I thought I had this series about wrapped up until I took that final trip down the alternative sweetener aisle at the health food store.  “Sugar Made Healthy” a package proclaimed.  I picked it up and looked over an alternative sweetener I had somehow missed.  The product is called Whey Low, and a look at the claims on the package convinced me it deserved a spot in the series.

What do I think about it?  I’m not sure.  Here is what I found out:

Whey Low is a natural alternative sweetener made from fructose, lactose, and sucrose. That’s fruit sugar, milk sugar, and plain ol’ table sugar.  Whey Low D is the formula for diabetics which omits the sucrose.  So how can these possibly be low glycemic and acceptable for your diet plan?  These aren’t sugar substitutes, but sugar.

After studying the clinical data sites and the company Web sites, I still don’t know. According to the company info, Whey Low was invented by Dr. Lee Zehner, Ph.D whose wife, Susan, is diabetic.  He developed the product because he was concerned about the effects of the artificial sweeteners on the market.

It says on the package that Whey Low has a 60% to 70% lower glycemic index than sugar (confusing since it IS sugar).  It also claims to have 75% fewer calories than sugar. One teaspoon contains 4 calories as opposed to 16 in regular table sugar. It measures cup for cup for sugar.  The company also makes a brown sugar substitute (the one I bought) and a powdered sugar version — which will certainly widen the field of acceptable recipes.  I tried it and found that it does taste just like sugar with no aftertaste.  The price is considerably higher than table sugar, but comparable with other sugar substitutes.  That is — expensive.  It runs about $6 to $7 a pound.

Charts from clinical studies show that it did, indeed, cause a lower glycemic response than table sugar.  But is it healthy?

Fructose is a natural sugar found in fruit and lactose is another found in milk.  In nature these sugars are in small enough amounts that you wouldn’t normally be able to overdo them enough to harm you.  Normally.  I have learned that people can and do overdo everything.

I’ve read a lot about the dangers of too much fructose in our system.   A 2004 article in the journal Obesity Research states:

“…the glycemic index does not address other metabolic issues related to excess sugar consumption. Prominent among these issues is the use of low glycemic index sweeteners, particularly fructose, which is increasingly present in processed food. Fructose is associated with increased adiposity, which may result from its effects on hormones associated with satiety.” (Emphasis mine.)

In other words, it can make you fat, possibly from messing with the hormone, leptin.

According to studies done by the company, Whey Low does NOT cause triglyceride levels to rise.  However, that is exactly what fructose causes.

As for being healthy — the vitamin and mineral contents come up as zero.  Even if it doesn’t do anything bad to you, it doesn’t do anything good for you.

So I’m waffling on this one. I think it is safer than an artificial sweetener. I think it probably is better for you than table sugar — certainly in its glycemic response and number of calories.  But it looks like it will keep you in the same holding pattern of poor health with the effects of the fructose.

After doing research I threw away the Splenda and the agave nector I had in my cabinet.  I’ll probably go ahead and use the Whey Low — but don’t know that I will buy any more.

Eating to live and living for Christ,

Susan Jordan Brown