Sugar or Artificial Sweeteners in Your Desserts and Drinks?

Saving calories on desserts isn't as easy as replacing that rich dessert you love with a sugar-free alternative. Many times the amount of calories you save isn't worth all the trouble found in sugar-free desserts. Here's the lowdown on why sugar-free desserts may do more harm than good.

Increasing Food Cravings

While many sweet desserts are blamed for causing food coma after a meal, going sugar-free doesn't solve this problem, nor does it leave you as satisfied. Sugar cravings are satisfied by sugar, sugar substitutes may leave you wanting. Despite giving in to a nutrient-poor sugar-free dessert, your craving for sugar will probably not be satisfied which could cause even more cravings. A just-released review by Purdue researcher Susan Swithers notes that artificial sweeteners do not trigger the reward center of the brain like sugar does. In addition, artificial sweeteners don’t trigger insulin response, which according to the author, “could impair energy and body weight regulation.” The results suggest this may cause more cravings and promote excess calorie intake to help “satisfy” the body’s need for energy from food.

Impacting Taste 

Sugar substitutes alter the taste of desserts made with real sugar, but even if you get past the difference in taste of artificial sweeteners, your body does not. In fact, the regular consumption of artificial sweeteners may alter the body’s ability to “recognize” sweet tastes from a metabolic standpoint. That means your “taste” for sweet things may not work as well after continued consumption of zero-calorie sweeteners. This could support excess caloric intake, which, if left unchecked, could contribute to weight gain. So, while artificial sweeteners have been proven to lower caloric intake initially, over time, they may have an adverse affect.

Saving Calories?
If you think that going sugar-free will save you a significant amount of calories, you may be wrong. Portion size is king but when you compare sugar-free versions of familiar desserts, you may find that the calories saved are not worth it. For example, the calorie difference between regular and sugar-free Oreos is 7 calories per serving. Hershey’s Special Dark Sugar-Free version saves about 40 calories from the regular version, but note it’s a slightly smaller serving. From brownies to flavored oatmeal, the same is true, sugar-free options may save some calories, but there’s no real drastic calorie save overall.

Reducing Artificial Sweeteners in Your Diet

Lowering the amount of artificial sweeteners takes the same strategies as lowering your sugar intake. Here are three tips to help you cutback on artificial sweeteners:

Add Fiber: Instead of trying to find comparable sugar-free replacements for decadent desserts, add fresh fruit to add sweetness. 

Switch to Whole Grains: Many desserts are made with refined grains, but adding whole grains to items like cookies or pancakes satisfies your hunger better, and gives you more vitamins, minerals, and essential fatty acids than refined grains.

Add Healthy Fats: Many products with artificial sweeteners have added fat to maintain taste. Instead of the butter, cream, and margarine used for desserts, add healthy fats such as avocado, nut butter, or olive oil where appropriate.

Your thoughts…

Do you use artificial sweeteners in your diet? Why or why not?

By +Carolyn Richardson on Jul 16, 2013 10:00 AM in Healthy Eating

Read more: Is Sugar-Free Dessert Better for You? http://caloriecount.about.com/sugar-free-dessert-better-you-b610356#ixzz2ZDyiblHe
Read more: Is Sugar-Free Dessert Better for You? http://caloriecount.about.com/sugar-free-dessert-better-you-b610356#ixzz2ZDy5rXFK

10 Greatest Flat Tummy Tips of All Time

Everything you need to shrink your stomach, reduce bloating and prepare for that bikini. 

Drink and Still Shrink 
The liver processes alcohol before other carbs and protein, and the sheer presence of alcohol in the body slows fat burning, says Diane Henderiks, R.D., personal chef and founder of Dish with Diane. You can still hit happy hour, just stick to one drink—that’s 5 ounces of wine, 12 ounces beer, or 1 ounces of a spirit—a day. 

Chill Out 

Anxiety produces extra cortisol, the hormone that encourages the body to store fat—particularly in the abdominal region. Practicing deep-breathing exercises has been known to help alleviate stress levels, so hit the “pause” button in your mind every hour and take five to 10 deep-belly breaths, inhaling for five counts and exhaling for 10 counts. 

Chow Down 
Eating too little will force your body into "starvation mode," which will cause it to store added fat for energy (out of fear of not being fed) rather than burning fat and keeping your belly taut, Henderiks says. 

Keep Cardio in Check 
Muscle is more metabolically active than fat, which means the more you have, the faster your metabolism is and the more calories you burn all day long—all key for a whittled middle. Resistance training builds this quality lean muscle, so do two to three total-body strength sessions a week, says Tom Holland, exercise physiologist and author of Beat the Gym: Personal Trainer Secrets Without the Personal Trainer Price Tag. For fat-melting cardio, all you need to do is your weight, he adds: If you’re 145 pounds, do 145 minutes a week, broken up however fits into your schedule—say, 60 minutes Saturday, 45 Tuesday, and 40 Thursday.  

Get Wholed Over 

In a Penn State study, dieters who ate whole instead of refined grains lost more fat from around their midsections. And Tufts University researchers reported that people who included three servings of whole grains and less than one serving of refined carbs daily had 10 percent less visceral fat than those who did not follow this diet. 

Work Every Angle 
When doing an abs circuit, think about all three planes of motion, says celebrity trainer Gunnar Peterson, who works with Sofia Vergara, Kim Kardashian, and Vanessa Lachey: Try crunches and reverse crunches to hit your sagittal (front to back and up and down) plane, standing side bends for frontal (side-to-side) movement, and chops or twists for transverse (rotational) action. This will help challenge and therefore define your abs. 

Gulp Green 

Multiple studies show that EGCG, an antioxidant in green tea, helps boost metabolism and may specifically target abdominal fat. Most research has used high doses of tea, but even if you can’t manage to guzzle gallons, any amount is beneficial. 

Hit Snooze 
Not only can a lack of zzzs slow your metabolism, a 2012 study showed that people who were sleep-deprived had subcutaneous fat cells (the ones right below your skin) that were more insulin resistant, which can lead to weight gain, says Patricia Bannan, R.D., author of Eat Right When Time is Tight. 

Hit the Herb Rack 
Ginger, peppermint, and chamomile seem to aid in digestion and may reduce bloating, Henderiks says. If you don’t like herbal tea, snack on pineapple—it contains bromelain, an enzyme that appears to do the same. 

Watch the Sugar
Mama Research shows the average American eats about 20 teaspoons of sugar daily, often hidden in processed foods, including “healthy” ones such as yogurt, frozen dinners, sauces, and salad dressings. Twenty teaspoons adds up to 325 empty calories a day, and insulin production increases with sugar intake, which can slow your metabolism, making it harder to burn those empty calories. Read labels and try to reduce your intake as much as possible. 


By Jennifer D'Angelo Friedman, Shape.com

10 more tips tomorrow and another 10 the day after.

Which of these flat tummy tips have you tried? What kind of results did you get?