It’s undeniable; America has a major sweet tooth. In fact, the average American consumes 20 teaspoons of sugar a day! This is a problem because the excessive sugar intake has helped feed the country’s obesity epidemic, linking sugar intake to heart and other lifestyle diseases. In order to lose weight and still get a sweet fix, many people have turned to artificial sweeteners, which have no calories. However, with such controversy a surrounding the safety of sugar substitutes, it is hard to tell which color packet you should reach for: white, pink, blue, or yellow. To clarify, here is the latest health info on four of the main sweeteners.
Sugar: (white packet)
Regular sugar is by far the most commonly used sweetener and is found in everything from processed foods to home baked goods. Almost 60% of sugar intake comes from corn sweeteners, which are main ingredients in sodas and other flavored drinks. The remaining 40% is sucrose or table sugar. With 15 calories per teaspoon, large quantities of sugary foods lead to a surplus of calories and thus, cause weight gain. Obesity is a major risk factor for heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and many more. It should also be noted that people with diabetes, should avoid sugar because of its effects on blood glucose levels.