Why Allulose is the Best Sweetener by Jerry Brainum 3/26

 

 

Sweeteners are a controversial topic in human nutrition. Depending on which source you consult, they are either a boon to human health or a poison responsible for premature death. Sweeteners come in two basic types: natural and artificial. Natural sweeteners include table sugar (sucrose), honey, and fruit extracts such as monk fruit. Most people assume that anything labeled "natural" is safe — and often that's true, but not always. Arsenic is a natural substance, but it's far from safe. The same logic applies to fructose, a natural sugar classified as a monosaccharide (simple sugar). Despite being natural, fructose has earned a bad reputation — partly because of confusion between the fructose found naturally in fruit and the processed fructose in high fructose corn syrup. High fructose corn syrup is a roughly 50-50 mixture of fructose and glucose, the same two sugars that make up table sugar (sucrose). What makes fructose distinct is how the body handles it: unlike other sugars, fructose is metabolized primarily in the liver, where excess amounts are readily converted into triglycerides, a form of fat. This is particularly concerning because high fructose corn syrup is widespread in the food supply and remarkably easy to overconsume. When the liver is consistently overwhelmed with excess fructose, the result can be non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, a serious condition that can progress to liver failure.

Artificial sweeteners offer the advantage of delivering a sweet taste without contributing excess calories. Many are not metabolized at all, passing through the body essentially unchanged. This makes them particularly appealing to people who need to limit carbohydrate intake, such as those following low-carb diets or managing type-2 diabetes. Despite these benefits, artificial sweeteners have repeatedly come under fire for health concerns. One early casualty was cyclamate, once a common food additive, whose reputation collapsed after a rat study suggested it could cause cancer. The finding led to its ban in the United States. However, the dose administered to the rats was massive — far beyond anything a human would realistically consume — and no credible evidence ever established that typical dietary exposure to cyclamate caused cancer in humans. A similar fate befell saccharin, the oldest artificial sweetener. Animal studies identified it as a potential carcinogen, and it too was pulled from shelves. Yet again, the damning results appeared only at extreme, unrealistic doses. No credible link between saccharin and human cancer was ever established, a conclusion supported by decades of widespread use among diabetics with no demonstrated increase in cancer risk.

Among the more recently scrutinized artificial sweeteners is sucralose, which is derived from sucrose but chemically modified to make it indigestible. Despite passing through the body without being absorbed, it is 600 times sweeter than table sugar. Before being released for public use, sucralose underwent hundreds of animal and human safety . . .