[Fan Zhihong Registered Dietitian Original Content Welcome to Forward]
Have you ever had this kind of entanglement when buying yogurt?
Buy yogurt with sugar, the sugar in it is not good for health;
Buy plain yogurt that is not sweet, it is too sour and I really can't eat it;
As a result, many people choose sugar-free but sweet yogurt.
But why does yogurt have a sweet taste without sugar?
That's probably a sugar substitute, most people will answer like this.
But how much sugar is added to yogurt? What's the difference between those sweeteners that are used to replace sugar? Is sweetener harmful, or is it the real sugar itself that is harmful?
Here is to help you sort out the relevant knowledge points, after reading it, you can naturally choose clearly.
Knowledge point 1: Why does yogurt add sugar? It is to regulate the sugar-acid ratio.
The principle of yogurt production is to ferment milk with lactic acid bacteria. Lactic acid bacteria break down part of the lactose contained in milk into lactic acid, which produces a sour taste.
The sour taste of lactic acid is very "sharp" and can make people feel uncomfortable. According to the principle of food seasoning, sour food will become very tasty as long as the amount of sugar is added appropriately. This "sugar-to-acid ratio" is very critical.
According to decades of experience in the industry, about 7% of white sugar in 100 grams of yogurt can "neutralize" the sour taste of lactic acid, making yogurt neither too sour nor too sweet.
But some consumers prefer a sweeter taste, so you need to add a little more sugar. On the other hand, if the yogurt is not refrigerated after it has been cooked, the lactic acid bacteria will continue to produce acid, and as a result, the sour taste will be too strong, and more sugar will be needed to balance it. The manufacturer anticipates that the supermarket may not refrigerate the whole process, so add more sugar in advance, so that consumers will not be dissatisfied with the taste after buying.
Knowledge point 2: How do you know how much sugar is added to yogurt? You can really judge the sugar content by looking at the carbohydrate content.
Milk naturally contains about 4.5% lactose, which generally does not exceed 5%. Lactose is only one-fifth as sweet as white sugar, raises blood sugar very slowly, and can promote the proliferation of beneficial intestinal flora, so if there is no lactose intolerance problem, lactose in yogurt is an advantage.
So, a yogurt labeled 5% carbohydrate content means it has less than 0.5% added real sugar. At this point, it can legally be called an additive-free product.
If the nutrition facts of a product are stated on the nutrition facts list, 100 grams of yogurt contains 12 grams of carbohydrates. This means that it is equivalent to adding about 7%~7.5% sucrose (white sugar). Because 12 - 5 = 7.
Readers with a relatively high level may ask: Doesn't the lactose in milk decompose in the process of fermenting into yogurt? Can it still be counted as carbs?
That's right, making yogurt reduces lactose by about 1/3. However, due to the different strains and fermentation time of each product, the degree of acid production through fermentation is different, and there is still a situation of continuous acid production during transportation and storage, and it is difficult to accurately define how much lactose is converted into lactic acid. From a caloric point of view, lactic acid can be completely oxidized into carbon dioxide and water in the human body, and also contains heat. The difference in calories caused by lactose turning into lactic acid is relatively small overall.
Therefore, in order to avoid trouble, the decomposition into lactic acid is not considered when the nutrition content is labeled in the nutrition content list, but directly labeled according to the original lactose content + added sugar content.
Knowledge point 3: Why do some yogurts have a lower carbohydrate content but the sweetness is not weak at all? Because of the addition of sweeteners that are not real sugar.
We go to the supermarket to buy yogurt, and if we look closely at the nutrition facts list, we will see that the carbohydrate content varies greatly. The carbohydrate content of 100g product is usually between 4.5~13.5g. The carbohydrate content of sugar-free varieties is between 4.5~5.0g, but most of them are sweet, and the sweetness is not low. There are also some products with only 9g/100g carbohydrate content, but they are actually sweeter than 12g/100g products?
As long as you look carefully at the ingredient list, you can solve the case: the sweet sugar-free yogurt is not sucrose, but sugar alcohols such as xylitol and erythritol, as well as "sugar substitutes" such as aspartame and sucralose; Yogurts that are sweet but have little added sugar are often sweetened with a small amount of sweetener to enhance the sweetness.
- You have to believe that there is no sweetness in this world for no reason.
The sweetness of sugar alcohols is not much different from that of white sugar, but the sweetness of sugar substitutes is much higher than that of sucrose, and they are also known as high-efficiency sweeteners.
Some friends asked: Why do some products add multiple sweeteners, and is one not enough?
This is because mixing sweeteners gives a more "normal" sweetness than using just one sweetener.
In terms of taste, sugar alcohols and sugar substitutes are slightly different from white sugar. As far as my personal feelings are concerned, the sweetness of xylitol is a little more "cold and hard", while the sweetness of white sugar is a little more "gentle". Many netizens said that sugar substitutes such as aspartame will keep the sweetness in the mouth for a long time. Saccharin, which was most commonly used decades ago, may bring bitterness when used a little more.
My personal feeling is that yogurt with real sugar has a better sense of satisfaction and satiety after drinking.
Knowledge point 4: Why is my homemade yogurt not sweetened, not too sour, and a little sweet? Because the yogurt baking powder has sweeteners added to it.
One of the advantages of homemade yogurt is that you can adjust the amount of sugar you add yourself.
At the beginning of fermentation, you only need to add milk (or milk powder mixed with water) and fungus powder, and after cooking, you can decide how much sugar or honey to add according to the degree of sourness, or you can directly add sweet foods such as diced bananas, mango pieces, raisins and other sweet foods to replace sugar.
However, some netizens found that the yogurt they made was still a little sweet? This is because sugar substitutes are added to the fungus powder. The sweetness of sugar substitutes is very high, and the sweetness can reach dozens to thousands of times that of white sugar, depending on the variety. Therefore, only a small amount of sugar substitute is added to make the yogurt slightly sweet.
Lactic acid bacteria cannot break down sugar substitutes. Therefore, the sweetening effect will not be weakened after fermentation.
Some yogurt starters have thickeners added to them to make them thicker. Some also add flavors, and the taste will be more fragrant. A little sweetness, combined with the use of strains with relatively weak acid-producing ability, will make you feel that unsweetened yogurt does not taste too sour.
What is added to the specific bacterial powder, you can find out by taking a closer look at the ingredient list. The words you don't understand are usually food additives.
Knowledge point 5: Is sweetened yogurt a high GI food? Does it raise blood uric acid levels? No.
As mentioned earlier, 7% white sugar (sucrose) is added to the traditional yogurt recipe, which makes many people worry: can diabetics eat it? Does the glycemic index (GI) increase in value? Does it raise blood uric acid like sweet drinks?
The answer is: even sweetened yogurt is still a low GI food.
Sucrose is a sugar formed by combining glucose and fructose. That is, 1 molecule of sucrose contains half of glucose and half of fructose.
Glucose is the only sugar that the body needs to metabolize. Its main disadvantage is that it is absorbed too quickly and the blood sugar is raised too quickly. As long as it does not cause violent fluctuations in blood sugar, it will not cause any side effects to the human body.
If 7.5g of sucrose is added to 100g of yogurt, it is only equivalent to eating 3.75g of glucose. Because yogurt itself contains proteins that promote insulin secretion and lactic acid, which increases insulin sensitivity, a few grams of glucose will not cause large fluctuations in blood sugar, so there is no need to worry too much. According to the glycemic index table in the Chinese Food Composition Table [1], the GI value of sugary yogurt is only 48, which is much lower than that of rice (83), steamed bread (88), boiled sweet potato (77) and other foods.
Eating a lot of fructose (or drinking a cool drink that contains fructose) can cause blood lipid and blood uric acid levels to rise, but the sucrose in yogurt breaks down very little fructose in the body. Eating 3.75g of fructose from 100g of yogurt will not increase blood uric acid levels, because potassium, calcium, orotate and other components in milk will promote the decrease of uric acid levels [2], and a small amount of fructose is also beneficial to liver metabolism.
Knowledge point 6: Which is healthier, sweetener or sugar?
Although various sugar alcohols and aspartame are not poisons, they are not something that can be safely eaten in large quantities.
Various sugar substitutes have had a lot of negative research results over the years. In recent years, in particular, research evidence has been accumulating that large amounts of sugar alcohols may increase the risk of blood clots [3-5].
According to the World Health Organization, based on available research evidence, eating foods that replace real sugar with various sugar substitutes does not reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease [6].
However, at present, there are no consistent research conclusions on whether short-term consumption of sugar alcohols is harmful to cardiovascular function. In a trial of 42 participants, obese people drank 12 g of erythritol or 8 g of xylitol three times a day (36 g and 24 g per day, respectively) [7], and after five weeks, no significant changes in vascular stiffness, liver function, insulin sensitivity, or abdominal fat were noted.
It is worth noting that the intestinal response of each group was described in the study. Researchers have found that erythritol appears to have some effect on reducing esophageal reflux, while xylitol increases the frequency of unformed stools. Whether it is erythritol or xylitol, after the second week, it will increase the urgency of defecation, that is, once you have the urge to defecate, you must go to the bathroom immediately and cannot tolerate it. Overall, however, the subjects felt tolerable, probably because the sugar alcohol drink was divided into 3 intakes, unlike the strong intestinal irritation caused by the full intake at once.
Sugar alcohols belong to the group of polyols and have a low absorption rate in the small intestine of the human body. A large intake of sugar alcohols can promote excessive movement of the large intestine, which can cause gas, diarrhea, abdominal pain and other discomforts, especially not suitable for patients with irritable bowel bowel, people with poor digestion and absorption, soft stools, and even people who are prone to diarrhea [8].
A 10-year follow-up of 1981 patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) found that both sugar-substituted and sugar-sweetened beverages significantly increased cardiovascular mortality [9].
In short, drinking a lot of sweet drinks with sugar, syrup, and fructose is definitely not good, but drinking a lot of sweet drinks with sugar alcohols and sugar substitutes is likely to cause health damage. It's the same with sweets.
The World Health Organization recommends limiting the amount of sugar you eat to less than 25g and no more than 50g per day. This means that we can eat a cup of sweetened yogurt, and there are usually only 14~16g of added sugar in 200g of sweetened yogurt, which does not exceed the recommended amount of 25g. So, don't worry so much about the sugar in yogurt.
Knowledge point 7: How are sugar alcohols, syrups and fructose produced? Most of them are related to corn.
Some people also asked: Is it a ruse by companies that produce sugar and syrup to collude with the academic community to make people willingly come back and eat real sugar?
This is unlikely. Because the current research evidence is clear that eating too much added sugar is definitely unhealthy, no study has overturned the case. The World Health Organization's recommendation is that just because sugar alcohols and sugar substitutes are not sugar, you should not eat those low-nutritional value drinks and foods that claim to be "sugar-free".
By the way, sucrose (including white sugar, rock sugar, brown sugar, brown sugar, etc.) is mainly produced from sugarcane.
There are a variety of sweeteners used to replace sucrose (white sugar), the main of which are sugar alcohols and syrup.
Many sugar alcohol products, like syrup, are products of the starch sugar industry. Their original raw material was corn.
Corn kernels can extract starch, and starch can be hydrolyzed by enzymes into starch syrup - maltose syrup - glucose syrup. The sweetness and consistency of these syrups can be adjusted as needed, making them convenient for use in a variety of foods and cheaper than sugar.
Glucose syrup, in turn, can be converted to fructose syrup by glucose-fructose isomerase, which is widely used in a variety of beverages and sweets. The fructose in it can be refined to make crystalline fructose, which is increasingly used in various milk teas, desserts and aleurone foods.
After hydrogenation, the syrup can be converted into sugar alcohols. The corn cob itself is rich in arabinoxylan, which can be hydrolyzed and hydrogenated by acid to turn into xylitol with a cool and sweet taste.
In other words, xylitol, fructose syrup and crystalline fructose are originally out of the same house. They are not life-or-death relationships. No matter which one the consumer prefers, it can bring benefits to the starch sugar industry. In an atmosphere of fear of white sugar (sucrose), xylitol, fructose syrup and crystalline fructose are selling better.
Finally, there are two questions to answer:
Someone asked: It seems that it is not good to eat too much sugar, too many sugar alcohols are not good, and too much sugar substitute is not good...... Shall I eat a little less of everything?
For example, some reduced-sugar products put less sugar in it, and I am afraid that it is not sweet enough, so I add some sweeteners to supplement the sweetness. Of course, because of some real sugar, the amount of sweetener used at this time is not so much. In this way, the carbohydrate content is low, and the sweetness is stronger, but the total amount of sweetener is not too much.
Don't say, if you're only eating a small amount of yogurt, it's probably probably a relatively safe idea. However, this is by no means a strategy that can be safely eaten with sweet and sweet drinks. Because the total amount of sucrose + sweetener is too large, it may still bring health risks.
I've been saying for years that if you want to eat healthy, it's important to quit your sugar craving and control the amount of added sugar. Wanting to replace sugar with other sweeteners and indulging yourself in a continued craving for sweets and sweets is not an effective way to get healthy.
Some people also asked, why are many new food ingredients on the market without exhaustive research? Why is it always necessary to find out about the harm until the consumer's health has been compromised?
People are always confused by all kinds of new concepts of sugar-free and sugar substitutes, because people want to solve the tangled between "taste" and health in the simplest way. Commercial promotion + taste temptation, the power is so powerful.
Significant toxicity is found quickly, but it takes many years to detect cumulative health hazards.
However, we can't be too demanding.
To be fair, what is now considered "traditional" can be just as harmful if you eat too much. The key is to limit the quantity.
Just like white sugar, the Song Dynasty began to use it in food, and it took 800 years to realize that eating more is harmful... Because in the past, the vast majority of ordinary people did not have the opportunity to "eat more", so naturally it is not "harmful".
Just like table salt, after eating it for tens of millions of years, it was only discovered decades ago that eating more salt would bring the risk of high blood pressure, stroke, and stomach cancer, and then in recent years, I learned that eating more salt will also promote osteoporosis, kidney stones, obesity, and decreased ability to resist germs and other more harms. Because the average life expectancy of people was less than 60 years old, and they sweated a lot during manual labor, there was no chance to discover the harm of eating too much salt.
So again, there is no over-satisfaction of desires that does not have to pay a price. Sugar alcohols are a trace component in nature, and human metabolic mechanisms may not be suitable for consuming them in large quantities.
Sweetness is a precious pleasure, and the pleasure of sweets should not be abused.
As long as you understand this, you don't need to ask again and again: Is this sweetener okay? Is that sweetener okay? To put it simply: just because a certain sweetener hasn't made any negative news doesn't mean you can eat it for years to come.
Related Literature:
1 Yang Yuexin, ed., Chinese Food Composition List (Standard Edition), Peking University Medical Press, 2018
2 Li R, Yu K, Li C, et al. Dietary factors and risk of gout and hyperuricemia: a meta-analysis and systematic review. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2018; 27(6):1344-1356.
3 Witcowsky M, Nemet I, Alarmri H, et al. The artificial sweetener erythritol and cardiovascular event risk. Nature Med. 2023, 29(3):710-718.
4 Witcowsky M, Wilcox J, Province V, et al. Ingestion of the non-nutritive sweetener erythritol but not glucose enhances platelet reactivity and thrombosis potential in healthy volunteers. Arteroscleosis, Thromb Vascular Bio, August 8th, 2024.
5 Witcowsky M, Nemet I, Li XS, et al. Xylitol is prothrombotic and associated with cardiovascular risk. Euro Heart J, 2024, ehae 244.
6 Use of Non-sugar Sweeteners: WHO Guideline.
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240073616
7 ordier V, Teysseire F, Drewe J, et al. Effects of a 5-week intake of erythritol and xylitol on vascular function, abdominal fat and glucose tolerance in humans with obesity: a pilot trial. BMJ Nutr Prev Health, 2023; 6(2):264-272.
8 Adrienne Lenhart 1, William D Chey. A Systematic Review of the Effects of Polyols on Gastrointestinal Health and Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Adv Nutr. 2017; 8(4):587-596.
9 Dan L, Fu T, Sun Y, et al. Associations of sugar-sweetened beverages, artificially sweetened beverages, and natural juices with cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality in individuals with inflammatory bowel disease in a prospective cohort study. Therap Adv Gastroenterol. 2023; 16:17562848231207305.
Welcome to pay attention to: Headline [Fan Zhihong Registered Dietitian]
Get the most practical nutritious dry goods as soon as possible, and eat healthy with your family.
Fan Zhihong
He is a scientist at the Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Food Nutrition and Human Health
Director of the Chinese Nutrition Society
Director of China Health Promotion and Health Education Association
The China Association for Science and Technology has hired the chief expert of nutrition science communication
Ph.D. in Food Science, China Agricultural University