加拿大最新版膳食指南建議:避免甜味劑大綱
As a Canadian dietitian who works and lives in the United States, I like to keep up with health policy in both countries. So, I was quite interested to see that Health Canada, the governmental agency responsible for public health, is charting a new course when it comes to dietary advice, particularly in the area of sugar substitutes. It's a track that sharply diverges from the one the United States is on.
我是一名工作在美國，生活也在美國的加拿大營養師。我喜歡及時跟進兩國的健康政策。所以，當加拿大衛生部（負責公共衛生的政府組織）制定了新的膳食指南，尤其是針對甜味劑領域的指南時，我非常感興趣。這條指南與美國的相關指南截然相反。In a significant departure from the past as well as from the U.S. approach, Canada's new food and dietary guidelines, released this year, say zero-calorie or low-calorie sugar substitutes are neither necessary nor helpful. "Sugar substitutes do not need to be consumed to reduce the intake of free sugars," the guidelines say, adding that, because "there are no well-established health benefits associated with the intake of sweeteners, nutritious foods and beverages that are unsweetened should be promoted instead."
於今年發佈的加拿大最新版膳食指南與去年的舊版以及美國的膳食指南存在很大的不同，其表示，零卡路里或低卡路里的甜味劑既不必要也沒有幫助。"沒必要攝入甜味劑來降低遊離糖的攝入量，"該指南表示，並補充寫道，因爲"攝入甜味劑並沒有明顯的健康益處，我們應該提倡不加糖的營養食物和飲料。"
In contrast, the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs), issued by the U.S. Agriculture and Health and Human Services departments, suggest sugar substitutes may have a place in helping people consume fewer calories, at least in the short term, though "questions remain about their effectiveness as a long-term weight management strategy." The guidelines neither encourage nor discourage their usage.
相比之下，美國農業部、美國衛生部和美國社會福利部門共同發佈的《美國膳食指南2015版》（2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans）建議：甜味劑或能幫助人們減少卡路里攝入量，至少短時間內會做到這一點，儘管"作爲一種長期體重管理策略，其有效性暫待商榷。"該指南對甜味劑持既不鼓勵也不阻止的態度。
The differences may seem subtle, but dietary guidelines in each country shape what is served at public institutions such as schools and influence the recommendations made by health-care professionals. Language matters. But before we try to explain the difference in advice, let's have a quick primer on sugar substitutes.
雖然差異細微，但各國的膳食指南卻會對學校等公共機構的食物供應產生影響，而且也會影響醫療保健專業人士給出的建議。語言也很重要。但在解釋各國膳食指南的差異之前，還是先了解一下甜味劑吧。What are sugar substitutes?
什麼是甜味劑？Sugar substitutes include many categories, such as high-intensity sweeteners that are at least 100 times as sweet as sugar. They can be "artificial," such as aspartame and saccharin, or "natural," such as stevia and monk fruit. They can contain a negligible number of calories or be classified as low-calorie sweeteners, such as sugar alcohols.
甜味劑各種各樣，比如高強度甜味劑（甜度至少是糖的100倍）。也有人造甜味劑，比如阿斯巴甜和糖精。還有天然甜味劑，比如甜菊糖苷和羅漢果。有些甜味劑的卡路里量可以忽略不計，被歸類爲低熱量甜味劑，如糖醇。In much of the research and in most policy documents, sugar substitutes are often discussed as a single category. This makes it challenging to know whether certain types are preferable.
大多數研究和政策文件中所指的甜味劑一般都是單一類別。所以，更難得知哪種類型的甜味劑更合適。
