ZSweet®, Ashley Koff Approved!

On April 25, 2010 ZSweet® become an Ashley Koff Approved food & is currently being used as her sweetener of choice for craft services on the production of several popular TV series. Learn more about Ashley below.

"Ashley Koff is a registered dietitian (R.D.) who strives to make better nutrition a way of life for all. Koff has the proven ability to demystify the science of nutrition and communicate the importance of a healthy lifestyle to clients in a way that instills loyalty and trust. Never preachy, Koff's clients truly admire her gentle and patient way of finding the correct and effective nutritional program to suit their individual needs. Her passionate style is effective, resulting in Koff being named by Citysearch as LA's "Best Nutritionist" three years running and a national media favorite. Koff appears monthly on Good Morning America Health and as the lead expert for HuffPost Living's 'Total Energy Makeover' with Ashley Koff RD; selected as Hollywood's Dietitian, InStyle magazine featured Koff's work in their coveted December (2009) issue."

"It’s a sugar problem – any sugar."

In 2004 Professor of Nutrition, Dr. Barry Popkin & Dr. George Bray of Baton Rouge's Pennington Biomedical Research Center, published a now well-known study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition which hypothesized that there was a direct link between the rise in obesity & the consumption of High Fructose Corn Syrup. Their paper started a frenzy of consumer hysteria over HFCS leading the public to abandon products containing the ingredient & swapping it for what they perceived as the healthier, more natural alternative - sugar.

In a recent interview Dr. Popkin commented on the common misperception that sugar is a safer alternative to HFCS stating, “We showed later that fructose from sugar has the same effect,” Popkin said. “We were wrong in our speculations on high fructose corn syrup about their link to weight... it’s a sugar problem – any sugar."

The bottom line is whether you're consuming HFCS, fructose, sucrose, soda or fruit juice, it's all still converting into sugar & calories in the body & they all come with the same health risks. It is important to reduce, or better yet, avoid all of the above. The good news is ZSweet® tastes like sugar but is naturally zero calories & will not raise your blood sugar or contribute to weight gain like the others, including natural sugar, which is still sugar.

Read the full article, "Fructose in the firing line" here.

photo credit: sugarstacks.com

ZSweet® is @ Vitamin Shoppe!

ZSweet®'s a 10!

Wellness author & show host Leah Guy recently published rave reviews for ZSweet® at her website ModernSage.com. An admitted recovering sugar addict, Leah professes her renewed joy in sweets made possible by all natural, zero calorie, sugar-free ZSweet®. She tested ZSweet® in tea, over cereal & unsweetened soymilk & baked into a batch of ZSweet® "sugar" cookies.

Leah exclaims, "I feel like I’ve got a life again, one that I missed for so long – one that allows COOKIES in my diet, soft, moist, deliciously sweet cookies. If you have sugar issues or are diabetic, do not let another day go by without trying Zsweet. The existence as you know it will be forever changed, I promise."

She gave ZSweet® a 10+! Read her entire review of ZSweet® here & sign up for her newsletter to receive more detailed reviews & practical advice for staying healthy, looking beautiful & living well! You'll also be entered in for a chance to win a goodie bag of ZSweet®.

photo credit: modernsage.com

OCRegister.com Slideshow

ZSweet® creator Tim Avila popped up on OCRegister.com today. Check out their short, but sweet comments about Tim & ZSweet®.

photo credits: www.ocregister.com

In The News Again...

Zsweet® was mentioned among other old & new sweeteners in the March 2009 issue of Parade. The article, "The Scoop on Sugar Substitutes" by Joy Bauer, highlighted some great facts about erythritol, such as it's being calorie free & not a cause of laxative effects like it's sugar alcohol brothers & sisters, xylitol, maltitol & sorbitol. Also mentioned is erythritol's sweetness being only 60-70% of sugar, but what was not mentioned is that Zsweet® has increased the sweetness of erythritol to 100-200% of sugar.
By using a special blend of fruit extracts, Zsweet® is the only erythritol based sweetener that can be purchased at the same sweetness as sugar, in our pouches and tabletop canister; or twice as sweet as sugar, in our supersweet individual packets. Other erythritol sweeteners have added sugar or other caloric fillers to try to increase the sweetness & eliminate the aftertaste of plain erythritol. Zsweet® remains zero calories, zero glycemic impact, zero-net carbs & 100% natural, while tasting the closest to sugar & being absolutely sugar-free.

Learning the "Sweet Truth" at Kelly Keough's Sugar-free & Gluten-free Cooking Class

Did you spot the Zsweet® van last night at Whole Foods in Tustin, CA?

I was there to attend "The Sweet Truth" TV show host & cookbook author, Kelly Keough's sugar-free, gluten-free chocolate cooking class. It was an intimate, hands-on experience. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Zsweet® is one of Kelly's staple ingredients. When I first scanned her table of ingredients, I must say, other than the Zsweet® I was unfamiliar with most of the items and a little intimidated. Green hemp butter, cacoa powder, goji berries... I've seen these foods before, but never knew what to do with them or how they would taste together. Let me tell you, they taste AMAZING together, and her recipes were complete in only 5 minutes!

Kelly has perfected sugar-free, gluten-free cooking. Even though I watched her make her recipes with my own two eyes, once I tasted them I couldn't believe there was absolutely no sugar inside. They were that sweet and delicious.

Once Kelly got started she explained the nutritional value of all the ingredients and let us taste each one. We sampled the hemp butter with agave nectar on top which she recommended as a great peanut butter and jelly taste alternative, and she was right, it tasted just like that. She explained that agave and stevia are great compliments to Zsweet® and that it's necessary to use a blend of alternatives to achieve the most sugar-like taste without the sugar.

As she was preparing the recipes she was friendly and inviting. We all took turns participating, there was lots of Q&A and at the end we all had yummy samples to take home.

Kelly Keough has used her innovation to come up with creative, simple recipes to satisfy sugar cravings without eating sugar. She really makes eating healthy taste scrumptious and appear attainable for everyone. If you're working on breaking your sugar addiction and you need help getting over the hump, or if you're interested in guilt-free desserts, DEFINITELY buy Kelly's cookbook "The Sweet Truth" for all her unbelievably sugar-free recipes.

Southern California residents, check your Whole Foods event calendars for her next class. DISH Network subscribers, watch Kelly Keough's show "The Sweet Truth" on Veria TV.

Zsweet® in Good Housekeeping Magazine

This is old news, but still good news.

In the July 2008 issue of Good Housekeeping Zsweet® was highlighted as one of the new all natural, erythritol based sweeteners. We appreciate GHK educating it's readers on erythritol since so many people are unfamiliar with it, but so many people are looking for natural alternatives to stay healthy and sugar-free.

Side note: We also love that we were in the issue with Julia Roberts on the cover. She's so beautiful.



Courtesy: www.goodhousekeeping.com

Redbook Magazine Editor's Pick: Zsweet®

Zsweet® was voted as one of REDBOOK Magazine.com's Real-Life Healthy Life Editors' Picks. We're so excited!

Click on the image above and scroll to the bottom to see our mention.

Also, check out all the other healthy suggestions by REDBOOK and sign up for updates.

Zsweet® Goes International, Cheers!

Great news for those in Europe who have been anticipating the arrival of Zsweet®!

Zsweet® is now available online to the 27 countries within the European Union; and for additional shipping charges; to certain bordering countries.

Shop for Zsweet® exclusively at: www.zsweet.eu.

Director of Zsweet® Europe - Cormac Walsh
Photo credit: Get On Fast, Ltd.

Available to:
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Czech Replubic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain Sweden
United Kingdom

The Benefits of Zsweet®

The "Z" in ZSweet® stands for Zero. As you read ZSweet®'s benefits you'll see why.

* Zero calories
* Zero glycemic index
* Zero artificial ingredients
* Zero net carbs
* Zero sugar, glucose, fructose, sucrose
* No known allergens (no corn, soy, nuts, dairy or citrus ingredients)
* Vegan
* Kosher
* Raw
* No gluten ingredients
* Non-GMO
* No MSG
* Doesn't promote tooth decay
* Doesn't promote candida growth
* Zero fillers
* Made in the USA

Want a second opinon?
ZSweet® is endorsed by Dr.'s Andrew Weil, Nicholas Perricone and Julian Whitaker




articles courtesy: www.drweil.com, www.perriconemd.com, www.drwhitaker.com

To Be or Not To Be, Zero Calories

A fact I found rather interesting since I've been in the sweetener biz is that not all zero calorie foods are truly zero calories.

FDA Food Labeling Regulations allow foods with just under 5 calories per serving to be labeled 0 calories.

See this quote from their official site:
"The caloric value of a product containing less than 5 calories may be expressed as zero or to the nearest 5 calorie increment (i.e., zero or 5 depending on the level). Foods with less than 5 calories meet the definition of "calorie free" and any differences are dietarily insignificant."

The FDA may consider less than 5 calories per serving insignificant, but to those of us counting calories for dieting or for monitoring blood sugar those hidden calories can really add up and have an impact.

So, when I learned this fact I was very curious to know the real calorie count for all the so-called "zero calorie sweeteners". I did my research and here's what I found:

4.0 calories per gm - Aspartame (Equal®)
4.0 calories per gm - Saccharin (Sweet'N Low®)
3.0 calories per gm - Sucralose (Splenda®)
2.6 calories per gm - Sorbitol
2.4 calories per gm - Xylitol
2.1 calories per gm - Maltitol
2.0 calories per gm - Isomalt
2.0 calories per gm - Lactitol
1.6 calories per gm - Mannitol
0.2 calories per gm - Erythritol (Zsweet®)
0 calories per gm - Stevia

Other than Stevia, Zsweet® is the only TRULY zero calorie sugar substitute. Not only is Zsweet® zero calories, but it's zero net carbs, which means you don't have to do the carb-calorie conversion. Why is that you ask? Because these kinds of carbs are not turned into glucose in the blood and are unavailable to be utilized as energy.

Here's the figures on some other commonly used sweeteners:
64.0 calories per tbsp - Honey
60.0 calories per tbsp - Agave Nectar
53.0 calories per tbsp - High Fructose Corn Syrup
11.0 calories per gm - Sugar
11.0 calories per gm - Brown Sugar

The #1 Question...

One of the first things people want to know is, "What is Zsweet® anyway?".

Zsweet® is an all natural sugar substitute made of erythritol (ee-rith-ritol) and natural flavors. I know erythritol looks like a scientific name and we're all warned to be wary of things like that, but it's not. I also know what you're thinking about "natural flavors", I'll address that concern in a moment.

Erythritol is a natural sweetener, a sugar alcohol or polyol, that is derived from fermented fruits and vegetables. Unlike, artificial sweeteners that are synthetic, man-made chemical compounds formulated in laboratories by scientists and pharmacuetical companies, erythritol naturally exists in foods like cheese, yogurt, wine, beer, soy sauce and certain fruits and vegetables and the process we use to make erythritol for our Zsweet® is similar to the fermentation process used to make wine or beer.

Still can't picture how it's made? Plant or fruit sugar is mixed with water and then fermented with a natural culture into erythritol. It is then filtered, allowed to crystallize, and then dried. The finished product is white granules that resemble sugar in taste and texture.


You can't pluck an apple off a tree and get a mouth full of aspartame, saccharin or sucralose, but if you've eaten grapes or melons or any of the other foods I listed, you've eaten erythritol.

Now, regarding the natural flavors in Zsweet®, they are simply a blend of exotic fruit extracts. They're non-citrus fruits not commonly associated with allergies. The reason we don't list them specifically is because they're what makes Zsweet® taste better then plain erythritol, which has a strong minty aftertaste. We've been able to eliminate erythritol's cooling effect with our natural flavors and make it taste like sugar, so that's why they're trade secret.

People ask all the time, "Are the natural flavors artificial chemicals, MSG, or arsenic?" Heavens no! I get why people ask because some other products do sneak things in under that natural flavors label, but no, there's nothing like that in Zsweet®.

The whole reason Tim Avila created Zsweet® was so that people could have a natural alternative to sugar and artificial sweeteners. He calls it a "no worries" sweetener and he's committed to that.

So that's it. Plain, simple and sweet!