue studies back and forth, but sucralose has been reported to increase bodyfat, decrease good intestinal bacteria by as much as 50%, as well a huge laundry list of reported issues.
I could write a whole article on this, as I could with any of the blue, yellow, or pink sweetener packages out there, which I will do eventually, but for this "quick read" top 10 list I will include a good article on the dangers of Splenda here .
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
# 4 Equal
Equal is a sweetener containing dextrose, maltodextrin, and aspartame. All three of which I avoid like the Plague, because I think they actually are the Plague.
The product was produced by a company called Mersiant, who went into bankruptcy to restructure, and eventually put out another very questionable product in the same vein as Truvia, called PureVia.
Mersiant was a spinoff from Monsanto's table top sweetener business. Whenever I see the name Cargill or Monsanto tied to any product, I run away life depended on it.
I have talked enough about dextrose, maltodextrin and aspartame already, and as mentioned before I tell family and friends to keep a packet of pure stevia in their wallet or purse if you are out at a coffee shop.
And make sure you read #9 above before you put the stevia in your wallet.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
# 3 Sweet N Low
Sweet N Low is made using the same saccharin, dextrose, and cream of tartar, which is a byproduct of wine making. In Canada, the saccharin is replaced by sodium clycamate because saccharin has been illegal since the 70's.
The warning labels for saccharin were removed in about the year 2000 because of some "too complex to type here" ruling about the original rat studies pertaining to rats, saccharin, and cancer.
The warning labels are removed from the packet, but not from my blog. I advise all family and friends not touch this stuff.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
#2 High Fructose Corn Syrup
HFCS is kinda like this nemesis that plagues anything and everything. I think many of us know it's bad, but we can't prove it.
My research showed that many of these modern day issues such as obesity, diabetes, and such, got out of control around the time when HFCS came on the scene. You have to be the judge.
I personally don't trust any foods "invented" in the last 25 years.
However, I make the same challenge I have to family and friends that if you take it our of your diet for 60 days, you will find that you might start dropping unwanted fat, you will feel better, have better skin, and have many other benefits. I think it's really an important experiment if you have kids, because parents shape kids eating habits, and they are growing up on this unnatural stuff.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
#1 Agave Syrup, Agave Nectar
Perhaps the real reason I made this one number one is because it had me fooled for three years.
My real concern with modern agave syrup is the false perception it is healthy and natural. HFCS already has a bad reputation.
Long story short, modern day agave has nothing to do with the "miel de agave" the native Central Americans used for centuries. Although modern day agave syrup can be low glycemic, it is still a form of highly concentrated processed fructose.
A very detailed reference article to modern day agave not being a good sweetener for me can be found here .
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
??? (Inconclusive) – Sugar in the Raw
To be honest with you, this one I couldn't figure out. I thought it was basically brown sugar wrapped up neat and pretty. My concern is that it manufactured by the same company that makes Sweet & Low, and I can't expect a company that makes that poison Sweet N Low to create a good product.
Here is the quote from their website:
"Sugar In The Raw" is a natural, sugar made exclusively from sugar cane. Juice is extracted from the sugar cane, and then crystallized through evaporation. These crystals are rinsed with a very small amount of water to remove just enough stickiness to make the product free flowing. We pack this turbinado sugar and market it as Sugar In The Raw."
So, they are saying that their sugar is different from brown sugar, because brown sugar is simply white sugar with molasses put back in. They claim their product is brown because of the naturally occurring cane juice in the sugar.
In end, I could not come up with definite conclusion about Sugar in the Raw. I also don't know if the product is produced from GMO crops. In the end I will have to put this one on hold until I can find out more. I have put Sugar in the Raw in my coffee and tea when nothing else was available. Be it a good product or bad, I never knew what Sugar in the Raw was, as with many products that corporations entice us to consume. If I used it everyday, I would have to make a more intense research project out of it. In the end, it's still sugar, so use in moderation if you decide to use it. If I have to go to a coffee shop, I will use packets of pure stevia.
~dw~
posted to Monday mania, traditional Tuesdays , real food Wednesdays, pennywise platter Thursdays ,Fight Back Fridays
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F.Y.I., I don't use a lot of sweeteners in general, but the current sweeteners that I use are:
1. I use pure Stevia , but be careful, some Stevia products are now mixed with Maltodextrin(often GMO corn based), dextrose, and other questionable ingredients (sigh……).
2. I use The Ultimate Sweetener Xylitol made from Birch trees. Xylitol is technically a "sugar alcohol", not a sugar. The problem is that Xylitol can also be made from GMO corn. They say it may not be totally digested by some people, but it helps fight tooth decay and other good qualities. It's not an "ancient" food tested through time, it was invented in the late 1800's. Birch Tree Xylitol "seems" OK for me now, but I am continuing to research it. I keep thinking about how I got fooled with the agave syrup.
3. I use real organic raw honey, various brands, but it expensive. When you purchase less expensive honey, make sure it is quality honey. I'm a big fan of real honey right now.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
I don't think I really have to say much about this one.
We all know the deal here don't we. I simply don't "knowingly" consume it, and I buy few products with a complex ingredient list where they can slip it in on me.
I eat stuff with some organic sugar such as a bar of gourmet chocolate, but I think ate about 3 of those total in 2011.
In the end, we simply eat too much sugar in this country. I read that we went from 5 pounds in colonial times pounds to 150 pounds per year per person today. WOW!!
I keep a couple of packets of pure Stevia Leaf powder in my wallet to use it in case I hit a coffee shop.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Brown Sugar is really nothing but conventional table sugar with molasses put back in to change the color to brown.
I think many people gravitate to brown sugar over white because the brown color appears to be more natural or healthy.
From what I understand, molasses have a good nutrient profile, but you would have to eat a heck of a lot of brown sugar to reap any molasses nutrient benefits, assuming the molasses is put back in it's natural state, which is doubtful.
I tell family and friends to look at brown sugar the same as regular sugar.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
This label was taken from the back of a stevia label. I have noticed that a lot of stevia products are pure stevia leaf. Many seem to be watered down with Maltodextrin or Dextrose.
Maltodextrin is a somewhat sweet carbohydrate usually produced from corn starch. For me it's the corn that is the real issue. It seems that maltodextrin is a product that is readily available because our GMO corn industry run amuck. If the product does not say organic and contains Maltodextrin, then its a safe bet that it's GMO corn. I try to stay away from it, I have to take control of the sugars that go in my body. This sweetener thing is complicated enough, and I don't need them throwing something else new at me.
Dextrose is Glucose by another name, and is a simple sugar. It is produced from the starches of corn, wheat, cassava, and some others. Once again the GMO corn is the issue for me because most dextrose in the USA is produced from corn starch (sigh……)
Stevia is a natural product and a whole food in it's traditional form, but beware of the "other ingredients".
I ran a cross a blogger who wrote a good article on other ingredients in stevia as they relate to Candida .
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
My issue with Truvia is that they promote their product as a "natural" stevia based product.
The issue is that Truvia is not the traditional stevia leaf that has been used for hundreds of years. The product is basically made with a stevia derivative called Rebiana, a processed, chemically modified derivative of Stevia.
Thus, they say "contains stevia" or "made with stevia" but Rebiana is not Stevia in it's traditional sense . I don't like to go back and forth arguing studies, cause I'll be in a quagmire of information. But some studies have shown that Rebiana can me a "mutagen", that is, a substance that alters genes and cause DNA damage.
Stevia leaves have been used in the pre-Columbus Americas for hundreds of years. I personally don't trust products invented in the last 25 years. Truvia is not traditional stevia leaves.
Plus, it seems Cargill is the mastermind behind this creation, and I don't trust them at all. Nonetheless, we have freedom of choice, we all have different opinions, but I advise family and friends to stay away from Truvia and keep a packet or two of real stevia leaf in the wallet or purse. If you choose to consume Truvia, just think about digging a little deeper into it's components, and realize that this is not real stevia leaf, but an altered, and untested derivative of stevia. Here is a good article on Truvia and Stevia .
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Nutrasweet is basically an artificial sweetener containing aspartame.
I think aspartame is perhaps the worst product to be incorporated into the human food supply since the dawn of man (along with High Fructose Corn Syrup).
If you ask NutraSweet company if aspartame is the most complained about substance to the FDA, they will say NO!!
What they won't say is that the recordings of complaints stopped in 1992 when the FDA quit categorizing the complaints as a "NutraSweet" grievance. They began putting the complaints into generic categories not related to aspartame, such as death, for example, if death by seizure was reported as a reaction to aspartame, the death was recorded as seizure only and not as an “aspartame” seizure.
So after 1992, specific aspartame complaints within the FDA stopped. Before this time, beginning two years after NutraSweet came on the market, between 78% and 85% of all FDA complaints were about aspartame
I never touch the blue packets. NEVER.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
The funny thing about conventional honey is the often times it is not even honey, based upon the definition of real honey. Most commercial honey has the pollen filtered out to allow for a longer shelf life, as well as allow for a lighter more consistent color to the honey.
Worse still, much honey comes from China, and there is no way of telling how the honey was processed.
Here is a good article on various brands of commercial honeys that were tested and found to not contain true honey.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Splenda is a sweetener that contains sucralose. Sucralose is not actually sugar, in spite of Splenda being advertised as "made from sugar". It is a chlorinated artificial sweeter closer to aspartame or saccharin.
Once again I hate to argue studies back and forth, but sucralose has been reported to increase bodyfat, decrease good intestinal bacteria by as much as 50%, as well a huge laundry list of reported issues.
I could write a whole article on this, as I could with any of the blue, yellow, or pink sweetener packages out there, which I will do eventually, but for this "quick read" top 10 list I will include a good article on the dangers of Splenda here .
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Equal is a sweetener containing dextrose, maltodextrin, and aspartame. All three of which I avoid like the Plague, because I think they actually are the Plague.
The product was produced by a company called Mersiant, who went into bankruptcy to restructure, and eventually put out another very questionable product in the same vein as Truvia, called PureVia.
Mersiant was a spinoff from Monsanto's table top sweetener business. Whenever I see the name Cargill or Monsanto tied to any product, I run away life depended on it.
I have talked enough about dextrose, maltodextrin and aspartame already, and as mentioned before I tell family and friends to keep a packet of pure stevia in their wallet or purse if you are out at a coffee shop.
And make sure you read #9 above before you put the stevia in your wallet.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Sweet N Low is made using the same saccharin, dextrose, and cream of tartar, which is a byproduct of wine making. In Canada, the saccharin is replaced by sodium clycamate because saccharin has been illegal since the 70's.
The warning labels for saccharin were removed in about the year 2000 because of some "too complex to type here" ruling about the original rat studies pertaining to rats, saccharin, and cancer.
The warning labels are removed from the packet, but not from my blog. I advise all family and friends not touch this stuff.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
HFCS is kinda like this nemesis that plagues anything and everything. I think many of us know it's bad, but we can't prove it.
My research showed that many of these modern day issues such as obesity, diabetes, and such, got out of control around the time when HFCS came on the scene. You have to be the judge.
I personally don't trust any foods "invented" in the last 25 years.
However, I make the same challenge I have to family and friends that if you take it our of your diet for 60 days, you will find that you might start dropping unwanted fat, you will feel better, have better skin, and have many other benefits. I think it's really an important experiment if you have kids, because parents shape kids eating habits, and they are growing up on this unnatural stuff.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Perhaps the real reason I made this one number one is because it had me fooled for three years.
My real concern with modern agave syrup is the false perception it is healthy and natural. HFCS already has a bad reputation.
Long story short, modern day agave has nothing to do with the "miel de agave" the native Central Americans used for centuries. Although modern day agave syrup can be low glycemic, it is still a form of highly concentrated processed fructose.
A very detailed reference article to modern day agave not being a good sweetener for me can be found here .
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
To be honest with you, this one I couldn't figure out. I thought it was basically brown sugar wrapped up neat and pretty. My concern is that it manufactured by the same company that makes Sweet & Low, and I can't expect a company that makes that poison Sweet N Low to create a good product.
Here is the quote from their website:
"Sugar In The Raw" is a natural, sugar made exclusively from sugar cane. Juice is extracted from the sugar cane, and then crystallized through evaporation. These crystals are rinsed with a very small amount of water to remove just enough stickiness to make the product free flowing. We pack this turbinado sugar and market it as Sugar In The Raw."
So, they are saying that their sugar is different from brown sugar, because brown sugar is simply white sugar with molasses put back in. They claim their product is brown because of the naturally occurring cane juice in the sugar.
In end, I could not come up with definite conclusion about Sugar in the Raw. I also don't know if the product is produced from GMO crops. In the end I will have to put this one on hold until I can find out more. I have put Sugar in the Raw in my coffee and tea when nothing else was available. Be it a good product or bad, I never knew what Sugar in the Raw was, as with many products that corporations entice us to consume. If I used it everyday, I would have to make a more intense research project out of it. In the end, it's still sugar, so use in moderation if you decide to use it. If I have to go to a coffee shop, I will use packets of pure stevia.
~dw~
posted to Monday mania, traditional Tuesdays , real food Wednesdays, pennywise platter Thursdays ,Fight Back Fridays
if comments don't appear and you want to comment on this page, chick here and go to bottom of page
Pin It