In the health world today, sugar substitutes are a commonly brought up subject. You want a low-calorie drink but also want it to taste good, so what do you do? Enter sugar substitutes. You may have heard of aspartame or sucralose, but there are many other sugar substitute options and you probably are consuming some without even knowing. Pretty much any time you drink a “low calorie” or “diet” drink it will have some form of sugar substitute. So, how do you know what ones are okay to consume and what ones you should avoid? Sol Energy is happy to help you make an informed decision!
There are artificial sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose, mannitol, xylitol, etc. which are man-made from chemicals in a lab. These substances have been widely used for years, and they are in more products than you would think. Recent findings have proven that these substances are linked to several high-concern health risks. According to a large-scale cohort study, "Consumption of nonnutritive sweeteners was associated with increases in weight and waist circumference, and higher incidence of obesity, hypertension, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular events." (1) Another study found that "artificial sweeteners were associated with increased cancer risk.” (2) The spreading of this information is understandably making consumers more hesitant to consume diet or low-calorie drinks. But luckily there are other, more natural options.
Some of the natural sugar substitutes are monk fruit, stevia, honey, and agave. These are natural products from the environment. At Sol Energy, we understand that people want low-calorie, great-tasting drinks. You shouldn't have to compromise your health to get this. That's why we only use highly-proven, natural sugar substitutes to sweeten our drinks. In fact, we only use two: Monk fruit and stevia. The Cleveland Clinic has these listed in its top 5 sweeteners. (3) Stevia comes from the leaves of stevia plants, it is just a plant. Monk fruit is like the name says, a fruit. They are both as natural as it gets.
Next time you reach for a low-calorie drink or snack take a close look at the ingredients. If you aren’t able to pronounce something, or it sounds like a chemical, maybe you should think again. You won’t have to look or think too hard when you grab a Sol Energy. With only 9 ingredients, clearly shown on the front of our cans, and 2 of them being natural sugar substitutes, it is an easy choice.
Sources:
1. https://www.cmaj.ca/content/189/28/E929
2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35324894/
3. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/5-best-and-worst-sweeteners-your-dietitians-picks/#:~:text=Stevia%20%E2%80%94%20in%20packet%2C%20drops%20or,herbal%20as%20opposed%20to%20artificial.