Benefits of artificial sweeteners

Benefits of artificial sweeteners

Artificial sweteners are literally artificial or synthetic sweetening agents. ‘ Sugar comes from the natural ingredient called sucrose and anything that is not produced from this substance may be classified as artificial. ‘ Some artificial sweeteners though may still be sourced from natural substances but most come from synthetic sweetening alcohol or agents. ‘ Many products today contain artificial sweeteners and these include soda, baked goods, candies and beverages among many others. More and more food items today use artificial sweeteners because they provide benefits like:

1. More intense sweetness

The best thing about artificial sweeteners is that they provide a higher level of sweetness when compared with standard table or natural sugar. ‘ This simply means that one will need less of the artificial sweetener to make something sweet. ‘ Fewer sweetening agent may also mean lower cost in terms of preparing various food items.

2. Fewer or no calories

Another great benefit of artificial sweeteners is that they contain very few or zero calories. ‘ Natural sugar is classified as a carbohydrate and contains loads of calories that the body uses for its energy requirements. ‘ The problem with natural sugar comes when people take so much of it from various sweet food items. ‘ This problem may be avoided if the food items involved contain artificial sweeteners instead. ‘ This is simply due to the fact that artificial sweeteners typically contain few or no calories at all.

3. ‘ Weight management

With low or zero calories contained in most artificial sweeteners, they are also preferred by people who are on a diet or who wish to lose weight. ‘ A particular soda bottle may contain 500 calories if this contained natural sugar but if artificial sweeteners are used, the soda will still taste the same but will have no calories. ‘ For those under weight management, this is definitely a great benefit to take advantage of.

Despite some health risks and criticisms associated with artificial sweeteners, more and more products today are actually manufactured with these sugar alternatives as the main sweetening agent. ‘ This is not only because of the possible health benefits but also because of practical and economical reasons.

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