NC Cooperative Extension

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Cuttin' the Sugar

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Heart and Soul What is sugar?

To most people "sugar" means white table sugar. In the Dietary Guidelines, "sugars" include all forms of sweeteners that contain calories. The average person consumes 130 pounds of sugar a year, and although some foods contain natural sugars, most of what we consume is processed into the foods that we purchase. Sugar provides only simple carbohydrates. Sugary foods provide calories, but they lack the vitamins, minerals, and fiber that are important to your health. Most diets that are high in sugar are also high in fat (candies, pastries, cookies, cakes, and desserts).

White table sugar, or sucrose, is the most commonly used sugar, but there are many more sugars and sweeteners that are added to the processed foods that we purchase. You may not recognize sugar when reading an ingredient label, because there are over 100 different types of sweeteners. Below are some other words that mean sugar or sweetener. Also, when reading labels, look for words that end in "ose".

SWEET WORDS

Sucrose.................................... common table sugar
Glucose, Dextrose........................corn sugar
Fructose................................... fruit sugar
Lactose.................................... milk sugar
Maltose.................................... malt sugar
Corn Syrup............................... sweetener made from corn starch
Honey..................................... syrup of fructose and glucose
Molasses.................................. concentrated sap of sugar bearing plants (sugar cane, sugar beets)
Brown Sugar..............................sucrose covered with small amounts of molasses
Maple Sugar..............................concentrated sap of sugar maple trees
Sugar Alcohols...........................sorbitol, mannitol, maltitol, and xylitol

Sweeteners are used in foods for several reasons, besides adding sweetness.

Sugar is used as a preservative in jams and jellies; it provides body and texture in ice cream and baked goods; it aids in fermentation in breads and pickles.

Sweeteners that supply energy (calories) are referred to as nutritive sweeteners even though they lack other nutrients essential for growth and health maintenance. Nutritive sweeteners provide four calories per gram. For most sugars this is about 16 calories per teaspoon.

SUGGESTIONS FOR USING SUGAR IN MODERATION At the supermarket

  • Read ingredient labels. Identify all of the added sugars in a product.
  • Select items lower in added sugars when possible.
  • Buy fresh fruits or fruits packed in water, juice, or light syrup rather than those in heavy syrup.
  • Buy fewer foods that are high in sugars such as soft drinks, fruit flavored punches, aides, and sweet desserts.
  • Be aware that some low-fat desserts may be very high in sugars.

In the kitchen

  • Reduce the sugar in foods you prepare at home. Try new recipes or adjust your own. Start by reducing sugar gradually until you've decreased them by one-third or more. For cakes and breads, use the following guides to reduce sugars:

For each sup of flour, use only:

Cakes........................................ 1/2 cup sugar
Muffins and quick breads................. 1 Tbsp. Sugar
Yeast breads......................... ...... 1 tsp. Sugar

The sugar-to-fat ratio is important for the texture of cookies that do not contain liquid, such as molded, pressed, or rolled cookies. Reducing the amount of sugar without also reducing the amount of fat will generally result in an unacceptable product. Cake-like cookies that contain juice, milk, or water can be altered the same as cakes (1/2 cup sugar per cup of flour).

Experiment with spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, coriander, nutmeg, ginger, and mace to enhance the sweet flavor of foods. Spiced foods will taste sweeter if warmed.

Use home-prepared items that are made with less sugar when possible instead of commercially prepared ones that are higher in sugars.

At the table

  • Use less of all sugars including white and brown sugars, honey, molasses, syrups, jams, and jellies.
  • Choose fewer foods that are high in added sugars such as prepared baked goods, candies and sweet desserts.
  • Add less sugar to foods such as coffee, tea, cereal, or fruit.
  • Try using half as much, and then see if you can cut back even more.
  • Cut back on the number of sugar sweetened soft drinks, punches, and aides you drink. Drink more water. We need to drink at least 8 glasses of liquids every day. Try to make half of them water. Add a lemon or lime slice for a great taste.
ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS

Sugar alcohols

The most common sugar alcohols are sorbitol, mannitol, maltitol, and xylitol. They are used in dietetic candies and chewing gum. Sugar alcohols are absorbed more slowly by the body and do not cause a rapid increase in the sugar level of the blood. For some people, the slow absorption of sugar alcohols may have a laxative effect. They provide the same number of calories as table sugar (sucrose). They also do not promote tooth decay. No-calorie sweeteners

No-calories sweeteners currently used in foods include saccharin, aspartame, and acesulfame-K. The American Diabetes Association approves these for use in moderate amounts.

Saccharin is about 300 times sweeter than table sugar (sucrose) and can be used in both hot and cold foods to make them sweeter.

As you may know, large amounts of saccharin cause cancer in laboratory animals, such as rats. Rats are often good models for humans, but in the case of saccharin, they appear not to be. Evidence from studies done on people suggests that saccharin does not cause cancer in humans.

The American Diabetes Association recommends that pregnant women avoid heavy use of saccharin.

Only you can decide how to balance a smaller possibly even zero risk of cancer against the large known risk of being overweight or not keeping your diabetes under control. Other artificial sweeteners are available if you do not want to use saccharin.

Aspartame (NutraSweet) is a newer artificial sweetener. Because it is 180 times as sweet as sugar, you need only a tiny amount to sweeten food. So even though it does have calories, because you use so little, it adds almost no calories to food.

People who have the rare disease phenylketonuria (PKU) should not eat or drink anything with aspartame. Otherwise, aspartame appears to be safe. A few people have had mild reactions (headaches, dizziness) to it. But no effects have been common or severe.

One problem with aspartame is that it loses its sweetness when heated. As a result, you cannot use it in baked goods, such as cakes. You can use it in top-of-the-stove foods like pudding by adding it at the very end of cooking.

Acesulfame potassium (Sweet One) is the newest artificial sweetener on the market, it is also called acesulfameK. This sweetener can be used in baking and cooking because it does not break down when heated. But the texture of baked goods is not the same with acesulfameK as with sugar. To get a good texture, you might need to add some sugar.

Summary

Sweetener terminology can be confusing because there are so many kinds. Moderation and variety are always good advice and are applicable to the use of sweeteners. Consumers should be aware of the benefits of moderate sweetener use, as well as the hazards of excessive use. Using a variety of sweeteners will reduce your chances of ingesting significant amounts of any individual sweetener.