Striving4Zen

Sweeteners are a type of carbohydrate that are tough to avoid since many people crave sweet foods. All these treats are made with different types of sweeteners, so when cooking or choosing foods, it's good to know how they compare.

See where different types of sweeteners fall on the glycemic scale:

Sweetener	GI
Glucose	96
Fructose	22
Lactose	46
Sucrose (white sugar)	64
Brown sugar	64
Barley malt syrup	42
Brown rice syrup	25
Raw honey	30
Agave syrup	15
High fructose corn syrup	62
Stevia	less than 1
Sugar cane juice	43
Evaporated cane juice	55
Maple syrup	54
Black strap molasses	55

Labels: agave, artificial sweeteners, fructose, glucose, glycemic index, Stevia

Skinny Nutritional Corp ., marketer and distributor of Skinny Water®, announced today that it plans to introduce a line extension of beverages in early 2009. The new beverages will contain a proprietary natural sweetener derived from Stevia , and like Skinny Water, will contain ZERO calories.

"We have been working on launching new Skinny beverages that contain an all natural sweetener with ZERO calories," says Ron Wilson, President and CEO of Skinny Nutritional Corp. "Many consumers are looking for a great tasting, ZERO-calorie beverage that is 100% natural. We also believe that we can gain entry into many natural and whole food distributors and retailers throughout the country with these new beverages. We are always researching new trends in the functional beverage segment. In addition to the latest superfruits, health and wellness ingredients, and natural colors, we see Stevia-derived sweeteners as a breakthrough in the sweetener category."

Early this week, U.S. suppliers of sweeteners derived from rebaudioside A, a part of the Stevia leaf, announced that the FDA issued a no objection letter concerning the conclusion of an independent expert panel that highly-purified rebaudioside A is generally recognized as safe (GRAS) for use as a general purpose sweetener, including for use in food and beverages. These suppliers have also announced their intention to market all natural, ZERO-calorie sweeteners made with highly purified rebaudioside A.

Source

Labels: drinks, innovative, new product, Skinny Water, Stevia

Is one type of sweetener better than the other for my body and the way my body processes them?

Your question can be answered in a variety of different ways. First, in terms of overall nutritional quality, it's always better to get your "sweeteners" as part of whole, natural foods rather than separately purchased products that you add to your food.

I realize that many people simply have a "sweet tooth" and are accustomed to sweetening a good number of foods and beverages. However, the routine use of added sweeteners can sometimes detract from the naturally sweet flavors of foods.

Carrots, for example, are a naturally sweet vegetable. They're about 15% sugar in terms of total calories; they contain an array of sugars including sucrose, glucose, and fructose. However, to many people carrots do not taste sweet, and the reason sometimes involves the total amount of sugar to which a person has become accustomed. A large carrot will contain about three-quarters of a teaspoon of sugar at most. If you're accustomed to one to two teaspoons of any added sugar in your coffee or tea, or as an added glaze on an entrée, your carrot may no longer be as enjoyable to you because it may seem non-sweet by comparison.

Second, in the same way that I prefer natural foods as a source of all dietary sugars, I also prefer natural sources of extracted sugar products. For example, agave nectar is a sweetener extracted from the agave plant, and it contains a variety of nutrients that are naturally found in the agave plant. While these nutrients are found in relatively small amounts in agave nectar, this sweetener is still a better nutritional choice because of this natural diversity. Agave nectar is about 70% fructose in terms of its sugar composition. However, this abundance of fructose is not the reason I favor its use as a sweetener for individuals who have decided to use added sweeteners. Agave nectar is more natural and less processed than many other available sweeteners. Table sugar, for example, provides no nutritional variety whatsoever, even though it originates in a natural plant (sugar cane).

Your best choice of sweeteners always involves those sweeteners that are most natural and least processed. This is the reason I like whole, natural foods as the source for sweetness in a Healthiest Way of Eating. However, for individuals wanting added sweeteners, my top choices would be honey and natural nectars, including agave nectar. I strongly recommend the purchase of organic honey, since bees can inadvertently pick up pesticide residues and other potential contaminants while gathering pollens in any pesticide-containing environment. Organic agave nectar would also be my recommended choice for this sweetener. Other sweeteners that I also like are organic maple syrup and organic blackstrap molasses. If you need to use a product that acts like regular sugar, then I would suggest organic evaporated cane juice, since it is less processed than refined sugar and contains more nutrients.

When it comes to dietary sugars, the key to supporting your body's metabolism is moderation. Any dietary sugar can disrupt your body's metabolism if eaten excessively. I don't believe that the research supports intake of any added sugar in large amounts, regardless of its "naturalness" or degree of processing. I also don't believe it makes sense to focus on the exact composition of sugars within a natural food or within a natural, minimally processed sweetener. Different foods have different sugar composition, and I believe that these differences are healthy provided that the foods are organically grown and are consumed as close to their whole, natural condition as possible.

Source

Labels: agave, artificial sweeteners, eating healthy, fruit, organic, Stevia, vegetables

The first FDA approved stevia based sweetener Truvia is now for sale online. Previously, other stevia sweeteners have been labeled as "dietary supplements," but Truvia has the distinction of being known as a zero-calorie sweetener. Because it is derived from an herb, it is considered "natural."

Developed by Cargill in partnership with Coca-Cola, Truvia will be used in a handful of Coke products. Rumor has it that Pepsi is working on a zero calorie stevia sweetener of its own. Let the cola wars begin.

If you live in NYC, you can sample Truvia at Rockefeller Center today!!

Thanks for the Tip!

Labels: artificial sweeteners, FDA, new product, Stevia

ZEVIA® carbonated stevia supplement is THE NATURAL ALTERNATIVE TO DIET SODA® for one very important reason: the ingredients. ZEVIA® contains none of the chemically processed artificial sugar substitutes, artificial flavors or artificial colors found in diet sodas. ZEVIA® is all-natural, has five calories or less, and only 20 mg of sodium (Natural Orange & Natural Twist)

All three delicious ZEVIA® varieties - ZEVIA® Natural Cola, ZEVIA® Natural Orange, and ZEVIA® Natural Twist - are healthier and taste better than diet soda [according to the company].

Labels: diet soda, new product, Stevia, Zevia

Stevia is a non-caloric herb native to Paraguay that has been used as a sweetener for over 1,500 years in South America. If anyone is doubting its safety, I would encourage them to consider that fact; it is a MAJOR clue that stevia is safe.
Stevia has also been used in Japan since the early 1970s to sweeten pickles and other foods. In the United States, however, the FDA has turned down at least three industry requests to use stevia in foods.
Please understand that Japan is not encumbered by the same conflicts of interest as the United States, and most of their research is not directly financed or greatly influenced by the very industry that is seeking to promote a product. So in this environment stevia has proven to be safe.
What is ironic, of course, is that while the FDA is scrutinizing this naturally sweet herb, they maintain a historically generous attitude toward synthetic chemical sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose.To use stevia as a commercial food additive would require years of testing. Even though this sweetener has passed the test of time, it is viewed as dangerous until proven otherwise. Not so with the big-name artificial sweeteners on the market; they are innocent until proven guilty.
In the United States, stevia has been the subject of searches and seizures, trade complaints, and embargoes on importation. Many believe that the FDA’s actions regarding stevia are nothing more than a restraint to trade designed to benefit the artificial sweetener industry.
Stevia is not the only natural sweetener that is being unfairly targeted by the FDA. A pair of entrepreneurs tried unsuccessfully to create a natural sweetener based on a West African berry called Synsepalum Dulcificum, for instance. However, in 1974 the FDA ruled that their natural product was a food additive that needed years of testing before it could be used commercially. Now here’s the kicker: that very same year, the FDA approved the dangerous artificial sweetener aspartame.
Mercola

Labels: artificial sweeteners, FDA, Mercola, Stevia

The FDA, under pressure from the powerful sugar and artificial sweetener lobby, has issued a warning letter to Celestial Seasonings for using a popular natural sweetener in some of its teas. The letter indicates the FDA classifies the herb stevia as "unsafe", even though it is a main staple sweetener in countries like China and Japan and has been used without negative health effects by indigenous people for at least 400 years. In the FDA's letter to Celestial Seasonings, the agency aggressively condemns the use of the herb, noting that "enforcement action may include seizure of violative products".
The FDA claims no evidence has been provided to the agency regarding the herb's safety, but federal records reveal the FDA has received over a thousand scientific studies regarding stevia, and all but one of them verify the safety of the herb. In sharp contrast, nearly half of the studies provided to the FDA regarding the artificial sweetener aspartame, previously owned by Monsanto, indicate serious health concerns, yet it is one of the most commonly used (and one of the most profitable) sweeteners in the U.S. The OCA has also verified the FDA has strengthened enforcement of stevia imports at the borders. Last week, the agency updated a document that mandates detainment of imported food products containing stevia. Learn more: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_7140.cfm

Labels: artificial sweeteners, FDA, Stevia

The beverage and food industries have sought the "perfect sweetener" for decades. It's no secret that standard table sugar (sucrose) and its even worse cousin, high-fructose corn syrup, rots teeth, leads to obesity, and is a major contributor to diabetes. So chemical companies have concocted an armada of synthetic sugar alternatives such as saccharin and aspartame that have been linked to everything from cancer to neurological disorders. Now Coca-Cola and Cargill have announced they have "developed" the perfect natural sweetener.
The sweetener is stevia, a zero calorie plant-based sweetener that has been used for hundreds of years. In Japan, 40% of the sweeteners consumed are from stevia, so it can't really be called a "new" sweetener. But here in the U.S., likely due to lobbying of the FDA by synthetic sweetener producers, stevia has been hidden in the shadows by strange labeling requirements that keep the average consumer from even understanding what stevia can be used for. Coca-Cola and Cargill plan to bring a patented version of stevia to the mainstream as the perfect natural sweetener by removing some of the bitter aftertaste. Is this good news or bad news?

Labels: artificial sweeteners, Cargill, Coca-Cola, Stevia