Contents:
- Medical Video: Are artificial sweeteners okay during pregnancy? - Dr. Gauri Rokkam
- How artificial sweeteners can control blood sugar levels
- What are artificial sweeteners during pregnancy that are safe for consumption?
- Who can't consume aspartame sweeteners?
Medical Video: Are artificial sweeteners okay during pregnancy? - Dr. Gauri Rokkam
As you already know, pregnant women should not consume food. What pregnant women consume is certainly very influential on the health of pregnant women themselves and their fetuses. What's more, if pregnant women have excess weight or complications, such as gestational diabetes. Eating uncontrolled when the mother is pregnant in these conditions can make the condition of the pregnant woman get worse, blood sugar can rise or mother's weight rise. In health conditions like this, maybe pregnant women are better off consuming artificial sweeteners instead of sugar. But, are artificial sweeteners during pregnancy safe for consumption?
How artificial sweeteners can control blood sugar levels
Right now, you might have been very easy to get artificial sweeteners as a substitute for your sugar This artificial sweetener offers zero calories so it will not increase your blood sugar levels and does not increase your weight. The result, this artificial sweetener is safe to use for diabetics or people who are maintaining their weight.
How come? Artificial sweeteners generally have a very high sweetness level (even up to hundreds of times sweeter) compared to ordinary sugar. So, using just a little artificial sweetener can make your food or drink sweet without adding more calories. The content of zero calories in these artificial sweeteners will not affect your blood sugar levels.
What are artificial sweeteners during pregnancy that are safe for consumption?
There are already many artificial sweeteners with various types available on the market. But, be careful when choosing it. Maybe not all types of artificial sweeteners are safe for pregnant women. One type of artificial sweetener that is safe for consumption by pregnant women is stevia.
Why stevia? Stevia is an artificial sweetener made from stevia leaves. This artificial sweetener has a sweetness level 200 times sweeter than ordinary sugar in the same dosage. Very pure form of stevia is generally safe for use by everyone, including pregnant women. This has also been recognized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or the US Food and Drug Administration.
Other types of artificial sweeteners that are also safe for pregnant women are aspartame and sucralose. Aspartame and sucralose have been approved to be safely used by the FDA and also BPOM RI within certain usage limits. Both stevia, aspartame and sucralose are ingredients that you can find on a variety of artificial sweetener brands available on the market, such as Tropicana Slim.
The limit of safe use of aspartame in a day is 50 mg / kg body weight. Meanwhile, for sucralose the safe use limit is 10-15 mg / kg body weight. However, the use of aspartame seems to be able to add calories to your body, although very little, only 0.4 kcal / gram.
Who can't consume aspartame sweeteners?
For the record, pregnant women who have phenylketonuria (PKU) genetic disease should avoid aspartame. This genetic disease makes the body of pregnant women unable to digest the amino acid phenylalanine contained in aspartame. As a result, levels of phenylalanine accumulate in the body of pregnant women and can cause babies with birth defects.
