I received this list of sweeteners in an email this morning.
Some of the most common, popular, and dangerous artificial sweeteners on the market today are:
· Aspartame
· Acesulfame potassium
· Alitame
· Cyclamate
· Dulcin
· Equal
· Glucin
· Kaltame
· Mogrosides
· Neotame
· NutraSweet
· Nutrinova
· Phenlalanine
· Saccharin
· Splenda
· Sorbitol
· Sucralose
· Twinsweet
· Sweet ‘N Low
· Xylitol
You may be surprised to find out where some of these artificial sweeteners lurk:
1. Toothpaste and mouthwash
2. Children’s chewable vitamins
3. Cough syrup and liquid medicines
4. Chewing gum
5. No-calorie waters and drinks
6. Alcoholic beverages
7. Salad dressings
8. Frozen yogurt and other frozen deserts
9. Candies
10. Baked goods
11. Yogurt
12. Breakfast cereals
13. Processed snack foods
14. “Lite” or diet fruit juices and beverages
15. Prepared meats
16. Nicotine gum
Keep in mind, this isn’t even an exhaustive list. But it sure does illustrate why it’s so important to READ THOSE LABELS.
Final Thoughts
I feel that there is far too much scientific proof of the dangers of artificial sweeteners to ignore the warnings. While it may seem benign enough to use these sweeteners to reduce your daily caloric intake, you would be far better off using honey or maple syrup and walking an extra 10 minutes to burn off those added calories.
(Note, this was a general email, not specifically for diabetics, hence the advice re honey and maple syrup)