Notes on a cold, snowy Tuesday before Christmas...

[alexpgp]

I picked up a box of something called "Organic Zero" sweetener, which claims to have zero calories, zero glycemic index, and "zero artificial." The active sweetener is a sugar alcohol named erythretol, which the box carefully points out as being organic and lacking in "intense-sweetener" aftertaste.

That last point is true, but I might add that the product provides very nearly zero sweetening at all, to my taste. This, combined with its rather premium price (something like $7 for 35 packets), sort of eliminates it from my future shopping lists.

So much for food reviews.

It's been snowing since about 8 am, with very little wind. This ought to result in a fairly even accumulation of the white stuff on the property, as opposed to the wind-swept variable-depth snowfall earlier in the month. The critical path for moving stuff down south is still safe, however, and a couple of short translations are relieving what would have been a monotonous routine of cleaning up the place.

Cheers...

Comments

[platofish.livejournal.com]

Why not use real sugar?

[furzicle.livejournal.com]

Well, the interesting fact is that sugar has been undeniably linked to many causes of death whereas "fake sugar" has not. This is a bit of an out of character thing for me to say. But I personally am now trying to reduce my tooth decay, blood sugar, hyper tension, and other related downfalls, and so I now am a faithful consumer of Equal.

[platofish.livejournal.com]

Hi,

I both agree and disagree with the above.

A lot of the negative health problems are caused not just by eating sugar, but eating waaaaaaaay too much of it (and frequently 'sugar' in the form of high-fructose syrup rather than sucrose). Most of the diseases you list (with the exception of tooth decay) are diseases associated with obesity rather than simply with sugar consumption. So, yes, reducing sugar and therefore calorie intake is probably a really good idea.

That said, I'm not convinced that sugar substitutes are a good thing. For the most part they are synthetic compounds and not found in nature. At this point there might not be a direct link between these compounds and 'death' or disease. However, my instinct is that consuming relatively large doses of a synthetic compound might not be a good idea in the long term. I say that for a few reasons - firstly, our cravings for sweet, salty and/or fatty foods are exacerbated by eating foods high in these components. So, substituting Equal for sugar doesn't cut down cravings for more sweet foods, which in turn leads to more consumption. Add in the open question about the possible long term effects of sugar substitutes on the body...... hmm.

In any case, diet and nutrition are complex issues, to say the least. My favorite book on the subject (and the origin of much of my conclusions) is The End of Overeating by David Kessler. (http://www.amazon.com/End-Overeating-Insatiable-American-Appetite/dp/1605297852/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261551284&sr=8-1) It an excellent read, and written by an expert in public health. Highly recommend it!

Cheers!

[alexpgp.livejournal.com]

During the agonizing 14 months or so during which my mom "lived" at the assisted care facility before she died, my dad pretty much ignored all of the stuff that she loved to cook (whole wheat flour, brown rice, other various grains), preferring to buy most things from the grocery either ready-made or in quantities sufficient to to cook and consume in one or two days.

After he died, and it was up to me to clean up the place, I went through the pantry and threw out pretty much all of the grains, which were thoroughly infested with critters. Curiously, I noted that two products were completely critter-free: the bag with bleached white flour, and the bag with with granulated sugar.

Critters may be annoying, irksome, and unpleasant to deal with, but they also act in a way that uncompromisingly supports their continued survival.

Eating white flour and granulated sugar apparently does not support that goal.

That said, my grandmother pretty much stuck to the idea that "moderation in all things" could not steer you wrong. A few teaspoons of "real" sugar will doubtless not hurt, but a regular diet of the stuff will, in my opinion, have more dire consequences than consuming alternative sources of sweet taste.

Cheers...