Sugar has no nutritional value. It is an empty carb that rapidly increase the body's production of insulin leading to excessive weight gain. Therefore, most low-carb diets, like Atkins, will strongly advocate giving up all forms of natural sugar. Atkins did allow for artificial sweeteners in his diet.
The most common artificial sweetener in use is aspartame (Equal, Nutrasweet). Aspartame is calorie- and carb-free, however it is far from being an ideal sweetener. When it is exposed to heat and air, it breaks down into its chemical constituents – so it is unsuitable for cooking, or for storage over more than a couple of days. Also, many people have experienced unpleasant symptoms from consuming aspartame, from mild headaches and stomach upset to migraines and depression.
Sucralose (Splenda) is spun from regular sucrose sugar in such away that the body doesn't recognize it, so it is not absorbed. Thus it contributes no calories or carbohydrates in its pure form. The best part about Splenda is that it remains stable in heat, so is ideal for cooking and baking, albeit expensive.
Splenda is available for home use as a bulk sweetener, which measures spoon for spoon exactly the same as sugar.. However, these Splenda products also contain maltodextrin, which gives it the necessary bulk. Thus, it does contribute a small amount of calories and carbohydrate. Splenda yield 0.5 carb grams per amount equivalent to 1 tsp (5 ml) of sucrose sugar.
However, artificial sweeteners are controversial. Some doctors suggest they are neurotoxins, while others fear the 'sweet' taste of artificial sweeteners 'tricks' the body into producing more insulin as it would with sugar. More and more evidence of adverse health consequences of popular artificial sweeteners are emerging.
