Dear Dr. Hull.
I’ve shopped on a natural foods website for years, but I had never seen this sweetener until today. They are promoting Allulose sweetener, and I wondered what are your thoughts?
From Dr. Hull
It’s really interesting that they keep coming out with new alternative sweeteners, isn’t it? Most all of the new sweeteners are marketed as “natural” or “made from sugar“, but most are extracted from sugar and then taken into the lab for tweaking and flavor enhancement.
Allulose seems to fit this model, but it’s too new on the market to know much about how it affects your health longterm. The FDA approved it as safe in 2012 (GRN No. 400), approving it as an ingredient in a variety of foods and nutrition supplements.
My problem with allulose is it is a sugar alcohol. I have written many articles about the sugar alcohols and I have a chapter about them in my book Splenda®: Is It Safe Or Not?
Like all sugar alcohols, if you consume too many of them or in large quantities, sugar alcohols typically cause stomach issues, including stomach cramping, gas, bloating, queasiness, and diarrhea.
They market allulose as a naturally occurring sugar because it is found in plants, but it is commercially produced primarily from corn or fructose, and that takes some laboratory processing.
Supplements extracted from corn commonly result in stomach issues. Too much fructose can spike blood sugar levels, and also cause stomach issues.
I often wonder why people spend their money on the sugar substitutes when they could simply stop using sugar and avoid buying processed foods with sugars added. If I sweeten anything, which I do not do often, I just use pure cane or beet sugar – real sugar.
Pure, unprocessed sugar has all the essential nutrients, vitamins, and minerals.
Sugar Substitutes Are Expensive
Check out the price differences between the sugar substitutes and raw sugar:
| Sweetener | Approximate cost per ounce |
| Allulose | $0.62 |
| Truvia® (stevia mix) | $0.48 |
| Equal® (aspartame) | $0.44 |
| Sweet‘N Low (saccharin) | $0.27 |
| Sugar | $0.13 |
Bottomline, I’d save your money on sugar alcohols and the other diet sweeteners, and try cutting back on using any added sugar and stop buying processed foods loaded with sugar.
Pure stevia is a good alternative to buy, but when you buy stevia, purchase pure stevia from NuNaturals that’s not blended with a bunch of other things in the lab.
I hope this helps.
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Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only, and is educational in nature. The FDA may not have evaluated some of the statements. This article is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Please discuss with your own, qualified health care provider before adding supplements or making any changes to your dietary program.
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