Sugar or Artificial Sweeteners - Use With Caution

by Melesha Bailey

Springfield, MO—

We love our sweets: cakes, cookies, candy bars, and perhaps sweet tea. Many of us began consuming sugar through formula as infants, and the love affair continues to this day.

Sugar contains empty calories and is in most processed foods. White and processed sugar is the most dangerous. Some avoid sugar for health reasons and use honey, molasses, or agave nectar as a substitute for sweeteners. These can be a healthier option, but overuse can cause harmful effects. The body will process these sugars, like white sugar, and can raise blood sugar and insulin levels.

A study published in The Journal Cell Reports by researchers at the University of Exeter found a connection between a gene that causes sugar cravings. Science has demonstrated that people can be addicted to sugar in the same way as those addicted to heroin, cocaine, or nicotine. Sugar gives us pleasure which stimulates our reward center in the brain. So whether you are consuming white or brown sugar, honey, or agave, the body has difficulty processing, but the brain is happy.

Artificial sweeteners combine chemicals to make foods sweeter and improve the taste without the calories of sugar. They can be sweeter and take smaller amounts to provide the same level of sweetness as processed sugar, changing our tolerance for sweets. Many times doctors and dieticians recommend artificial sweeteners as an alternative to white sugar for their patients who struggle with diabetes or who are trying to lose weight.

Artificial sweeteners can have