A little while back I sent you an email with the subject “1+1=3?”, informing you of the unstoppable synergy that occurs when you combine a killer metabolic resistance training program like Turbulence Training along with my Cheat Your Way Thin diet system.
And today, I’m back with another stellar math lesson to wow your friends with: 0 does NOT equal 0.
Sounds like some ass-backwards calculus nonsense, I know, but it’s actually a very practical equation. Or should I say “non-quation” (Yes, I know they’re called inequalities, but non-quation sounds WAY cooler to me, and it’s my blog).
Let me explain.
This morning, I sat down to a bowl of Bran Flakes. It was a rather large bowl, because hey, not only do I preach big breakfasts, I eat them, too.
To that bowl I added two packets of Splenda (now, before anyone responds freaking out about me using two packets of Splenda, you can find my thoughts on artificial sweeteners [backed by actual research] here).
And as I sat there, enchanted by the morning anthems of the neighboring fowl, enjoying my flakes of bran, the label on that little yellow box happened to catch my eye.
You see, the label read “0” calories and “0” grams of sugar per packet. After all, that’s the whole point of using an artificial sweetener – to avoid both of the aforementioned.
That said, I couldn’t help but feel as though Mr. Splenda wasn’t telling me the whole story. In fact, I knew he wasn’t, because, well, I’m “in the know”. And today, when you leave this blog post, you’ll do so in a similar position.
If you know anything about ingredient lists on labels, you know that the ingredients are listed by quantity. That is to say, if something appears first within the lists of ingredients, that particular food item contains more of that ingredient than everything else listed thereafter. If it’s dead last, probably not so much.
The list of ingredients on each 1 gram packet of Splenda reads: dextrose, maltodextrin, sucralose.
Now, sucralose is the artificial sweetener commonly refered to as Splenda, but what about the dextrose and maltodextrin? According to the list of ingredients, there is actually MORE of these ingredients than there is sucralose.
Answer: dextrose is sugar, and maltodextrin might as well be (it’s GI is actually significantly higher than table sugar).
So, why is it in there and just exactly how does that equate to zero calories?
Well, the problem with artificial sweeteners like sucralose and aspartame is that they are so sweet that only an extremely small amount is necessary to replicate the sweetness of sugar, an amount too small to “package”, thus the necessity of carriers like dextrose and maltodextrin. That said, both dextrose and maltodextrin do contain calories, and each possesses a rather high GI.
Why then does the label say 0 calories?
Here’s the rule. If a serving of a food item contains less than 1 grams of a nutrient, it need not be counted on the label. In reality, a 1 gram packet of Splenda contains about .1 gram of sucralose and .9 grams of “sugar”. Still, it’s less than a gram, so the product is listed as calorie-free.
Not a major issue if you’re only using a packet or two, but I knew a guy in college that probably used about 30 – 40 packets worth of artificial sweeteners per day. That ain’t 0 calories. In fact, it’s actually more than 100 calories of pure sugar from what is supposed to be a sugar-free, calorie-free product.
Hoodwinked we’ve been.
Oh, and have you ever used calorie-free, fat free cooking spray? The stuff is pure oil. Zero calories? Well, if you use the ridiculously small “1/3 of a second” spray that might coat the pan from my niece’s Malibu Barbie Dream House kitchen set, then yes, it’s less than one gram of fat, and “legally” zero calories.
But if you’re human (not plastic) and you possess normal-sized cookware, think twice before you succumb to the manufacturing giants’ notion that you’re cooking calorie-free. You’re not. Better than coating the pan with a brush lathered in oil? Yes. Calorie-free? No.
And that’s the problem with serving sizes. Often times manufacturers will adjust the serving size to a unrealistic quantity in order to be able to claim “zero” or at least a lower number of calories per serving. To give you a perfect example, one that I just today came in contact with: Vitamin Water 10. Only 10 calories!
Per 8 oz.
Now why would they put the serving size on a 20 oz individual-sized bottle as 8 oz? I don’t know anyone who is buying a Vitamin Water and drinking it in 8 oz intervals. You buy a bottle, you drink the bottle. And you know what? They don’t even sell an 8 oz bottle. That’s called bogus.
I say all that to say this: be mindful of “zero” claims and serving sizes. Sure, these products may be better alternatives to whatever they are substituting for, but you can’t just pile ’em high and pretend that the calories aren’t adding up.
Zero aint zero, my friend.
Find this post helpful? Question? Comment? At least 50 replies and I’ll be back with more content tomorrow!
Talk to you in the comments section,
Joel
(First comment – boo-yah! The advantage of living in Dubai!)
Joel, why not avoid all that headache and use stevia instead? I’ve been using it for a while now and the taste has really grown on me. I even use it in Morrocan tea to the dismay of some purists over here!
hey, is this true to drinks that claim to have zero calories? (coke zero, sprite zero etc.) they can come in pretty big bottles, up to 2 litres or something, i think.
Hmmm… sneaky, I never thought of that but I will definitely start paying attention to the portion size on the ingredient label. Not that I buy that many pre-packaged 0 cal food items, since I find it a little hard to believe that there would be any real nutritional value in them without containing any cals whatsoever.
Thanks for the enlightenment!
Yikes – I have switched to Coke Zero but drink litres of it! I have not been losing as much as I would like – will check labels and serving sizes more closely now – thanx Joel.
Joel,
Same is true with trans-fats! Packages will actually make a big deal of being trans-fat free when in fact they do contain trans-fats following the under 1 gram rule. I contacted Mission brand tortillas because right on the front of their packages they advertise 0% trans-fats! The fourth ingredient on the list of ingredients lists hydrogenated soybean and/or palm oil. They admitted that it was there and that they were working on it? Working on it?? How can you advertise 0% when it’s one of the ingredients? It if was actually 0%, nothing would BE there!!
Hi Joel.
Yes, that was a very useful article, thanks. Common sense when you come to think of it, but still needed pointing out.
I use Xylitol or one of its derivatives myself. Any views on that?
Yes Joel, how do the various Coke, Sprite Zero do on the real calorie front? I just can’t drink flat water when I eat, there has to be something for the palate. Is sparkling mineral water ok on a regular basis?
I did not know that! I love your blog posts, and you’re a super genius!
Thank you.
Awesome post Joel…the marketers get us again! This is helpful information to keep in mind when wandering through the grocery store, evaluating food items from their ingredient lists and calorie counts! Thanks!
I knew there was some calorie content in the “zero” calorie foods but THANK YOU for putting that into perspective! WOW! A person could end up with 100 extra calories a day from a zero calorie food!
Correct me if I am wrong but I assume that the above mentioned stevia (though a natural alternative to the artificial stuff) falls into the same calorie trap.
This is hilarious, thanks for discussing it.
I have wasted so much time staring at product labels trying to figure out exactly how many calories are in them…per 100gm, per half packet, per serving…some products I’ve just put back on the shelf in disgust.
BTW thanks for the big breakfast post. I’ve upped the protein in my breakfast smoothie, and am having more protein for lunch and it’s making a big difference.
I appreciate the post, the energy you put into it and the information it contains, but it leaves me feeling hopeless. Once I learned to the read the labels, I thought I could trust that the information given was true. Now I learn that zero doesn’t equal zero. I don’t use sweeteners, so this particular label doesn’t effect me, but what about everything I have learned to eat? What about my balsamic vinegar? Non-fat yogurt? Natural peanut butter?? Not happy today.
Very interesting and it shows how the manufactures and advertisers rely on our ignorance.
That’s why you’re better off drinking water and learning how to enjoy foods without added sugar of any kind.
Dave Palumbo said this same exact thing in 2008…i thought i was going to learn something new this morning.
thanks for reitarating it though…
Joel,
I have noticed that with many products, and that stuff about 20oz to 8oz, I’ve noticed that as well in a different format. Sometimes bread products do that as well, instead of telling you how many calories are in a slice of bread, they tell you how many are in a certain amount of oz’s and than you have to figure it out to make sure you’re not eating too little or too much.
why not just stay away from the chemicals and stick with the all natural sweeteners if you are going to use them…I have read that aspartame was created as a pestacide…if you look closely at your labels it is in a lot of “low cal/diet” packaged foods as well as gum.
People need to read this everyday because they learn this one day and the next day they are buying some crap that says 0 calories.
Instead of asking Joel… Hey what about my wife’s cookies? Look at the freaking label. I don’t look at fat, carbs and protein anymore. I look directly at the ingredients, serving sizes and calories. Don’t be lazy, look at the ingredients too.
Look at the ingredients in whole grain bread and then look at white bread, sometimes the ingredients are the same, sometimes the difference is 1.
Joel, please, write about this at least once a year (or month) because everyone forgets about it and this is important.
Excellent post, in a perfect world we would be only eating “real food”. But since we’re stuck in this one we’ve better read the f***ing label, and read it carefully. Once I bought a jar of special prune jam with: no added sugar on the label. The way I saw it it was like eating (cooked) fruit. So there I was finishing the jar, and casually reading (with my glasses on this time) label and there it was: right after prunes on the list of ingredients: fructose. So I guess they meant no table sugar added, wtf?
You hit the bull’s eye with this topic Joel. Kudos!!!!!! You know I have the same thought when I drink the zero coke on the airplane every week back n forth. It is so damn sweet and very close to the regular coke, it has to be loaded with some hidden stuff. Anything that tastes great to the tongue has to have some hidden culprit that is adding into the calorie bucket. I guess the only way is proportion control if it tastes too good to the tongue. Anything else, you can load up the plate. Load the salad but drizzle the dressing!!!!! Load the coffee cup but trickle the cream and dust the artificial sweetner!!!!
I am also wondering about pure stevia. I realize that the packets have the maltodextrin, etc but you can buy pure stevia. I use this ALL day long. What are your views on that?
If you use the liquid version of Splenda there is no carrier and no carbs or calories. If you use prepackaged in little envelope Stevia, it’s the same as Splenda, but again, use the liquid version and you need no carrier, so you get no carbs. I primarily use liquid Stevia, and the bottle says it has @500 servings with 1 – 4 drops bering a serving. Ha! I need 8 – 10 drops in a big mug of coffee! Oh well. Way better than sugar or packets of the faux sweeteners.
I drink Splenda sweetened diet soda but I usually cut it with about 1/2 water, too. :-)
And i still like the invention of those oil sprays. Atleast you are in control. Like taking a shower versus bathing to save hot water.
Where as with oil, I wish someone came up with a squeeze top, like the medicine meaure for babies. You literally have to squeeze and then the stuff comes out in droplets.
Eye opening. I have been off the articifial sweetners bus for awhile because I became sick for months. I read labels and knew better, but I was just desperate to lose weight. The quick fix is always so tempting.
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Hey, it’s Joel! So you want to know a little more about me, huh? Well, I’d be happy to oblige :-)
I guess it all started back in 2001 (my freshman year of college) when I was just a “skinny fat” 19-year old kid. At the time, I was spending close to 2 hours a day in the gym (now my workouts last about 30 minutes), and despite my efforts, you’d probably never guess I worked out a day in my life by looking at me...read more