Sweeteners Food Sweeteners or "fake sugars" are substances sweetness , but does not provide the calories of sugar.
Sweeteners are consumed most often in the form of sweeteners or additives in beverages introduced "light" , confectionery , desserts , chocolates , ice cream , slimming ...
There are two types of sweetener: - Intense sweeteners (saccharin , aspartame , acesulfame-K , sucralose) that provide little or no calories;
- Polyols (sorbitol , isomalt , xylitol , maltitol , mannitol) that provide two times less calories than sugar.
Sweeteners and cons-indications There is a cons-indication for aspartame (combination of two amino acids , aspartic acid and phenylalanine) is phenylketonuria , a rare genetic disease detected at birth.
This cons-indication is linked to phenylalanine (its presence is always mentioned on the label of products that contain aspartame).
Sweeteners are not recommended for children under 3 years.
The acceptable daily intake (ADI) is set sweeteners:
- For aspartame at 40 mg / kg body weight per day (knowing that the average adult is 0.05 to 0.4 mg / kg / day);
- For sucralose: 15 mg / kg / day;
- For saccharin: 5 mg / kg / day.
Usefulness of sweeteners Sweeteners are interesting: - To limit the consumption of sugars (which provide only empty calories , that is to say without any nutrient) as part of a diet because they reduce caloric intake;
- Diabetics , they offer an alternative to simple carbohydrates (sugars which pass rapidly into the blood and make blood sugar rise) allowing to enjoy the sweet taste without affecting blood glucose;
- The prevention of caries by reducing the consumption of sugar.
