OCI Sharing: Are sugar substitutes healthier than sugar？

Excessive sugar intake can lead to obesity, diabetes and other metabolic diseases, while high sugar diet is an independent risk factor for a variety of cancers. Nowadays, more and more people recognise the idea of limiting sugar intake, which makes sugar substitutes that have similar taste to natural sugar become the first choice of many people. Sugar substitutes are not absorbed by the human body, do not enter the blood circulation, and has no calories or extremely low calories.

 

Generally speaking, sugar substitutes are divided into two categories:

Natural sweeteners: stevioside, siraitin, xylitol, erythritol, maltitol, etc.;

Synthetic sweeteners: acesulfame, aspartame, cyclamate, sucralose, saccharin, etc.

 

 

Are sugar substitute healthier than sugar?

 

In fact, long-term consumption of sugar substitutes may bring some potential health risks to human beings.

 

① Long term consumption of sugar substitute food leads to the fact that the bacteria that need glucose to maintain their own growth will be replaced by other bacteria which can adapt to the sugar free or low sugar environment. As time passes, the normal colony environment will be destroyed, leading to constipation, diarrhea, indigestion and other intestinal problems. 

 

② Long term consumption of sugar substitute food affects insulin secretion, and increases the risk of obesity. After ingesting a large number of sugar substitutes, the body will secrete a large amount of insulin due to the perception of sweet substances. However, because of the non glucose intake, the insulin is not really utilized. As time passes, the sensitivity of insulin receptor will drop, which leads to the decrease of lipolysis and the increase of lipogenesis, which is easy to cause obesity.

 

③ Long term consumption of sugar substitutes increases the risk of neurological diseases such as dementia and stroke. A study by Boston University School of Medicine found that adults who drink sugary drinks every day are three times more likely to suffer from dementia and stroke  than those who only drink once a week in the next 10 years. Another study has found that regular consumption of foods containing aspartame can induce Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and other symptoms of brain neuropathy.

 

For some special groups, such as diabetics or obese people, the sugar substitute is a good choice. We suggest to choose some non-nutritive sugar substitutes, which will not produce any calories while giving food sweetness, such as stevioside and siraitin. However, diabetics or obese people shouldn’t eat too much sugar substitute food, they still need to consult doctors and nutritionists to make a scientific diet plan.

 

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