May have "deceived" your brain Sugar substitutes are good and not gluttonous

"A pack of xylitol gum!" "Have a cup of milk tea, the kind that substitutes sugar!"

Now, some convenience stores, milk tea shops or online shopping platforms, sugar substitute products are sought after by more and more "sugar control people", which reflects people's pursuit
of health.

Indeed, the emergence of sugar substitutes seems to ease the entanglement of some "sugar control people" - both to be healthy and unable to let go of their thoughts
about sweets.
So, is sugar substitute really the gospel of the "sugar control crowd"? How to choose sugar substitute food reasonably? The reporter interviewed Ma Guansheng
, a professor at the School of Public Health of Peking University who has been engaged in nutrition and health research for a long time.

Can sugar substitutes reduce energy intake?

Desserts, snacks, milk tea, and ice cream are all Li Mei's favorites
after the 90s.
What she struggles with every day is - to eat or not to eat? Eat less or take another bite?

Carbohydrates, also known as sugars, are nature's most abundant energy substances
.
In people's diet, sweetness is one of
the sources of human happiness.
Eating sweets presumptuously without gaining weight is Li Mei's long-standing wish
.

In fact, sugar substitute foods have been widely used in candy, desserts, beverages and other foods, including some well-known brands
.
Whether the dizzying sugar substitute ingredients are healthy enough has become a concern for
"plums".

Sugar substitutes are not sugar, why do they taste sweet?

"The reason why we can feel sweetness is that the spatial structure of sugar substitutes has a substance similar to sugar, which binds to the sweetness receptors on the taste buds of the tongue, thereby signaling to the brain so that we feel sweetness
.
" Ma Guansheng explained that sugar substitutes bind more to sweetness receptors than sugar, so the sweetness can reach tens, hundreds, or even thousands of times
that of sugar.
To achieve the same sweetness as white sugar, only a very small amount of sugar substitutes need to be added to the food, but the energy
of the sugar in the food can be greatly reduced.

"Sugar substitutes, also known as sweeteners, are a class of substances that can add sweetness to food and belong to food additives
.
At present, there are three main types of sugar substitutes on the market: synthetic sugar substitutes, natural sugar substitutes and sugar alcohols
.
Ma Guansheng introduced that from the cost point of view, synthetic sweeteners are cost-effective, so most sugar substitute foods are based on synthetic sweeteners as the main ingredients, such as aspartame, acesulfame potassium, saccharin, sucralose (sucralose), etc.
, of course, the country has clear standards
for the scope and dosage of food additives.

In the natural sugar substitute family, there are stevia, mongolin, glycyrrhizin, etc.
, most of which are extracted from plants, although the sweetness is high but the calories are almost negligible
.
"Sugar alcohol substitutes include erythritol, sorbitol, maltitol, xylitol, etc.
, which can not only prevent dental caries, but also help the regulation of intestinal microorganisms
.
" Ma Guansheng said
.

Sugar substitutes may have "tricked" your brain

Eating sweets makes people feel happy and happy, which is one of
the reasons why consumers love sweets.

Wang Fu is a sweet tooth lover, but was diagnosed with diabetes
during a physical examination last year.
Wang Fu also "activated" his sweet "moderation" mode
.

But when he heard that some sweets had replaced sucrose with sugar substitutes, Wang Fu began to be interested in sweets again
.
He has been controlling sugar and ordered himself a cup of milk tea, according to his description, the taste is the same as sugary milk tea, no difference
.

Can sugar substitutes that replace sweets really be eaten willfully?

In the human body, most non-nutritive sugar substitute breakdown products do not contain glucose and are not directly involved in the secretion of insulin, so theoretically, non-nutritive sweeteners do not cause blood sugar to rise
.
"This seems to control sugar intake, but it will make us have a compensatory psychology that we can eat more other things at will after eating sugar substitutes, but instead consume more food and increase the risk of
being overweight.
" Ma Guansheng explained
.

In the opinion of experts, although sugar substitutes themselves do not produce energy, their impact on the human body is multifaceted, if too much sugar substitutes are eaten, it may affect the secretion
of hormones in the body.
For example, when the human body ingests sugar substitutes, the brain will mistakenly think that the body has ingested sugar, and then secretes insulin, but does not wait for the "encounter"
with glucose.
Over time, the body's signal to secrete insulin becomes increasingly dull, and the risk of chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes increases
.

Studies have also found that some sugar substitute foods may also cause intestinal flora disorders
.
If glucose is replaced with such sugar substitutes, the flora that originally needed glucose to maintain its own growth will be replaced
by miscellaneous bacteria.
In the long run, the microbiome environment in the intestines will be destroyed, and problems such as
constipation, diarrhea, and indigestion may occur.

Marven, a post-00s girl, likes to drink sweet drinks, especially in summer, various brands of iced drinks have almost become the
standard.
Not long ago, a study report caught her attention - a transnational study of more than 450,000 people published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine found that people who consumed more than 500 milliliters of soft drinks (non-alcoholic beverages, editor's note) per day had a 17%
higher overall mortality rate than those who consumed less than 250 milliliters per month.

In this regard, Ma Guansheng pointed out that sugar substitutes are not equal to sugar-free and cannot be eaten
without moderation.

Moderate consumption is too much

Although there are currently qualified sugar substitute foods on the market, the added sugar substitutes are in line with food safety standards
.
"But that doesn't mean you can eat
it in large quantities for a long time.
For sugar substitutes, we must have a scientific and rational attitude, eat in moderation, and go too far
.
Ma Guansheng said
.

In the opinion of many experts, sugar substitutes are a good choice
for diabetics and other groups.
Moderate sugar substitutes can relieve hunger and enhance people's happiness
.
"You can choose some natural non-nutritive sugar substitutes, such as stevia, monk glycosides, etc.
, which are relatively safe
.
" Ma Guansheng introduced, "Pregnant women and children have poor resistance and need to supplement enough nutrients to maintain immunity, and these two types of people should use as little or no sugar substitute food
as possible.
" ”

Over the years, the "temptation on the tip of the tongue" has made many people pay a "sweet price"
.
In response to the amount of sugar in the diet of the domestic people, Ma Guansheng's team issued an article pointing out: At present, China's per capita daily intake of added sugar is about 30 grams, and children aged 3-17 who often drink drinks consume more than 5%
of the total energy from added sugar in drinks alone.
WHO recommends that the per capita daily energy provided by added sugars should be kept below 5% of total energy, or no more than 25 grams
of sugar.

So, how much is 25 grams of sugar equivalent to a physical object? "It's about half a listening to Coke, or half a cup of milk tea, or a cup of yogurt
.
" Ma Guansheng said
.

In recent years, China's "little fat dun" has been increasing
day by day.
A number of research results suggest that childhood obesity increases the risk
of chronic non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and type II diabetes mellitus in adulthood.
Many women also realize that sugar may be the "culprit"
that causes dull skin and collagen loss.

In order to truly control sugar, the most important thing is to develop healthy eating habits and lifestyle, Ma Guansheng gave advice: "Drink less or no sugary drinks, let alone replace drinking water with drinks; Eat less sweets such as pastries, desserts, and cold drinks, because there is a lot of sugar and oil added to them; Stir-fry and cook with less sugar; When buying pre-packaged foods, you should also look at the nutrition facts list and choose products with low carbohydrates or sugar content; When eating out or going out, you should pay more attention to controlling sugar intake
.
(Editor Li Chuang)