Are You A Sugar Junkie?

I read a newsletter article this morning in MyDiabetesCentral that talked about sugar addiction. There was a recent study done at Princeton on rats that concluded that the chemical changes that go on in the brain are just like what happens in people who use cocaine, heroin or other substances.

When I think about how I feel about how sugar affects me, I have to agree with their results. I have always had what society refers to as a sweet tooth, but I never thought of it as an addiction until now. As much as I try to avoid sweets, I find that I still crave them, which is understandable because they are all around me.

If you read food labels you begin to realize that it’s in most of the processed food you buy at the grocery store. Enriched flour, potatoes and rice all turn into sugar also. Also check out the salad dressings and soft drinks. Alcohol is on the list too. It’s like that old punch line “Everything I like is either, illegal, immoral or fattening.”

Diabetics have a harder time dealing with sweets and salty snacks, because they mess with your insulin level. The sugar makes your body produce more insulin which makes your bold sugar drop and then you crave more sweets. Salty snacks like chips, pretzels, etc. are refined carbohydrates which cause your body to react the same way.

So if you just have to have just one more cookie … you might be a sugar junkie. I have been trying to wean myself off of the stuff for years and tried to go for the naturally sweet things like fruit and honey.

One product for sweetening that has come along more recently and I like is Stevia. It is hard to find sometimes, but I found you can get it online also. This is actually a herb that is very sweet. I use it in coffee and on cereal. They even have cookbooks that show you how to use it.

For me eliminating sugar completely is really hard to do, but I have found that the longer I keep away from it, the easier it is to stay off of it. I don’t have the cravings I used to have when I was younger, and that is a good thing.

Super Sweet Sweeteners

Many diabetics are looking for ways to keep blood sugar under control, and cut calories, one of the more obvious strategies is to limit sugar intake. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), say that Americans eat an average of 20 teaspoons of sugar a day. Most of this sugar is hidden in the foods we buy. Sugar is found in obviously sweet foods, like sodas and packaged baked goods, and also in the not-so-obvious, like spaghetti sauces and canned soups. Artificial sweeteners can reduce calorie intake and help weight loss efforts.

Artificial sweeteners create that same taste but with much smaller amounts. That’s what lowers the calories of the sweeteners. Artificial sweeteners contribute almost no carbohydrates to foods, so it helps my diabetes, and I can still enjoy my favorite foods without affecting blood glucose levels. Currently, five FDA approved artificial sweeteners on the market. Another reason for cutting down on refined sugar is that cancer thrives on sugar and refined grains, so I want to cut them out as much as possible.

There are two healthier sweeteners that I recently ran across such as stevia, xylitol, and another called Laknato that have become widely available.

These are in addition to the other artificial sweeteners on the market today. Here is a rundown on all of them:

Saccharin: Saccharin is the oldest artificial sweetener. It is 200 to 700 times sweeter than sugar. After being suspected of causing bladder cancer in rats in 1972, many studies were done which ultimately disproved any link to cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, "Human epidemiology studies (studies of patterns, causes, and control of diseases in groups of people) have shown no consistent evidence that saccharin is associated with bladder cancer incidence." Saccharin has been considered safe for human consumption since 2002 and is marketed under the brand names SweetN' Low, Sweet Twin and Necta Sweet.

Aspartame: Aspartame was approved by the FDA in 1981. It is 200 times sweeter than sugar. Its chemical compound breaks down into a substance known as phenylalanine. This can pose a danger for people who have Phenylketonuria, (PKU) but overall, aspartame is considered safe for the general public. Equal and Nutrasweet are the brand names for aspartame.

Acesulfame-K Acesulfame-K was approved in 1988 as a "tabletop sweetener" and in 2003 as a general purpose sweetener. It is not metabolized by the body, which means that no calories are absorbed when eaten. It is 200 times sweeter than sugar. It is marketed under the brand names, Sweet One and Sunett. It is frequently blended with other artificial sweeteners.

Sucralose: Sucralose comes from sugar, but it is 600 times sweeter. It isn't absorbed by the body, so it does not add calories to foods. In 1999, it was approved as a general purpose sweetener. It can also be used in home baking to reduce calories in homemade foods. The brand name for sucralose is Splenda.

Neotame: Neotame is a cousin to aspartame, and is 7,000 to 13,000 times sweeter than sugar. It was approved in 2002 as a general purpose sweetener. Although it is related to aspartame, it doesn't carry the same warning about phenylalanine, because a minimal amount of phenylalanine is produced during digestion. Neotame is not marketed under any brand names yet, but can be found in products like Detour Protein Bars.