Sucrose vs Sucralose
Sucrose is the sugar we use in baking, but sucralose is an artificially made sugar. Some artificial sweeteners like Splenda come from sucralose. It enhances the sweet taste of sugar, but without the added calories (heath Cleveland). Sucralose in drinks and food may seem better for you than sucrose because of the lesser calories. Low calories and higher sweetness sounds amazing, but how does sucralose affect the body in comparison to sucrose?
Sucrose is made up of both glucose and fructose and can be found in nature. Sucrose is a carbohydrate, therefore it must break down the sucrose into smaller sugars, glucose and fructose (Libretext). From those sugars: they break down even more, get into the blood stream, and energy goes to all the cells! The body needs carbohydrates to survive because they provide calories. Sugar tastes wonderful and the body needs it, however eating a lot of sugar is not very healthy. Using calories as a measuring tool helps keep the body healthy. When eating a lot of sucrose, the body could have “higher blood pressure, inflammation, weight gain, diabetes, and fatty liver disease” (The Sweet Danger of Sugar). The body absorbs sucrose, but in excess serious side effects show.
Sucralose provides no calories because it can’t be broken down for energy due to its manipulated structure. Of the sucrose that is ingested, 15 percent is absorbed then excreted through the urine and 85 percent goes through the digestive tract (Everything You Need to Know about Sucralose). Even though sucralose passes through the body, It still has an effect on the body. A study published in the journal Nutrition, Obesity, and Exercise “indicated sucralose, when compared to sucrose, may increase appetite and cravings in women and those considered obese” (29). Sucralose in moderation has no side effects, but when sucralose becomes a habit there becomes a problem. The body rejects sucralose and it has a sweeter taste, but may cause cravings.
This diagram shows more than just sucrose and sucralose’s relative sweetness. It also shows that sucralose has 600 times the relative sweetness than sucrose (Brownlee).
Sucrose helped make sucralose and share a similar chemical structure, however they have many differences. Sucrose is a natural sugar that our body can process, but sucralose gives more of a sweet taste with less calories. The sugar sucrose in excess provides many long term issues, however sucralose in excess has minimal long term issues. To keep the body most healthy, tend towards sucrose, but sucralose in moderation is fine.
Bibliography
Brownlee, Christen. “The Skinny on Sweetners.” Acs, Oct. 2011, https://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/education/resources/highschool/chemmatters/archive/chemmatters-oct2007-percyjulian-brownlee.pdf.
“Everything You Need to Know about Sucralose.” Food Insight, 10 Feb. 2022, https://foodinsight.org/everything-you-need-to-know-about-sucralose/.
Libretexts. “3.3: Digestion and Absorption of Carbohydrates.” Medicine LibreTexts, Libretexts, 14 Aug. 2020, https://med.libretexts.org/Courses/American_Public_University/APUS%3A_An_Introduction_to_Nutrition_(Byerley)/APUS%3A_An_Introduction_to_Nutrition_1st_Edition/03%3A_Carbohydrates/3.03%3A_Digestion_and_Absorption_of_Carbohydrates#:~:text=Carbohydrates%20are%20not%20chemically%20broken,and%20delivered%20to%20the%20liver.
“The Sweet Danger of Sugar.” Harvard Health, Harvard Health Publishing, 6 Jan. 2022, https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/the-sweet-danger-of-sugar#:~:text=%22The%20effects%20of%20added%20sugar,Hu.
