And it’s only 10 a.m.!
Chances are, you already know that eating too much sugar during pregnancy isn’t great for you.
And watching your sugar intake while you’re expecting is important if you havegestational diabetes.
But is it safe to replace refined sugar in your diet withfoods and drinksthat are artificially sweetened?
What is a sugar substitute?
Sugar substitutes come in many different forms, but they’re all designed to sweeten our foods and drinks.
All those diet and zero-calorie products you see on store shelves?
They contain nonnutritive sweeteners, which are very low in calories or contain no calories at all.
Nutritive and nonnutritive are just one way to distinguish between sweeteners, though.
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Which sugar substitutes are unsafe during pregnancy?
Take note if you’re traveling internationally!
Which sugar substitutes are safe during pregnancy?
Still, the truth is that sugar substitutes can be a bit of a mixed bag for pregnant women.
More research is needed to fully understand how artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes affect a babys development in utero.
Your doctor may also suggest avoiding aspartame if you have high levels of phenylalanine in your blood.
Adventame during pregnancy
Adventame is actually 100 times sweeter than aspartame a pretty sweet sweetener!
It is safe during pregnancy in moderation.
Its also called coconut palm sugar and looks a lot like brown sugar with small lumps.
Just ensure any juice you drink is pasteurized.
Like sorbitol, it is safe in moderation, although too much can cause stomach upset.
Monk fruit extract during pregnancy
Monk fruit is a small green gourd from Southern China.
It’s classified by the FDA as “generally recognized as safe,” or GRAS.
Its 150 to 200 times sweeter than sugar and contains zero calories.
Pregnant women may want to avoid this artificial sweetener, if possible.
But while it can’t hurt your baby, it can have unpleasant gastrointestinal effects on you.
It’s sugar, sort of.
It’s approved for use in baked goods, making it ready to fulfill yourpregnancy cravingsof sugar-free chocolate cake.
Before you leap to consume all these tasty treats, remember everything in moderation.
Stevia during pregnancy
Stevia is a zero-calorie sweetener derived from a South American shrub.
Tagatose during pregnancy
Tagatose is also considered a novel sweetener because of how its made.
Its manufactured from the lactose in dairy products.
(Get where the “tose” comes from now?)
Artificial sweeteners typically don’t need to be eliminated during pregnancy.
