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Healthy Alternative Sweeteners for Pregnancy
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All
About Sweeteners from Chris Kresser
FDA Approval
From Standards
of Medical Care in Diabetes—2010 [American Diabetes
Association] - "The FDA has approved five nonnutritive sweeteners
for use in the U.S.: acesulfame potassium, aspartame, neotame,
saccharin, and sucralose. Before being allowed on the market, all
underwent rigorous scrutiny and were shown to be safe when consumed
by the public, including people with diabetes and women during
pregnancy. Reduced calorie sweeteners approved by the FDA include
sugar alcohols (polyols) such as erythritol, isomalt, lactitol,
maltitol, mannitol, sorbitol, xylitol, tagatose, and hydrogenated
starch hydrolysates. The use of sugar alcohols appears to be safe;
however, they may cause diarrhea, especially in children. Stevia
(Rebaudioside A) has been designated by the FDA as being generally
recognized as safe (GRAS). "
Personally, I get very nervous about the artificial sweeteners,
which the above just calls "nonnutritive sweeteners", so I don't recommend anything here with
artificial sweeteners. Instead, most of these treats
have sugar alcohols or some amazing other sweeteners. I don't
know exactly how the sugar alcohols work, but they don't raise
glucose levels. Some of the sugar alcohols can cause loose
bowels; this effect can be moderated by gradually increasing your
intake over a few days, or perhaps it's a welcome side-effect for
some pregnant mamas!
Stevia
What
refined Stevia preparations have been evaluated by FDA to be used
as a sweetener? [8/15 from fda.gov] - FDA has not objected to
the use of these highly refined Stevia preparations in food
products.
Stevia:
FDA Approves Stevia as a Safe Food Additive [12/19/08 from
healthy.net] -
SweetLeaf -
SweetLeaf Stevia Sweetener was the first stevia product to achieve
GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) designation in 2008.
FDA
Approves Two New Stevia-Based Sweeteners [1/10/09] from Dr.
Mercola
Stevia
and Pregnancy and
Safety of Stevia During Pregnancy from livestrong.com
Maltitol
Sugar Alcohols: There is a group of sweeteners called Sugar Alcohols
that are commonly used in reduced calorie foods. Because they
are incompletely absorbed and metabolized by the body, they have a
lesser impact on blood glucose than table sugar. Examples of
sugar alcohols include sorbitol, xylitol, maltitol, lactitol,
erythritol, isomalt, mannitol and hydrogenated starch
hydrolysates. When eating a food containing these sweeteners,
you should count ½ of the sugar alcohol content as a
carbohydrate. Side effects of sugar alcohols include
gastrointestinal (GI) pain, cramping, gas and/or diarrhea.
Limit your daily intake to less than 10 grams of sugar alcohol.
[from Artificial
Sweeteners during Pregnancy at a local OB web site.]
Allulose
Everything You Need to
Know About Allulose - Allulose is a relatively new and
relatively expensive natural low-carb sweetener; in 2012, it was
declared by the FDA to be Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS); it's
widely used by Know Better Foods.
Allulose is one of many different sugars that exists in nature in
very small quantities; the FDA says allulose is “generally
recognized as safe.” Like some of the sugar alcohols, allulose can
cause intestinal discomfort when eaten in large quantities.
What is
Allulose?
Other Healthy Alternative Sweeteners
I haven't yet been able to find information about safety during
pregnancy, so check with your practitioner about these first:
LAKANTO® is a
mixture of the high-purity Monk Fruit extract (Luohan Guo) and
Erythritol. It's a delicious natural zero calorie, zero
glycemic sweetener with the sumptuous rich taste of sugar. - they
offer a free Celebrity
Chef Cookbook
If you're a baker and trying to find a good low-carb sugar
substitute, I recommend Just
Like Sugar.
This Web page is referenced from other pages containing
related information about Gestational
Diabetes
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