Bitter truth about those super-trendy natural sweeteners
HEALTH gurus and celebrities have helped turn expensive natural sweeteners such as agave and maple syrup into trendy alternatives to sugar.
But while they are frequently hailed as healthier, the way they are used means there may in fact be little benefit in favouring them, according to TV dietician Lucy Jones.
Because they are sweeter than sugar, they can be added to recipes in much lower quantities, but Mrs Jones said many use them ‘like for like’, meaning that they end up taking in similar levels of calories.
She added: ‘It can be a good thing if someone is trying to cut down their overall sugar intake in order to be able to use less, as long as somebody does use less.
‘Let’s not kid ourselves – whether it’s table sugar, maple syrup, honey, they are all fairly similar in calories across the board because they are all different types of sugar.’
Actress Gwyneth Paltrow has credited agave syrup – made from the Mexican agave plant – with helping her to stay slim and it has been championed by food bloggers such as Deliciously Ella, sending sales soaring.
Some sugar alternatives such as coconut blossom nectar can cost up to £8 for a 350g jar, compared with 59p for a 1kg bag of sugar.
They are promoted as having a lower GI (glycaemic index) than sugar. This is a measure of how quickly foods containing carbohydrates, such as fruits, cereals and baked goods, raise glucose levels in the blood and a low GI is claimed to be better. But Mrs Jones said this was not necessarily the case.
She tells the Channel 4 programme Food Unwrapped tonight: ‘It [agave syrup] does have a low GI but that does not make it healthy.
‘Chocolate cake, for instance, has a lower GI than carrots and that’s because chocolate cake is full of fat and fat slows down the absorption of sugar into your blood.’ She added: ‘A lot of these do have small amounts of nutrients, so maple syrup, for example, has some potassium, but you’d need to down two thirds of a bottle to get the same amount of potassium as a small banana.’
The programme investigates the facts about sugar and claims to debunk a number of myths including the notion that brown sugar is better than white.
Presenter Matt Tebbutt visits Mauritius and finds brown sugar is the same as white but with molasses for colour. Co-presenter Kate Quilton explores sugar alternatives with Mrs Jones.