Red Deer Life - May 2, 2006

I'd like to start this column by saying thank you to everyone for reading my little snippets over the past months, and a special thanks to all of those who have been so kind to provide feedback along the way. My last column on sweeteners caused a bit of a stir. Many people were somewhat shocked at things they never realized could be possible with something that was aimed at making us healthier by reducing refined sugar from our diets while preserving the sweet taste of the things we enjoy. A few people questioned whether I was unaware of a final alternative to sugar. Either way my last column pushed the boundaries of my space constraints and I only felt it proper to dedicate this week's space to a continuation of sorts. Now that we all know what the different sweeteners are and what some of the potentially harmful things associated with them may be let's talk about sugar.

In the realm of fitness and weight loss, with all the bad things I noted about sweeteners, I've still preached that refined sugar is equally as bad, if not worse. One author, William Duffy (Sugar Blues), has actually gone so far to cite that sugar is physically addictive in much the same way as a narcotic. People who eat a little tend to want more, when people are restricted from sugar they tend to have withdrawls and experience symptoms of depression and anxiety. Refined sugar has also been linked to a number of health issues such as: hypoglycemia, diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, obesity, indigestion, lack of concentration, depression, and anxiety. What's even scarier studies have shown that a large helping of sweet food actually renders our white blood cells helpless for a period of 4 to 5 hours following. Is a large helping of cake and ice cream worth compromising your immune system?

Artificial sweeteners are bad, sugar is bad, by now you must be wondering if there is a shining knight amongst these villains. Well there might be. The Stevia leaf is a non-caloric herb that is found native in Paraguay. If you're a label watcher you may find Stevia listed on some of your favorite calorie reduced products. Stevia has been used by some cultures to sweeten food for centuries. There has not been a great deal of research on Stevia as it also has a very obscure relationship with the FDA, but in all the information I have read I have yet to read anything negative. The problem with Stevia is an entirely different one. The FDA in the 1980s labeled Stevia as "an unsafe food additive" and went so far as to seize shipments coming into the country. In the 1990s legislation was revised to allow the marketing and sale of Stevia as a dietary supplement but it still cannot be named as a sweetener. As a result the availability of Stevia to manufacturers is limited and the cost is such that it would price many producers products out of their competitive markets. For now you may find Stevia at your favorite health food store in small quantities.

In close we know sweeteners and sugar both have some pitfalls and just maybe as time goes on this herb from Paraguay will offer us an exciting safer alternative. Happy Easter.