Artificial sweeteners: All about their benefits and side effects

by time news

2024-01-03 20:00:34

It is increasingly common to hear about the Artificial sweeteners. But although they have become commonplace, there are also various doubts regarding their benefits and potential harms. Therefore, it is necessary to know if they are really better than sugar, especially for people with diseases such as diabetes.

The fact that they are sweet like him sugar normal but without calories may sound wonderful. Although as with other products, it is necessary to have a complete vision.

Do artificial sweeteners help control blood sugar?

According to Mag Ayyad, who is a nutritionist specialized in weight control in the Hospital Houston Methodist, anything that contains calories, whether carbohydrates, protein or fat, will raise blood sugar. The fastest way to increase blood levels is to eat sugary or starchy foods.

When the sugar is added to a food that already contains complex carbohydrates or that contains natural sugars (for example, combining flour and sugar to make cookies, fruit and sugar to make a fruit juice or flour, sugar and fruit to make a pie), the levels in the blood they can rise even higher.

“But if you use an artificial sweetener instead of sugar, it reduces the amount of sugar that rises in the blood. For example, if you sweeten tea artificially, your blood sugar level will only rise slightly.”

If you have diabetes, you probably already know the importance of controlling your blood sugar spikes. That’s why Ayyad suggests that when we want to add sweetness, it’s a good idea to use artificial sweeteners instead of regular sugar.

“Especially when we’re trying to lower blood sugar. Switching to artificial sweeteners can be a step toward a better health profile, and then we can start working on reducing how often we eat those sweet foods.”

Even if you have no reason to worry about your blood sugar level At this point, it’s important to know that frequent blood sugar spikes can, over time, lead to diabetes and make it more difficult to lose weight.

Artificial sweeteners do not raise blood sugar

The quickest way to raise blood sugar is to eat something sugary or containing complex carbohydrates, but how do artificial sweeteners on blood sugar levels?

“The simple answer is that they have no effect. “If we opened a packet of artificial sweetener and ate it whole, our blood sugar would not increase at all.”

The specialist points out that, of course, no one does this. But if we add these artificial sweeteners to foods or beverages: our coffees, our teas and our baked goods. That’s where things get more complicated.

Artificial sweeteners, what are their side effects?

Los Artificial sweeteners They are especially important for people with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes, and Mag Ayyad advocates using them to help control blood sugar.

For his part, the nutritionist knows that many people are concerned about artificial sweeteners and frequently ask: Are artificial sweeteners bad? It’s a question that arises from claims that these sugar substitutes are linked to everything from digestive problems to cancer.

“Artificial sweeteners have been extensively studied and found to be 100% safe. However, what studies have found is that they can affect gut bacteria and, in some people, cause digestive symptoms, but that is often related to the dose, such as when someone consumes the equivalent of seven or more diet sodas per day. day”.

Side effects of artificial sweeteners can include bloating or excess gas, as well as other symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, such as diarrhea. However, some initial steps can be taken to try to address these sensitivities.

Switching to diet soda is an easy switch. But since some artificially sweetened products can still raise blood sugar, you may not know which foods and products you can trust.

Take a sugar-free cake as an example. You may be able to enjoy it more than if the cake contained regular sugar, but depending on the size of the slice and the total calorie content, you may still need to consider decreasing the serving size to avoid a blood sugar spike.

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