Artificial Sweeteners-The Bitter Truth: A WiseGuise Diatribe

You will have noticed if you are a regular reader of this blog (or possibly if you accidentally stumbled upon it), that one of our biggest gripes in beverages is the sugar content, but I often prefer some sweetness. Pondering this conundrum, several questions fight their way up to the cerebral cortex of my frontal lobe.

• Why do humans put sugar in everything?
• Why do 'they' replace our beloved sugar with substitutes?
• Why do YOU care so much about sugar?

Humans naturally have a 'sweet tooth,' since sweet is one of the most important tastes after salt (why salt? hint: it keeps you alive). Like salt, sugar can be used as a preservative, since if you don't get it wet, sugar can last indefinitely. Sugar is a simple carbohydrate that your body breaks down easily, causing the 'sugar rush' that keeps your hyper-active kids running nonstop for days. Basically, we all love sweets.

Problem: Sugar has a relatively low nutritional value, being simply carbohydrates, and there are a large number who support the idea that it is making us fat. Well, not me, you. The other health problems related to excessive sugar intake range from tooth decay and diabetes to gout and possibly cancer. And nobody likes cancer.
There are, of course, alternatives. Honey is popular, but its distinct flavor and variation keeps it from use in many products, which want a simple, homogenized taste, like the beverage industry. HFCS is currently the most widely used sweetener, but I've gone on about that one before.
So what does the industry do to alleviate this 'problem'? Use low or non-calorie sugar alternatives! Sounds simple, right? Well, it was possible (in the US) until stevia was banned (in the US) as a sweetener in the early nineties. There are myriad other substitutes, some of them low or no calorie, like erythritol, but still are not seen in wide use. But pseudo-health-conscious people still want their sodas, dammit. So what was the burgeoning diet industry to do? Ah-ha! We'll make sugar. With no calories. Sweet.

The first artificial sugar was accidentally made back in 1879 by a chemist screwing around with coal tar derivatives. This went on to be known as saccharin. It was stable, and sweeter than sucrose, but had an unpleasant bitter or metallic aftertaste. If that isn't enough to turn you off to it, (oh yeah, it's still out there) just look at how it's made. By the way, the U.S. Congress decided it would be cool to repeal the law requiring saccharin products to carry health warning labels. Thanks, republicans!

More recently, other sweeteners have become popular, namely aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal and phenylalanine) and sucralose (Splenda). I have been unfortunate enough to try beverages with these sweeteners in them, even without my knowledge, and I can STILL taste them. Why don't I like this? I want the sweet taste, right? Yes, I do. But not with that false, almost plastic aftertaste. And although there have been some accusations to the contrary, these two have been deemed relatively safe to ingest, with no real adverse side affects noted. (Side note: packaged Splenda contains bulking agents, giving it 86% the caloric content of sugar, ergo it is NOT low-calorie)

As far as I am concerned, there is no substitute for natural sweeteners, HFCS and CF excluded. I love sweets just as much as anyone; hell, I still drink sodas on occasion, but I still look for the ones with real, natural, relatively unprocessed sugar in them. The key is moderation. I don't drink a gallon of soda per diem like I used to, instead I rely water, tea and fruit juice for my fluids. If you can't understand that you shouldn't drink that 44 oz cola every day, or that 44 oz diet cola, than I doubt even a higher power can help you. If you don't want to drink empty calories, drink water. And if you still whine because you like flavor, try non-sweetened waters like Hint or Alaya's Herbal Water.

-- WiseGuise

Hansen's - Sarsaparilla Soda

This little brown number is from Hansen's Signature line of all-natural sodas, known for their varied tasty beverages that I have personally enjoyed for fifteen years. This particular soda is apparently flavored with sarsaparilla, an American root. It is one of the main flavoring ingredients in root beer, along with sassafras. And guess what? It has super-powers!

Instead of letting this bottle languish in the chilly depths of my personal food-prison, I drank it almost immediately. It smells just like root beer--surprise! And it tastes like. . . wow, like a creamy root beer. Sweet and smooth, not much of a kick or bite, unlike ginger beer. IF you like that sort of thing, check out Danithius' Ginger People review.

I was honestly hoping for more of a spiced flavor, but was instead greeted with a melody of vanilla and familiar root beer flavors, almost like a cream soda. There is actually very little sarsaparilla, encompassed by the last ingredient, 'Natural Flavors.' And at 45 g of sugar in 12 oz, comes in just under (correction, well over) Coke. Yikes. But if you're looking for a natural, sweet, root-beer-like soda, this might just be your ticket.

Score: 3 out of 5. Lots of sweet, not enough kick.

-- WiseGuise

Tazo - Iced Apple Spice

Tazo Apple with Book and Headphone, cir. 2008

This little number caught my eye at a local grocer, and next thing I knew I was walking another liquid impulse buy back to my car. As you can see, this is a nice, deep apple-red. I wonder how they got it so red from the listed ingredients... perhaps they souped-up the rose hips?

Let me warn you, this stuff smells awesome. It's a spicy herbed-apple cider smell. Pungent, earthy, rich smell of autumn with a hint of sweet. Mmm. I sat there smelling this for 10 minutes straight before snapping myself out of it long enough to actually take a sip.

Wow. And it's got flavor to match. It didn't let me down after my fragrance binge. This juice drink is perfectly sweet, perfectly spicy, like a juicy apple cider spiced with just the right amount of cinnamon, peppermint, and lemon for zip. Delicious. It's all natural with 40% juice, decent sugar content, and interesting herb twists. I have to give this a 5. I'm on my way to the store to get another one right now.

Rating: 5.0/5

-Danithius-