COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF VARIOUS SWEETENERS IN TERMS OF THEIR EFFECTS ON THE HUMAN BODY
This article discusses the most common sweeteners from the point of view of the impact on the human body. The relevance of this topic lies in the fact that modern humanity is constantly searching for ways to combat such diseases as diabetes, obesity, atherosclerosis, dental caries, which are associated with excessive sugar consumption. For thousands of years, humanity has been eating natural foods containing complex carbohydrates. Currently, the structure of the diet has changed - people began to consume refined refined carbohydrates, in other words, ordinary sugar. The daily sugar intake worldwide is close to 500 kcal per day, whereas the recommended daily sugar intake for a person of normal weight is about 25 g or 96 kcal per day. The availability of a variety offoods containing a large amount of sugar in the conditions of modern inactivity is one of the reasons for the growth of obesity and many related complications, such as hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance and hyperlipidemia, predisposing to glucose intolerance and diabetes mellitus. The most important effective therapeutic tool for the prevention and treatment of diabetes and its complications is to replace the consumption of refined carbohydrates with sugar substitutes that have a sweet taste, but do not contain calories and to a much lesser extent stimulate the secretion of insulin. Diseases of the oral cavity are also a serious problem of modern man. Therefore, from this point of view, the use of sweeteners is also relevant. This article presents a comparative analysis of natural and synthetic sugar-like substances (xylitol, maltitol, sorbitol, erythritol, sucralose, tagatose, arhat extract, allulose, inulin, stevia) according to their organoleptic and physico-chemical properties, sweetness, caloric content, and effects on the gastrointestinal tract and tooth enamel. The substances considered are comparable in taste to sugar, but do not have nutritional energy, do not contain glucose in their composition and are much slower to digest. They do not cause harm to health and can be used as a component of therapeutic dietary nutrition for patients with diabetes and people with excess body weight.