There are all sorts of “natural sweeteners” on the market, but we’ve got questions… How natural are they? Are they a healthy substitute to other sweeteners?
First off, our preferred natural sweeteners are very minimally processed; honey, maple syrup, and coconut sugar. Things like agave, cane sugar, rice syrup, etc. tend to be much more processed and therefore “empty calories.” Then there are the real garbage products like corn syrup and beat sugar (which are GMO, toxic foods) as well as synthetic sweeteners like aspartame, surculose, saccharin, etc. which can be toxic to the nervous system.
Today we wanted to unpack a couple of other products that get slapped with the “natural sweetener” label - those derived from Stevia and Monk Fruit. We discuss the pros to these, the cons, and the bottom line recommendation.
It’s easy to group monk fruit and stevia together in this conversation since they (a) both come from whole plant foods (b) have naturally occurring super-sweet “glycosides” and (c) are processed to extract the glycosides to create “zero-calorie” natural sweeteners.
If you'd like to join these conversations live, be sure to Subscribe to the Alter Health YouTube Channel! https://www.youtube.com/alterhealth
Some highlights from today's MM episode...
- Stevia is a leafy shrub while monk fruit is a guard that grows on a vine
- Both have naturally occurring glycosides that provide a sweet taste (setvioside and rebaudioside A or reb A in stevia and mogrosides in monk fruit)
- They are naturally sweet in their crude form, but also have bitter tastes as well
- These plants are processed through dozens of steps (up to 40 or more) that include bleaching and extraction via methanol and ethanol before getting the final glycoside extract
- Both stevia and monk fruit products are 200 - 300 times sweeter than sugar (sucrose)
- The products are indeed “zero-calorie” since they mainly contain the sweet constituent and no other nutrition - therefore they have no impact on blood sugar
- Studies show stevia can have some detrimental effects on the gut microbiome (rat studies)
- Processed sweeteners such as these can dull sweet receptor tastebuds on the tongue while creating a supraphysiologic dopamine response to perpetuate sweet cravings and food addiction
Links to some more good stuff
- Join Alter Health on Locals: https://alterhealth.locals.com/
- Cleanse with Us during the next Alter Health Cleanse: https://www.alter.health/cleanse
- Work with us in the Thrive on Plants program: https://www.alter.health/thrive-on-plants
- ATTN Health Practitioners! Learn more and apply to the Plant Based Mind Body Practitioner Program: https://www.alter.health/pbmb-practitioner
Peace and Love.
Links to more good stuff
- Work With Me - www.alter.health
- GREEN FORCE! - www.visfoods.co (use the code AlterLife for $10 off)
- Check out my favorite products - www.alter.health/products
