Artificial Sweetener Research

Saul Hurwitz

King David Linksfield

Health implications of natural sweeteners versus artificial sweeteners

Contents

Introduction 1

Literature Review 2

Method 4

Results 5

Discussion 8

Conclusion 12

References 13

Introduction

This research report will research the following question: "According to nutritional information on labels, which is healthier - natural sugars or artificial sweeteners?"

The aim of this investigation is to determine which sweetening agent - natural or artificial sweeteners - is healthier overall.

The natural sugar will be overall healthier while artificial sweeteners will be healthier in terms of carbohydrate content and Glycaemic Index.

In society today, health has become an extreme focus. Many foods have become known as carcinogenic or diabetes-inducing. Many people in our immediate lives - family and friends - are ailed with cancer, diabetes and other diseases. We all know the awful effects these diseases can have, and so we attempt to avoid them at all costs. However, it would seem that in the case of sugar and sweeteners, one cannot win. Both these sweetening agents seem to have harmful effects on our health. Over-consumption of sugar can lead to type 2 diabetes. This is caused by a reduced sensitivity to the carbohydrates and the insulin begins to be less sensitive - producing less. Artificial Sweeteners are notoriously carcinogenic, because they have been proven to cause cancer in animals - making it dangerous for humans. This is because they aid in cancer growth and tumour formation. This report will attempt to show which is less detrimental to our health, according to their labels.

Literature Review

Sweetening Agents can be split into two group...

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...ve very different GIs and sugar contents. This could have created a biased information base on which the experiment was done. To rectify this, many different brands of sweeteners using the same core ingredient should have been reviewed and an average taken, to achieve much more accurate results. Also, a sweetener using neotame should have also been acquired and used.

There is a lot of room for further research in this field. Research could be done as to how the different chemicals in each sweetening agent creates the effects that they have. For example, how additives such as dextrose and lactose affect our bodies, as well as the chemical additives like silicon dioxide, etc.

Another experiment that could be performed is surveying individuals of every gender, race and age and seeing the use of different sweeteners and individuals knowledge on what they are ingesting.