(NAPSA)—First it was calories, then it was fat, now America’s growing dietary concern is sugar. In fact, sugar content has moved from being consumers’ No. 5 nutritional concern to the No. 2 concern today—second only to fat content in their diets according to a recent trend report. The recent surge of low-carbohydrate, low-sugar diets such as Atkins and South Beach Diet, has more people reaching for the blue, pink and yellow sugar substitute packets more frequently. Those who are not using sugar substitutes may still be influenced by ongoing myths and misconceptions about sweeteners, despite decades of research. The fact is, the top three sugar substitutes—Equal sweetener, Sweet’N Low sugar substitute and Splenda sweetener—all are safe and FDA approved. In addition, all three can be safely used as part of any of the popular low-carb, low-sugar diets. “T counsel hundreds of patients every year and find people still believe there are health risks associated with using sugar substitutes. It’s simply not true,” said Mary Donkersloot, registered dietitian and author of The Simply Gourmet Diabetes Cookbook. “What concerns meis this lack of understanding may keep people from using sugar substitutes to help reduce sugar in their diet or address serious health conditions such as diabetes or obesity.” Donkersloot explains the sweetening ingredient in Equal is aspartame. “Aspartame is made by combining food components found in foods eaten every day. It is safe and FDA approved. The FDA has studied aspartame for the last 238 years, and has never had any safety concerns,” Donkersloot said. Donkersloot adds that while Splenda also is safe and FDA approved, she warns that because the box reads, “made from sugar, tastes like sugar,” many of her patients think that Splendais natural and safer than other sugar substitutes. “Splenda is not sugar, and it is not natural,” Donkersloot said. “The sweetening ingredient in Splenda is sucralose, which is made The Skinny On Sweeteners How is it made? Aspartame, which is Sucralose, which is Saccharin, which is sweeter than table sugar, is made by joining together two amino acids that are found in foods eaten everyday. than fable sugar, is made by a multi-step chemical process, that substitutes chlorine on the final sweetener molecule. than table sugar, is the sweetening ingredientin Sweet'N Low?. Soccharin is found in
