Our "love-hate" relationship with sugar - be it natural sugars or artificial sweeteners - has a long and rich history.
At present, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) enclosed its daily sugar intake recommendations within its 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines. These are rules designed to help Americans eat healthier diets and better their overall nutrition.
The guidelines suggest that Americans limit their consumption of added sugar to less than 10 percent of the average Western diet or only about 10 to 12 teaspoons per day.
Added sugars are natural sweeteners - fructose, brown sugar, honey and corn syrup among many other examples - which are often added to sugary drinks such as sodas and sports beverages. If you think about it, 10 teaspoons of added sugar equates to a 16-oz. bottle of regular soda.
Many Americans consume much more amounts of sugar, with about 30 to 40 teaspoons a day, the USDA said. What's more alarming is that added sugar has been linked to the development of obesity, heart diseases, heart failure, Type 2 diabetes, and even cancer.
Should You Switch To Artificial Sweeteners?
Most of us turn to the "fake" sugars to satisfy our sweet tooth.
The Food and Drug Administration has approved five artificial sweeteners for use in the country.
These are aspartame, which is sold as Nutrasweet, Sugar Twin and Equal; acesulfame potassium, which is sold as Sweet One and Sunett; neotame, which is sold as Newtame; sucralose, which is sold as Splenda; and saccharin, which is sold as Sweet Twin, Necta Sweet and Sweet N' Low.
One more artificial sweetener known as cyclamate is used in more than 100 countries, but is banned in the U.S., the FDA said.
All five FDA-approved sweeteners are safe, as long as they are used in moderation. This means consuming no more than 23 packets a day of Sweet One, Splenda or Newtame; 45 packets a day of Sweet N' Low; or 75 packets a day of Equal, the FDA said.
However, despite the FDA's recommendations, some experts believe artificial sweeteners are still harmful to our health.
It's somehow due to the notion that anything chemical or artificially-manufactured can affect our bodies.
It's also because of a long history of poorly-executed, overly-publicized animal studies which, according the FDA, have misled experts to believe that there is a link between artificial sweeteners and cancer. So far, there is no clear evidence yet.
A Brief History Of Saccharin And Cyclamate
Dr. Constantin Fahlberg, a Russian chemist in the 1870's, realized the market value of saccharin as an inexpensive sugar substitute. It has no calories and does not cause tooth decay.
In the 1930's, scientist Michael Sveda was working with a compound called cyclamate. This compound was marketed for insulin control, and its role was to cut the bitter taste of saccharin.
Unfortunately, an experiment in the late 1970's found that saccharin and cyclamate, when added together, can cause cancer tumors [PDF] and even bladder lesions in lab rats. Manufacturers reverted back to an all-saccharin sugar substitute and stopped using cyclamate. But by 1976, saccharin was banned completely.
Decades later, a review study analyzed over 20 studies of exposure of saccharin to rats and found that only one had evidence of bladder lesions. Turns out, the breed pf rats used in the study was susceptible to bladder cancer.
Not only that. Other studies found that feeding rats Vitamin C at the same levels as saccharin would result to bladder cancer. Scientists said rats have different bladder components than us humans, and it was those components that led to bladder damage. By 2000, saccharin was re-approved by the FDA.
Photo : Clay Junell | Flickr
