Many people are considering the merits of a Whole Food focus basis for planning their upcoming Thanksgiving meal.

Of course, the most important aspect of Thanksgiving is truly the opportunity give thanks for the blessings in our lives and to share that sentiment while being able to spend time with family and friends, so any food choices should enhance that overall experience.

Memories of Thanksgivings past are connected to our emotional perceptions of those times, so there are sounds, sights, smells/aromas, tastes, textures that all contributed to the sensory perceptions we have locked in our memory banks of those special times. When we again hear similar sounds, perceive similar smells, etc., it brings back a rush of emotion that makes us feel connected to that past and to hopefully many cherished memories that we can enjoy re-experiencing in the present.

Adults often want to recreate and evoke those sensory memories for themselves, while at the same time helping younger members to create similar sorts of hopefully happy memories for children and grandchildren, nieces and nephews, cousins, etc.

For many families, Thanksgiving conjures up memories of home and home is a safe haven most of us yearn for at holiday time.

To help insure those memories are as happy as they can be this year, it is important to take into account any particular dietary needs of family and/or other guests.

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In Part 1 of 2 in this blog post series, we addressed some infotainment after the release by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) in conjunction with the American Heart Association (AHA) of a scientific statement relative to nonnutritive sweeteners that the press considered newsworthy.

(Sweetener image courtesy of wax114 at rgbstock.com)

On July 9, 2012,  the ADA/AHA scientific statement provided a current use and health perspective on Acesulfame-K, Aspartame, Neotame, Saccharin, Stevia Glucosides, and Sucralose, which are 6 of the 7 nonnutritive sweeteners currently approved for use in the US by the FDA. The 7th nonnutritive sweetener also approved for use in the US by the FDA, luo han guo fruit extract, was not addressed in the scientific statement. At this time, certain other nonnutritive sweeteners such as Alitame, Cyclamates, Neohesperidine, and Thaumatin that are approved for use in the food supply in use in other parts of the world are NOT approved for use in the US as of the date of this blog post.

We noted in that Part 1 of 2 blog post that sweeteners fall into one of two major categories: Nutritive (which include sugar alcohols and various carbohydrates), or Nonnutritive.

Nutritive sweeteners can occur naturally in food items or can be added during food preparation or processing. They include carbohydrate as well as sugar alcohol forms.

Unlike nonnutritive sweeteners, nutritive sweeteners refer to sweetening products that contribute calories to the diet.

Some of these nutritive sweeteners are obviously alternatives to the most common table sugar (i.e. sucrose). These carbohydrate based nutritive sweeteners (NOT sugar alcohols) typically provide close to 4 calories per gram of product consumed. The sugar alcohol based nutritive sweeteners, on the other hand, are types of polyols formed from the partial breakdown and hydrogenation of edible starches. Sugar alcohols are sweet, but contribute ~ 0.2-2.6 calories per gram of product consumed.

In this Part 2 of 2 in this blog series, let’s review through infotainment some of what has been written about various nutritive sweeteners focusing on evidence-based facts and dispelling some fictional myths.

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Since we’re in the middle of our series on sweeteners, we thought we would share some more flavorful nutritive sweetener options, including ways to use less of nutritive sweeteners in some recipes and how to otherwise enhance the perception of sweetness in a recipe. (Colors of Maple Syrup with lighter shades at the start of the sugar maple sap harvest season and darkening towards the end of the “sugaring” season in the state of NH image courtesy of mejones via rgbstock.com).

First, some general rules of thumb to keep in mind.

In many bar cookies and quick breads, you can cut back to using only 3/4 of or perhaps even 2/3 of the amount of granulated white sugar called for in the recipe and often still have an acceptable product.

Note that it is not suggested to use this approach of reducing granulated white sugar content in yeast bread doughs where a limited amount of sugar is typically used purely as a food source for the yeast, although for any filling or icing it may be possible to use less added sugar or a fruit based option with no added sugar instead.

When cutting back on granulated white sugar content, try using some flavoring extract such as almond, vanilla, lemon, or orange if the recipe doesn’t already call for a flavoring extract to enhance product sweetness perception.

Consider if the recipe would be appropriate for adding a spice which can intensify the perception of sweetness in a recipe. Possibilities to consider include ground forms of allspice, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, ginger +/or nutmeg.

As a general rule when dealing with nutritive sweeteners in cooking and baking, replace liquids with liquids and granular forms with other granular forms UNLESS you desire to alter the texture of the original product through making a substitution.

Some examples of nutritive sweetener terms (besides white granulated sugar) that you might find on ingredient labels anywhere, including in summer Farmers Markets and regular retail stores include, but are not limited to: agave syrup (has a very high fructose content); anhydrous dextrose; apple juice concentrate; barley malt; brown rice syrup; brown sugar; coconut palm sugar aka coconut sugar or palm sugar; concentrated fruit juice sweeteners; corn sweetener; corn syrup; corn syrup solids; crystal dextrose; dextrin; dextrose; evaporated cane juice; fructose; fructose sweetener; galactose (from lactose); glucose; grape juice concentrate; high fructose corn syrup (HFCS); honey; hydrogenated starch hydrolysates (HCH); icing sugar; invert sugar; lactose; levulose; liquid fructose; maltodextrins; malt syrup; maltose; maple syrup; molasses; orange juice concentrate; pancake syrup; palm sugar; powdered sugar aka 10X sugar or baker’s sugar; raw sugar; simple sugar; sucrose or superfine sugar (the latter is used in making alcoholic beverages by bartenders), tagatose (found in nature and also can be manufactured from lactose); & turbinado sugar.

Only some of those nutritive sweetener options are available to those who cook or bake at home as potential alternatives to sometimes replace granulated white sugar in their kitchens.

Let’s mention some of them.  

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