The more I find out about GI and diabetes, the more I am baffled about sweetness. There is a lot of confusing and conflicting information out there about sugar/sweeteners, and it is hard to sift through it all to work out something meaningful. Many of these accounts are biased, or stem from a particular belief, or a particular set of values about food, which have then been embellished with some sort of scientific discussion.
To me, this seems like quasi-science: the same kind of “science” applied by the people who used to come around to our grandparents’ door, selling the “greatest new product” for arthritis the world has ever known. When someone’s livelihood depends on selling a product, call me a skeptic, but I believe their account is guaranteed to be biased.
Read on for a breakdown of what’s out there…
There is no question in my mind as to why we like things sweet – they taste good. Not only that, from when we are very small, we are rewarded with sweetness – little treats for being good. It is not surprising to me that we find comfort as adults in sweet foods we “treat” ourselves with, as we’ve learned to do so right from the word go.
What has surprised me is how quickly I’ve become used to less sweet things by consciously reducing the amount of sugary/starchy foods I eat. Now the cakes in cafes seem way too sweet, but if I cook without any kind of sweetener, cake recipes just don’t work out most of the time. I’ve conceded to myself that I’m probably never going to cure my occasional craving for sweetness. So what to do when this happens?
The problem is, sucrose and glucose have an impact on blood sugars, and fructose (the sugar found in fruit) has an impact on the liver and trigylcerides – fats in the bloodstream – if eaten in concentrated form and in large quantities (See my article Passionfruit curd & the Agave syrup story). There is evidence that artificial sweeteners may increase appetite, and I, like many people, do not feel 100% confident in their safety. In the August 2009 edition of GI News, the association between consumption of artificial sweeteners and diabetes was discussed in detail.
“Low GI” is only part of the story when it comes to sweeteners
Low GI sweeteners (except the artificial ones), usually contain high concentrations of fructose, which has been found in large quantities to have a bad impact on the liver. (See Whole Health Source: “How to fatten your liver”). High fructose corn syrup is the worst contender in this story, but any sort of fructose in excess can be a problem – so keeping it moderate is best.
In July 2009, GI News published a review summarising nutritive (those sweeteners containing some nutritional content) and non- nutritive sweeteners. GI News has also discussed Stevia in more detail, a herbal product which has now been approved as safe by the FDA (and in Australia since 2008). Stevia has also been released in a spoon-for-spoon sugar equivalent form by Hermesetas, bound to fructofibres (the same fibres in celery), which do not get absorbed by the gut. This new product is also heat stable, so it may show some promise as a replacement for sugar.
Ultimately, when it comes to occasional sweet treats, “occasional” needs to be the emphasis. When the details below are considered, all sweeteners have potential for problems. The evidence is scanty on the “pro” side, but the “con” side has an overwhelming trend – less sugar would be better for all of us, and for diabetics, is essential.
Sugar Cane and Derivatives
(Cane sugar, raw sugar, brown sugar, molasses)
Other Plant based products
(Maple Syrup, Stevia, Agave syrup, Sugar alcohols – the “-ols”)
Animal based products
(Honey)
Artificial sweeteners
(saccharin, neotame, aspartame, sucralose )
So.. one by one…
Also see the excellent table of sweeteners at GISymbol.com.au.
So what do I plan to do?
I’ll slow down on the use of molasses, agave syrup, maple syrup, fructose powder, and sweeteners I bought to experiment with in my cooking, and will use whole, grated or pureed fruit when I can (at least then some of the vitamins and all the fibre will be maintained), and when a recipe can’t be done without some form of concentrated sweetener, my personal choice (yours may differ) will be a variety of sugar, or low GI honey in lesser quantities (and molasses of course for gingerbread).
Given LoGICane is a mixture of cane sugar with molasses sprayed on, and I have both molasses and sugar in the cupboard, I think I’ll give it a miss – though certainly it sounds like it may be a better choice than plain sugar.
I plan to get a hold of some Hermesetas Stevia Sweet (stevia bound to fructofibres) and try them for myself. There are some reports of a bitter flavour, and I’ll certainly report on what it tastes like here.
In addition, watch out for the “Red, amber, green” traffic light system I’m planning to label my recipes with, which I’ll base on the Food Standards Agency recommendations. This will help to help you differentiate which of the low GI recipes are daily, weekly, or monthly choices.
I recently discovered your site and have picked up many useful and interesting tips. Trying to eat low-GI foods is such a challenge for me…
What you said about fructose caused alarm bells to ring because i absolutely love fruits and sometimes eat a lot in a go. Just how much is TOO MUCH fruit in a day/at one sitting?
grateful if you could shed light on this, otherwise keep up the good work and thanks!
I sure admire your discipline in monitoring GI levels in your diet!
Hi Michaela, you don’t really need to worry about eating too much fruit — as long as it is whole fruit, as opposed to juice. The research shows that moderate to large amounts (greater than 10 teaspoons a day) of fructose can cause problems, but it is hard to consume that much by eating fruit because the fibre and water content in the fruit fills you up. Drinking large volumes of fruit juice on a regular basis or drinking high concentrate fructose products (like Coke) could be a problem. Dr Alan Barclay, from the Glycemic Index service at University of Sydney recently wrote: “There is some evidence that moderate (less than 50 g, or 10 teaspoons, per day) to high (100 g, or 20 teaspoons, or more, per day) consumption of fructose can raise triglyceride levels and increase the risk of weight gain, but most people do not normally eat anywhere near this amount – even those living in the United States.” Hope this helps give a sense of perspective that you can work from. Cheers, Libby
thanks libby!
no, i hardly drink juice it's mostly whole fruits.
You're right, I saw that an apple is abt 6g of fructose/100g, so something like 10 apples/fruits would be the limit.
Hi Micheale
just be careful with eating tons of tropical fruits. fruits like mango, papaya and pinapple have a much higher content of fructose than apples and pears. I normally ate one to two mangos a day and my doctor recommended me to cut down a little or at least not eat it on a daily basis.
That is true Karin, Mangoes are around 16g carbohydrates per 100g, 14g of which is sugars. However, they have a GI of 51, which is still low. This is because they are high in fibre and water. They are also an excellent source of vitamin C. Since a Mango weighs about 160g, that’s about 3 teaspoons of sugar per mango – whereas an apple contains about 13g of carbohydrates per 100g, 10g of which is sugar content (2 teaspoons), and apples have a GI of 38 which is much lower. I love mangoes too – and they are certainly very healthy – some of the sugar is offset by fibre, but I agree, its probably not a good idea to eat them to excess if you are watching your carbohydrate intake – in moderation they are delightful.
I'm dealing at the moment (and for the next 5 months!) with gestational diabetes, which is apparently slightly different from regular diabetes (in ways I'm not sure I can describe!). For what it's worth, the dietician at the gestational diabetes clinic recommends eating protein (cheese, nuts, almond butter) with your fruit, and limiting your serving size to about 1/2 a cup–usually half an apple or half a banana at a time. That serving size is recommended specifically for women with gestational diabetes (I believe), so you may find that you will get away with more fruit, as long as you pair it with something that digests more slowly.
Following the advice of your own qualified health professional is always sensible – given they know your full history. Perhaps next time you see her you could ask her about the reason for limiting fruit – I imagine it has something to do with the fructose..
Would love an update on your stevia experiement – I picked up a jar of hermesetas stevia last week but haven't been able to find any tips on baking/sweetening with it! It's supposed to be a measure for measure sugar replacement, but I'm curious about it's effect on baking times and temperatures, the shelf life of what i bake, rising etc etc – and taste! Have you given it a go yet?
Hi Linda – yes we did experiment with Stevia – you can see recipe for a cheesecake I made here: http://ginews.blogspot.com/2009_12_01_archive.html
(GI News December). The lemon taste did disguise the bitterness, but it did have a different flavour – a mild bitter aftertaste that came with the sweetness – I wonder if others have noticed the same?
Have any of you heard of Diabetisweet? It does not raise blood sugar levels and is made from Isomalt and Acesulfame-K. It comes in both white and brown. We did get it through drugstore.com with HSA dollars and have found it at the local Walmart Supercenter. Online at diabeticproducts.com. We have been using it for years to sweeten many things from tea to bread to cakes. I am in the US in North Carolina, and do not know if it is available in other countries.
I use CSR Logicane sugar, which carries the low GI symbol, or sometimes pure maple syrup, or single flower honey, all of which I trust more than artificial or unusual processed sweeteners. I don't know anything about stevia, though. What is it derived from? Or is it a natural unprocessed product?
Ngaire Logicane is CSR sugar with molasses sprayed on it during manufacturing – so it is made from sugar cane. Stevia is a plant extract, and I do not know too much about the manufacturing process, but you can read more about it by googling it. Like you I am careful about new products – I like to wait a little and see how others find it!! Of course I’d be interested to hear more about others experiences with Stevia or other sweeteners.