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November/December 2007

Sugar Coated

Got a sweet tooth? Just in time for the holiday season, here are some suggestions on how to curb it without reaching for the not-so-virtuous white stuff.

By Pamela Emanoil Bond

Most of us have a sweet spot for sugar—especially around the holidays. Another eggnog, anyone? But sugar has a not-so-sweet side. Recent research shows that soda and other sugar-laden drinks at the very least go hand in hand with obesity if they don’t actually cause the disease. And obesity is a serious and growing problem that currently plagues one-third of Americans.

You can also blame sugar, in part, for increasing diabetes diagnoses, according to Lynn Smith, MS, RD, a dietitian who specializes in sports nutrition in Boulder, Colorado. “Our diets are loaded with sugar and refined white flour . . . and a lack of exercise,” she says. “That’s a prescription for diabetes, especially if you have a genetic propensity.”

Sugar lurks in so many foods—from ketchup and salad dressings to peanut butter and crackers—and it comes veiled in unsuspecting names like sucrose and high fructose corn syrup, so Americans end up downing more sugar than they probably realize. Today we each consume a whopping 140 pounds per year. By comparison, in the 1800s we stomached just 12 pounds each annually.

And even beyond the link to serious conditions, refined sugar can chip away at healthy bodies and teeth. “To digest any food, you use enzymes, and you need minerals and nutrients to make replacement enzymes,” says Smith. Because processing strips refined sugar of valuable minerals and nutrients, even an otherwise fit body pays the price in lost digestive enzymes. Sugar also plays a harmful role in tooth decay. The bacteria that becomes plaque uses sugar as a form of energy.

Thank goodness you can use natural sugar alternatives such as agave nectar, honey, molasses, and more so you can have your gingerbread cookies and eat them too. “Mother Nature gave us things with more nutritional punch than sugar,” says Elizabeth Taylor, PsyD, RD, a dietitian and director of clinical training for health psychology at Bastyr University in Seattle.

But it would be sugar-coating the facts to say that natural sweeteners are as healthy as, say, broccoli. They don’t give you a green light to overindulge. “It’s best to first cut down on sweets and get more complex carbohydrates and other nutrients,” says Smith. What natural sugar alternatives offer are healthier options—because, after all, you will likely enjoy a chocolate or two this season.

“It’s fine to have sweets here and there,” Smith says. If you choose desserts made with natural sweeteners, they will still raise blood-sugar levels. But some have a gentler effect on the body than processed sugar. And they offer you important nutrients that the white stuff lacks.

Here are the experts’ favorites to try.

Agave nectar. Made from the heart of the plant that’s best known as the source of the renowned elixir tequila, supersweet agave nectar—about one and a half times sweeter than sugar— has a mellower effect on blood sugar thanks to its low ranking on the glycemic index (a chart that measures how much a food raises blood sugar). Use in tea, on hot cereals, and in baked goods.

Honey. “Honey is a high-powered food from bees,” says Smith. This versatile sweetener—you can use it in most recipes boasts antioxidant compounds (especially the darker varieties) and small amounts of vitamins and minerals, such as niacin, riboflavin, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and zinc.

Molasses. Blackstrap molasses comes from sugar cane, but unlike sugar it has minerals, such as iron and calcium. Taylor says that molasses cookies can help energize pregnant women and anyone else with iron deficiencies.

Maple syrup. This amber liquid with an earthy taste serves as a great source of manganese and zinc—both immunity boosters. Pour on oatmeal topped with walnuts.

Dates. Dates are rich in fiber, B vitamins, and minerals, especially potassium. Taylor likes to chop or grind dates and use them in desserts and muffins. Because of the uneven consistency, it is best to puree the fruit to make it as adaptable as some of the other sweeteners. Still, even whole dates can satisfy sugar cravings: stuff with peanut butter to power up your workouts.

Stevia. The herb Stevia rebaudiana comes from a South American plant. Smith recommends the herb as a safe alternative to sugar and artificial sweeteners (see sidebar) because it has no calories and doesn’t appear to raise blood-sugar levels. But go easy with stevia: the refined white powder can be 100 to 300 times sweeter than sugar and can leave a bitter aftertaste.

Sugar alcohols. One type, xylitol, comes from fibrous vegetables and fruit. This new kid on the block—branded as Zsweet— combines erythritol (found in fruits and fermented foods) with fruit extracts. Both look and taste like sugar, but they don’t spike your blood sugar or load you up with calories (xylitol has 40 percent fewer calories than sugar, and Zsweet has zero). The bummer: “You don’t want to use [sugar alcohols] in too high a quantity because they can cause gas or digestive upset,” says Smith. They’re especially useful in drinks or wherever you’d use table sugar or an artificial sweetener.

Artificial Sweeteners: Friend or Foe?

Diabetics, dieters, and hypoglycemics often turn to artificial sweeteners, such as aspartame (NutraSweet and Equal), sucralose (Splenda), and saccharine as supersweet low-cal options that don’t raise blood-sugar levels like sugar does. But are these chemical sugar alternatives safe?

In the 1970s the U.S. Food and Drug Administration tried to ban saccharine based on rat studies that linked it to bladder cancer, but the government later cleared saccharine as a major cancer risk factor. Also, reports and rumors have circulated through the years suggesting that aspartame was associated with rising brain tumor rates, but nothing conclusive has yet stuck—until now.

New research shows that when you eat an artificially sweetened snack or drink, you lose your ability to process the calories you just downed. The result? You actually eat more rather than less. This means that artificial sweeteners won’t help you lose unwanted pounds—and they may even make you gain some.