What is SlimSweet?

SlimSweet is currently the only known phyto-sugar that is both safe and healthy with no strong herbal aftertaste. SlimSweet is made from an all-natural fruit concentrate called Lo Han Guo, an intensely sweet vine-grown fruit from China. Lo Han fruit is a member of the Cucurbitaceae plant family and is similar to a sweet melon.

No calories, and it even burns fat.

In addition to having a very sugar-like taste with zero calories per 1 gm serving, SlimSweet has a truly interesting property – it’s thermogenic. That means that instead of causing fat storage, it actually promotes weight loss! So in addition to being a safe alternative to sugar for the average healthy person (child or adult), SlimSweet is generally safe for diabetics as well, because it is low-glycemic and supports normal insulin levels. Diabetics who have fruit sugar or fructose intolerance need to consult with their physician before using SlimSweet.

Is there a down side?

Yes, but not a big one – SlimSweet cakes like brown sugar in response to humidity.  Keep it in a dry place or in the refrigerator during humid weather. If you live in a humid climate like Florida, save the silica gel packets from your vitamin bottles or other food products and toss them into the container if you don’t use it up readily. You can also place the contents of your SlimSweet container into a food processor and blend it for a few seconds to restore its fine powdery consistency.

What about other sugar substitutes?

The first low-calorie sugar substitute, Saccharine, came along during WWII and is still on the market. The most commonly known is the brand name Sweet ‘n Low (pink packets). Oddly, Saccharine testing supposedly caused cancer in lab rats. Now the human testing results are in after fifty years of use, and there is no evidence that saccharine causes cancer or any other disease in humans. However, Saccharine tastes peculiar if used in cooking and is usually manufactured combined with a percentage of real sugar to avoid that taste.  It has proven to be a safe and acceptable alternative to sugar when used in moderation but because of the sugar content, diabetics have to use it with caution.

Health problems resulting from the next product developed, now the most widely distributed sugar substitute world-wide, Aspertame/Nutrasweet/Equal, would fill volumes. After the word got out that it had been implicated in everything from MS symptoms and brain tumors to Gulf War Syndrome, blindness, and actual fatalities, everyone’s eyes turned to Splenda/Sucrulose. Equal (blue packets) and other aspertame products are still widely used by the un-learned because aspertame does have a strong sweet taste. But for your health, that’s a poor trade-off.

Splenda was the third product that overweight America pinned their hopes on for a no-calorie sweeter. It is now nearly as popular as Nutrasweet and gaining market share as we speak. It also looks like sugar and tastes like sugar – but it has a few problems as well. If you’ve used it, you may have noticed that the sweetness is fleeting.  It was advertised as being 300 times sweeter than sugar, but when put on a bowl of sour berries, it only gives you the sweet taste in the first mouthful. 

Dry on the tongue, it’s very sweet, but the amount you have to pile on to keep getting that ‘first sweet taste’ with every spoonful is astronomical. And now we hear that testing has shown that its chemical makeup using a chlorine molecule (http://www.mercola.com/2000/dec/3/sucralose_dangers.htm) affects the consumer’s thymus gland adversely shrinking it. That’s not a good thing in these days of immune system disorders.

Until recently, Stevia was the only proven-safe herbal "sugar substitute" on the market, but Stevia has a vegetable aftertaste that many people don’t like. It’s great in vegetable dishes like acorn squash casseroles.  And in strong flavored beverages like coffee, it even seems to level out the coffee bitterness. But on delicate-flavored foods like tea, cooked cereal or sour fruits, it just doesn’t cut it. The noticeable flavor is definitely a negative. Stevia is a great product, but it is not recognized as a legal sweetener in the U.S. And you need to read labels because some manufacturers’ brands can contain adverse high glycemic maltodextrins which raise insulin and glucose levels and promote fat storage.  The obvious winner, if there were such a thing, in the contest for a sweet substance that could take sugar’s place, would have to be Lo Han, sold under the name SlimSweet.

Lo Han is similar in taste and thermogenic properties to Trutina Dulcem which is the main ingredient of the commercial product Thermosweet. Trutina Dulcem (sweet balance), made from organically-grown Kiwi fruit, at this time is licensed for availability only to food manufacturers, probably because the FDA mandated that it would have to go through the hugely expensive FDA approval process to be sold directly to consumers. Also sold as Ki-Sweet, its high price and small package size (about $17 for 3 oz) has kept it from becoming as sought after by consumers as SlimSweet.

Fortunately, however, SlimSweet is available directly to the consumer and sells for about one fifth of the price of Ki-Sweet. Lo Han (SlimSweet) is also available in several different size containers, starting at 2 oz up to one pound, as well as in shakers and single-serve packets . It has become sufficiently popular, that manufacturing and distribution are increasing, resulting in lower prices and greater availability over the last ten to fifteen years. Look for those names on product labels in the supermarket. R.W. Knudson (http://www.knudsenjuices.com/products/spritzers.asp) now produces one of the few ‘safe’ non-sugar carbonated fruit spritzers on the market sweetened with Lo Han. But because they are carbonated, go easy.  Phosphoric acid is the enemy of strong bones.
 

One of the qualities of SlimSweet is that it helps your body burn stored fat (unlike anti-thermogenic sweeteners like Equal, Spoonful and others. A study conducted at the Institute of Physiology at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland showed that meals with an added thermogenic fructose sweetener like SlimSweet, had a significantly greater thermogenic reaction than those meals including regular sugar. Substituting Lo Han (SlimSweet) for other sweeteners in the diet can provide a natural low calorie, fat-burning supple-ment no matter what weight loss program you are using.

One of SlimSweet's Best Features – Great Taste

Lo Han has no aftertaste like Stevia or chemical taste like Aspertame. Yet you might think the taste is recognizable because it is faintly like brown sugar. And unlike Aspertame, you can safely cook with SlimSweet without transforming its chemical makeup or changing its taste.   It cooks and tastes like sugar – only better. And SlimSweet dissolves easily like sugar.

How Would SlimSweet Affect My Triglycerides?

Most sugars can cause elevated cholesterol and triglycerides, but Lo Han (SlimSweet) doesn’t.  Excess carbohydrates from high glycemic sugars may circulate as triglycerides or be deposited as body fat.  But clinical studies  showed there was no change in triglyceride production or cholesterol following ingestion of low glycemic fruit sugars like Lo-Han.

Is Fructose a Good Sugar Substitute?

Lo Han (SlimSweet) is almost 10 times sweeter than ordinary fructose, so you can use much less and still get the sweet flavor you're looking for.  It also contains fewer calories per serving, which is critical to weight loss and a healthy diet. Further, labeling has become an issue. While the term "fructose" has always meant ‘a natural sugar extracted from fruit’ and could certainly have been considered a "safe" sugar, if not a low-calorie one.  But today, the food industry has stolen the name "fructose".  It now no longer means just a natural fruit sugar, which is mystifying to us as consumers. The term fructose now can mean anything, and most of the time it does.  Note on juice and sweet beverage drink labels how frequently you see the term "high fructose corn syrup". Fructose has become just another synonym for processed sugar and cannot be trusted to its former use and definition.

Common names for Lo Han fruit include:

* Lo Han Guo

* Lo Han Kuo

* Arhat Fruit

* Fructus Momordicae

* Momordicae Grosvenori Fructus

History of Lo Han

The use of dried Lo Han fruit in whole, powdered  or block forms is common in China. . Lo Han juice is also used as a beverage and the powder is used as a seasoning.  In traditional medicine, Lo Han is used as an analgesic, an expectorant, an anti-tussive, and to treat infiltration of the lungs. It has as many uses for the Chinese as Noni fruit has for the Hawaiians.

Label Information:

Slimsweet, ( Lo Han fruit concentrate ) Trimedica, 1 Pound, (453.6 g)

• Popular with Low-Carb Lifestyles

• Naturally Sweet

• 0.9 Carbs, 0 Calories per Serving.

• Dietary Supplement

Suggested Use:

One serving (1 gram or approx. 1/5 tsp.)

Supplement Facts

Serving size: 1 g  (appx. 1/5 tsp.)

Amount Per Serving:

% Daily Value

Calories 0 0%

Total Fat 0 g 0%

Sodium 0 mg 0%

Potassium 0 mg 0%

Total Carbohydrate <1 g

Sugars <1 g

Protein 0 g 0%

Proprietary Blend 1 g

Levoluse †

Momordica Grosvenori, 80% Mogrosides (fruit)

† Daily Value not established.

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Other Ingredients: Silicon Dioxide (anti-caking agent).

Store in a cool, dry place. May be refrigerated to avoid caking in extreme heat or humidity.

Contains no salt, wheat, yeast, soy or artificial sweeteners.

Expiration Date: Approx. 2 years from the date of purchase.

Brand Name: Trimedica, 1 lb. (453.6 g)

http://www.berglundcenter.com/LoHa.htm