‘Sugar-Free’ Does Not Mean Healthy

Artificial sweeteners added to "sugar-free" drinks can be unhealthy. Shutterstock

A friend of mine who has diabetes always drinks sugar-free beverages because he thinks these drinks are not harmful. However, this is more a myth than truth. Sugar-free products that you believe are good for health may be the opposite!

Common Types of Artificial Sweeteners

As we all know, excessive sugar intake can lead to diabetes, hyperlipidemia, obesity, tumors, and autoimmune diseases, which harm human health. As a result, sugar-free sweeteners were developed and grew into a vast industry.

An artificial sweetener is a synthetic substance that is usually sweeter than sugar but contains no or very little of the latter. Let us first take a closer look at some commonly used artificial sweeteners.

• Aspartame: The sweetener aspartame is a very low-calorie sweetener but is 200 times sweeter in taste than sugar, which is why it is widely used in chewing gum and beverages such as Diet Coke.
• Sucralose: This is about 600 times sweeter than sugar and is a common ingredient in various beverages, candy, and baked foods.
• Saccharin: Saccharin is used in chewing gum, pharmaceuticals, and other products.

Danger Posed by Artificial Sweeteners

Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers these to be generally safe, more and more studies have found that these artificial sweeteners can endanger our health. So what are their possible harms?