Sucrose, or table sugar, is a common household sweetener that contains calories and therefore provides your cells with energy. Because you might want to reduce the calories and the added sugars in your diet, there are many sugar substitutes available on the market. Some contain calories, while others do not.
Sucrose
Sucrose is the chemical name for table sugar; it is a disaccharide molecule, meaning it is comprised of two smaller sugar rings. These are monosaccharides, or single sugar units, and are called glucose and fructose. When you consume sucrose, you digest it using the digestive enzyme sucrase. This splits it into its monosaccharide constituents, which is then absorbed into the bloodstream and later converted into energy on the cellular level.
Non-Caloric Alternatives
Several sucrose alternatives contain no calories. The body cannot digest or absorb them, so they don't provide your cells with energy, yet taste sweet because they bind to the sweetness receptor in your mouth. Some of the most popular non-caloric sweeteners are sucralose --- sold under the brand name Splenda --- aspartame and saccharin. Of these, only sucralose is heat stable, meaning you can bake with it, but not with the others.
Caloric Alternatives
If you prefer a sweetener with calories, several are available but affect the body differently. Fructose, or fruit sugar, is a component of sucrose but is much sweeter. Though both fructose and sucrose contain 4 calories per gram, fructose is a lower-calorie option because less is required to produce sweetness. Alternately, sweeteners like agave nectar are absorbed more slowly into the bloodstream, helping regulate blood sugar.
General Guidelines
In general, your choice of alternative sweetener will depend upon several things. If you're diabetic, you may need to entirely avoid calorie-containing sweeteners, and your doctor might recommend sucralose or another non-caloric sweetener. On the other hand, if you're pregnant or breastfeeding, you might want to avoid the non-caloric sweeteners because they have not been tested for safety during pregnancy and lactation. For this reason, many women feel more comfortable avoiding them entirely during this time.
References
- "Biochemistry"; Reginald Garrett, Ph.D. and Charles Grisham, Ph.D.; 2007
- "What to Expect When You're Expecting"; Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel; 2008
- "Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism"; James Groff, Ph.D., Sareen Gropper, Ph.D.; 2000
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