The Junk Food Nutritionist

Artificial and natural no and low calorie sweeteners can be found in a wide variety of foods. But are they safe? The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a variety of sugar substitutes or artificial sweeteners. Similar agencies have also approved these sweeteners for use in other countries. However, this does not mean there are no potential health effects. Zevia soda is sweetened with erythritol, stevia, and monk fruit extract.

As you know, I am a fan of junk food, especially sweets. I believe that everything can be consumed in moderation. For me, that doesn't mean only having dessert once a month. For me, that means having dessert daily but in a small portion and, preferably, making that dessert myself so I can control the ingredients.  Today, I'll show you how to control the amount of sugar in your chocolate chip cookies using two different recipes and two different sugar substitutes. Recipe 1   First up is a cookie made with sucralose (commonly known by the brand name Splenda). I like that sucralose was made from real sugar (sucrose), unlike aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame potassium, and xylitol.  Before stevia became mainstream, sucralose was my sugar substitute of choice for this reason. I still find that sucralose products can be easier to work with because it is used in a one-to-one ratio, meaning 1 cup of sugar can be replaced with one cup of sucralose be...