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Whether you are watching your weight ormanaging your diabetes or just trying to eat abalanced diet, one of the main ways tomonitor your carbohydrate intake is to limitthe amount of added sugars in your diet.There are several sugar substitutes availablethat can help you cut back on sugar intake.Some sugar substitutes will not affect bloodglucose levels and some may have a smalleffect. The following information is foreducational purposes only. Mention ofspecific products does not constituteendorsement.

Sugar substitutes are grouped into twocategories: non-nutritive sweeteners whichprovide no calories, and nutritive sweetenerswhich provide some calories.

All sugar substitutes on the market in the USare considered Generally Recognized asSafe (GRAS) or approved as food additives

by the Food and Drug Administration. Theyare given an Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI)which is the amount a person can safelyconsume every day over a lifetime withoutappreciable risk. The ADI is determined byreview of all available safety and toxicologicaldata on individual food additives.

Substituting sugar alternatives in favoritedesserts can be frustrating because noartificial sweetener has all the properties of

sugar. Sugar not only sweetens a food butalso provides volume, texture, color, andmoistness in many recipes. Many sugarsubstitutes on the market cannot besubstituted for sugar in equivalent amountsbecause they are from 200 to 13,000 timessweeter than sugar. Even granulated versionsof the sugar substitutes cannot provide thesame volume, texture and moistness ofregular sugar.

Sugar substitutes work best in foods that relyon other ingredients for volume, moistness ortexture. Alternative sweeteners substitute wellin recipes for beverages, puddings, saladdressings, sauces, pies, and frozen desserts.Using sugar substitutes in cakes and cookiesis usually less successful. Also some sugarsubstitutes tend to taste better in recipes withacidic ingredients like fruit or yogurt. All sugarsubstitutes are sweeter when they arecombined with other sweeteners. Forexample, one packet of saccharin and onepacket of aspartame in a recipe will besweeter than two packets of aspartame.

Non-nutritive SweetenersNon-nutritive sweeteners are also known asintense sweeteners and are calorie-free. Theyare so intensely sweet that only a very smallamount is needed to sweeten food. Examples

include:• Saccharin• Aspartame• Acesulfame-K• Sucralose• Neotame

SaccharinSaccharin is the oldest sugar substitute. In1977, the Food and Drug Administrationpetitioned to have saccharin banned becausesome research showed it might cause cancerin rats. Since increased rates of cancer inhumans who use saccharin has never beenproven, the FDA withdrew its request to havesaccharin banned in 1991.

Sweet’n Low is probably the best knownbrand of saccharin. Other brands includeSweet Twin, Sweet’n Low Brown, Sugar Twin

Living Well with D

Sweetening without Sugar

University of Arkansas, United States Department of Agriculture and County Governments CooperatingThe Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, gender, age, disability, marital or

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and Necta Sweet . In addition to being atabletop sweetener, saccharin can be used incooking and baking. Unfortunately, it doeshave a strong aftertaste when used in largeamounts.

One packet of Sweet’nLow

has the equivalentsweetness of twoteaspoons of sugar, but asthe amount of sugar it is toreplace increases, theamount of Sweet’n Low

needed decreases. Since saccharin is 300times sweeter than sugar, you need less asyou use larger amounts to get the equivalentsweet taste of sugar. Also, as more saccharinis used, bitterness increases.

The Sweet’n Low Company recommends thatyou not add more than 12 packets ofsaccharin initially to any recipe. They suggestthat after 12 packets are used, you shouldslowly add more packets of saccharin to thefood until the desired sweetness is achieved.This will produce the least bitter aftertaste.

Adding a little vinegar or other acidicingredient to a dish can sometimes reducethe aftertaste.

The Sweet’n Low Company also recommendsthat if you totally replace sugar with theirproduct in baked goods, that you reduce yourdry ingredients by 25% and add a little fruit

juice or 2 egg whites for moistness.

Saccharin is also combined with aspartame ina product called Sugar Twin Plus which helpsreduce saccharin's aftertaste while enhancingthe sweetness of the aspartame. RegularSugar Twin is a granulated product that issubstituted 1 teaspoon of Sugar Twin foreach teaspoon of sugar. However, you maywish to use less Sugar Twin when replacinglarger amounts of sugar in a recipe.

Aspartame Aspartame was approved as a tabletopsweetener in 1981 and for use in all foods

and beverages in 1996. It is 200 timessweeter than sugar and produces a verylimited rise in blood sugar. Aspartame has an

ADI of 50 mg/kg body weight and isconsidered safe for the general public.

Aspartame, marketed for years as Equal, is

now available under other brand names andmixed with other sweeteners. Aspartame isalso marketed in a granulated form calledNutrasweetSpoonfuls and inpouches formeasuring out largerquantities calledEqual Measure .Other brand namesinclude: Nutrataste and InstaSweet.

Aspartame has no aftertaste for most peoplebut loses its sweetness whenever it is storedfor a long period of time in liquid or when it isheated for more than 15 minutes. Combiningit with another sweetener or using it with anacidic food like citrus fruit or yogurt helpsretain its sweetness. Equal Sugar Light is acombination of sugar and Equal and can beused in most recipes. It yields a lower-calorie,lower-carbohydrate product than one madewith straight sugar. In some cases, you maywish to sprinkle aspartame over a dessert likea cobbler or pie after it is cooked to get themaximum sweetness rather than mixing it inbefore it is cooked.

Notice that since aspartame has no aftertasteand is only 200 times sweeter than sugar, youreplace the amount of sugar in a recipe withthe expected proportion of aspartame. You donot use less aspartame as the amountneeded to replace sugar goes up.

Acesulfame-K Acesulfame-K was approved as a tabletopsweetener and for use in several foodcategories in 1988. In was approved as ageneral purpose sweetener in 2003. It has an

ADI of 15 mg/kg body weight.

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Acesulfame-K is 200 times sweeter thansugar. It has a slight aftertaste when used inlarge amounts. Acesulfame-K can withstandhigh cooking temperaturesso it can be used in cookingand baking. Again, like

saccharin, as you replacelarger amounts of sugar withlarger amounts ofacesulfame-K, less isneeded. Any time you uselarge amounts of saccharin or acesulfame-Kin a recipe, you will need to experiment to findthe right amount to use. Acesulfame-K ismarketed as Sweet One , Sweet-n-Safe andSunette.

SucraloseSucralose is made by combining sugar withchlorine to create a calorie-free substancethat is 600 times sweeter than sugar. It is notmetabolized by the body and does not raiseblood sugar. It has an ADI of 15 mg/kg bodyweight. Sucralose is heat stable so it can beused in cooking and baking.

Splenda is themost familiarbrand of sucraloseand comes in twobaking-friendlyvarieties: SplendaSugar Blend for Baking and Splenda BrownSugar Blend . Both blends combine sucraloseand sugar, provide half the calories andcarbohydrates as straight sugar and arebetter for baking than pure Splenda alone.When baking with Splenda blends, substituteone half cup of Spenda blend for every onecup of sugar called for in the recipe.

NeotameNeotame is the newest sweetener on themarket. It was approved for use as a generalpurpose sweetener in 2002 and is manu-factured by the NutraSweet Company.

Neotame is made from the same basicingredients as aspartame and is 7,000 -13,000 times sweeter than sugar. It is partiallyabsorbed and rapidly metabolized. It does notsignificantly affect blood sugar. The ADI is2mg/kg body weight.

Neotame can be used for baking but it cannotbe substituted cup-for-cup. It is often blendedwith sugar for use in commercially preparedbaked foods.

Nutritive Sweeteners Sugar A(Polyol)Two polyol products have recently becomeavailable to consumers. They are typically

less sweet than sugar and provide fewercalories. They provide bulk in foods like sugarand are often combined with non-nutritivesweeteners in food products. Polyols provideapproximately two calories per gram (half asmuch as regular sugar) and do not raiseblood sugar levels as much as sugar.Because they are not fully absorbed, they cancause gastrointestinal distress and have alaxative effect when consumed in excessiveamounts.

XyloSweetXyloSweet is 100% xylitol.Xylitol is approved as a foodadditive by the FDA.

According to themanufacturer, corn cobsand birch trees are the mainsources for commercially produced xylitol.Xylosweet tastes as sweet as table sugar, buthas 10 calories per teaspoon instead of 16calories per teaspoon. It has a low glycemicindex, so does not affect blood glucose asmuch as sugar. Xylosweet is interchangeablewith sugar in most recipes. However, it willnot work in yeast breads since yeast cannotmetabolize it. It does not crystallize like sugarso will not work well when making peanutbrittle or hard candy. The amount needed tosweeten drinks such as lemonade can have a

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laxative effect or cause intestinal discomfortand gas. Xylosweet is available in somegrocery stores and online atwww.xlear.com/xylosweet/ .

ZsweetZsweet is a new sweetenerblend of erythritol andnatural fruit extracts. It iscalorie-free and does notraise blood glucose. Zsweet is highlydigestible so it does not cause a laxativeeffect. It closely resembles the texture, flowand mouthfeel of sugar. Zsweet can besubstituted for half the sugar in a recipe. It iscurrently available online at www.zsweet.com

and at limited places in the U.S.

ShugrShugr is made fromerythritol andmaltodextrin (acarbohydrate madefrom cornstarch), tagalose (a sugar replacermade from lactose) and sucralose. It iscalorie-free and raises blood glucose only alittle. According to the manufacturer, it cooks

just like real sugar. Shugr is only availableonline at www.shugr.com .

SteviaStevia is derivedfrom the sweet-tasting leaves of a South

American shrub known asStevia rebaudiana.Marketed as Sweet Leaf or Truvia ,

it has slowly made its way to the shelves ofmost grocery and health food stores tobecome America’s number one zero-caloriesweetener. It has also been marketed inEurope.

Manufacturers of sugar substitutes

recommend using recipes that have beenspecially formulated for their product. All ofthe major sugar substitute manufacturershave websites with recipes online. Most willsend recipe booklets to you upon request.

If you like to experiment with recipes,substituting sugar substitutes in dessertrecipes can be fun. However, if you are notinto experimentation, using recipes from adiabetic or "lite" cookbook may be morereliable. Even recipes from a publishedcookbook may not meet your standards fortaste and eye appeal.

While sugar-free desserts are usually lower insugar and calories, they are not usuallysomething you can afford to eat every day.They may still be high in total carbohydrate.

For more information and recipes forindividual sweeteners go to the followingwebsites:http://www.sweetnlow.com/ http://www.equal.com/ http://www.sweetone.com/ http://www.splenda.com/ http://www.neotame.com/ http://www.xlear.com/xylosweet/ http://www.zsweet.com/ http://www.shugr.com/ http://www.stevia.com/ http://truvia.com/

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Table Revised 2/2/12

Sweetner Calories Sweetness MetabolicEffects

Stability Functions TasteComments

Non-NutritiveSaccharin- Sweet’N Low®-Weight Watchers®-Sucaryl®-Sugar Twin®-Adolph’s®-Sweet10®

0 300 times Excretedunchanged

Stableunderhightemps.(302°F)

SoftDrinks,otherbeveragesand foods

Tastes bitter

Aspartame-Equal-Nutrasweet-Nutrataste-InstaSweet

0 200 times Metabolized aspartic acid,phenylalanineand methanol*Caution forPKU

Losestasteafter longstorageperiods

Varies ontype ofAspar-tame used

Does not tastebitter

Acesulfame-K-SweetOne-Sweet-N-Safe-Sunette

0 200 times Excretedunchanged

Stable incoolerenviron-ments

Table topsweetener,baking,cooking

Slight aftertaste

Sucralose-Splenda

0 600 times Notmetabolizedor stored inbody

Highlystable

Baking,cookingwithacidicingredient

Lactose may be presentin small amounts butshould not causeproblems in lactose-intolerant individuals

Neotame 0 700-13,000times

Partiallyabsorbed,rapidlymetabolizedcompletelyeliminated inbody wastesand does notcollect in thebody

Stable Substitutein bakingcup-for-cup

No current healthconcerns or possibility ofreaching toxic levels

Nutritive

(Sugar Alcohols)Xylo Sweet 10cals/tsp

Like Sugar Low glycemicindex; mayhave GIdiscomfortgas and resultin laxative

Stablewithexceptionin yeastbreads

Baking,withexceptionof yeastandcrystallized candies

Similar taste to sugar

Zsweet 0 Like sugar does not raiseblood glucose.highlydigestible-----does not

cause alaxative effect

Stable Baking(use for ½of sugar)

Similar taste and textureof sugar

Shugar 0 Like sugar Raise bloodsugar slightly

Stable Cooks likesugar

Similar to sugar

Stevia-SweetLeaf-Truvia

0 Like sugar No effect onblood glucoselevels

Stable Cooking/baking,generalsweetener

Similar to sugar

University of Arkansas, United States Department of Agriculture and County Governments Cooperating

The Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service offers it s programs to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, gender, age,disability, marital or veteran status, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.