Sweetener Alert!

 For people in diet, sugar is a no-no. So that's why much more people change their sugar with a sweetener. Sweetener is a chemical compound that works by altering the role of sugar to make a sweet sensation in our tongue. Even though it makes some sweet taste like sugar (or even more than sugar itself), it doesn't result into any energy or only make a little energy. That's why it's the best way to get a proportional body shape without sacrificing the pleasure in eating. 

We know there are much sweeteners sold in market nowadays. But some of them is can be dangerous to our body, especially if it is an artificial sweetener. Better know them now before it's too late!

• Aspartame

Aspartame is non-saccharide that made from methyl ester of aspartic acid, one of non-essential amino acid that can be synthesized in our body. It's approx. 200 times more sweet than sugar. When aspartame being metabolized in our body, it converted into three  other chemical compounds: aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol. Since it converted to a phenylalanine, it's a health problem source for those with phenylketonuria. That's why products that using aspartame always state "containing phenylalanine" in their labels. It's safe to use this sweetener as long as it still in ADI (Acceptable Daily Intake) value. This sweetener usually used in soft drinks.

•  Saccharin

Saccharin (not saccharine) is another artificial sweetener that has more sweet than sugar but also has an unpleasant bitter taste aftertaste (taste like you are licking a metal stuff behind your tongue). It is the first artificial sweetener ever made by human, which is discovered by accidental. Until several decades ago, the use of this sweetener is in a big caution mark. But since 2000, it released from warning list and is considered legal for use. You can read the rest in this link.

• Cyclamate

Cyclamate of sodium cyclamate is an artificial sweetener that 30 - 50 sweeter than a sugar. Unlike saccharine, cyclamate has more controversies. Some studies shows that cyclamate can be converted into cyclohexylamine that can make a chronic toxicity to animals, as stated by wikipedia. But other study in 2003 said it's not related to any health issue. Either it's save or not, it's still banned to use in US and some other countries. Cyclamate is legal to use for some other countries, especially in Asia.

• Maltodextrin

Maltodextrin is a polysaccharide produced from starch by partial hydrolysis. Maltodextrin consist of D-glucose, a simple sugar that binds together with α-(1-4) glycosidic bonds. It's the best sweetener you can use as a sugar substitute since it still has similar chemical structure, but more complex than sugar. It means there are more energies need to break down and metabolize it than sugar, so the energy you gain from maltodextrin is still lower than energy you use to digest it. Maltodextrin is usually produced from corn, potato, or grains.

Although an artificial sweetener can very sweet than sugar, it's better to reduce its intake, since it still  has side effect to our body even it's slight. Start to use natural sweetener (just like maltodextrin) from today. For more information about this topic, you can go to this Wikipedia Page for further information about list of sugar substitutes.