The Best Sugar Substitutes
We get it; there are thousands of articles and videos out there talking about how bad sugar is for us. Too much sugar leads to obesity, diabetes, increases our risk for heart disease, nearly all types of cancer, and all in all just makes us feel more terrible. But let’s face it, most of us have at least some degree of a sweet tooth and are always looking for alternative ways to satisfy it outside of conventional sugar and corn syrup products we are sold so much of.
Are some sweeteners healthier than others? Are they healthier at all compared to regular sugar? Let’s start with natural sugar based sweeteners such as Honey, Maple Syrup, and Fruits. Honey and maple syrup are going to have similar effects on our glucose levels as sugar does. However, they do at least contain small amounts of antioxidants as well as minerals such as manganese, zinc, and copper. It’s also important to note that we are using raw honey and natural maple syrup made from the sap of maple trees as our comparison to pure sugar. Most maple syrup you buy in stores is just corn syrup with artificial maple flavor. Basically these sugar alternatives are just sugar with a tad of added nutritional value. Compared to sugar and refined corn syrup they are much more like the lesser of two evils than a health food.
With fruit on the other hand, we also get a food that has vitamins and antioxidants but also water and fiber that can hydrate us and slow the release of the sugar within the fruit. You are less likely to overeat because it does provide more of a satiety factor. But because of their high fructose levels splurging on fruits will have similar effects to consuming too much added sugar. Those effects include insulin resistance, fatty liver, and other issues [1]. While the fiber and nutrients can add a satiety factor which prevents overeating, fructose is at the end of the day still fructose. Our cells cannot use it so whenever we consume it, it needs to be metabolized and converted to glucose by our liver. With the exception of fattening fruits like avocados and olives, most fruits derive 80 percent or more of their calories from sugar, most commonly fructose, rather than protein or healthy fat. Don’t believe it? Just look at the nutrition facts of bananas, apples, or any other common fruit and compare the sugar content to the protein and healthy fat content.
But didn’t our skinny cavemen ancestors eat fruits such as wild berries? They certainly did. However, don’t expect to find those berries in bulk on your next grocery store visit. Those berries had much less sugar and much more fiber and nutrients. Most people today would consider them way to sour and bitter for their taste. Years of commercial farming to make food easier to grow and fit our sweet tooth has led to higher levels of “natural” sugar in our fruits. We crave fructose because it helps us store fat, an essential feature for pre-historic humans, but not something we need in our modern more sedentary lifestyles. We need fats and proteins to survive; we would literally die without them! However, sugar and carbs in any form are not essential. To be healthier and lower our risk of chronic disease it is important that we lower our sugar intake, not just get it from more natural means.
So if natural sugars are not an easy fix to eating too much sugar, what is? The main sweeteners on the market used to be the artificial sweeteners created in labs like Sweet-n-Low and Splenda. Nowadays the more common so called “healthier” sugar substitutes we see are monkfruit, stevia, and sugar alcohols like erythritol. Sure they might seem like an easy fix because they don’t have calories, but artificial sweeteners will still cause weight gain because the sweet taste still triggers our body to release insulin, a hormone we use to control our blood sugar levels
For those of you who don’t fully understand insulin, here is why it is important. Our body produces 2 major hormones to control our blood sugar levels; insulin which tells our body to pull sugar out of the blood and glucagon which triggers our body to release stored sugar into our blood to keep sugar levels balanced. When we eat, our blood glucose levels rise and our body produces insulin which kicks off a chain reaction pathway that tells our body to start pulling sugar out of our bloodstream and store it in the liver and muscle. If our sugar stores in the liver and muscle get to full the excess calories become body fat. When we haven't eaten recently, our body produces glucagon which tells our sugar stores to release sugar into our blood, preventing low blood sugar.
As we mentioned, the sweetness of these artificial sugars tricks our body into thinking we are eating sugar. Since artificial sugar doesn’t have calories, our blood sugar levels aren’t rising, yet our body is producing insulin anyway. This means we have sugar pulled out of the blood and possibly converted to fat, leading to lower than normal blood sugar. This low blood sugar makes us even hungrier because our body craves foods, especially starchy foods to overcome the sudden drop in blood sugar. Weight loss comes down to calories in and calories out. Eating artificial sugar can mess with us so much such the added hunger leads to us consuming more calories total from other sources than we would have consumed by just eating regular sugar.
If weight loss is your goal, artificial sugar might even be worse for you than regular sugar because it makes you consume more calories overall. If getting a more balanced diet is your goal, than it could be a slightly better solution to regular sugar and corn syrup. If you make up for the extra hunger caused by artificial sugar by eating foods high in protein, vitamins, and essential fat it will most likely give you a better nutrient profile than sugar would. But lets face it, when our blood sugar falls like that we crave sugars and starch more than we crave protein and fat. Sugar is the definition of “empty calories” and has no nutritional value, overeating on other foods could give you something at least when it comes to vitamins and minerals. One thing is for certain, sugar both in its processed and artificial forms is not a nutrient dense food and not something you should be building your diet around.
If you do want to include some non-sugar sweeteners into your diet, aim for something more natural but be cautious of what you are actually consuming. Most chemical sweeteners are classified as “safe for use” by the FDA but realistically should be avoided because they aren’t real foods and the studies on them still to this day are mostly inconsistent and inconclusive at best [2]. Why risk putting them into your body if they have no nutritional value and there are better quality alternatives on the market?
What are some of those alternatives? Stevia and Monkfuit are probably going to be your best bet. But keep in mind that pure stevia extract is nearly 200 times sweeter than sugar so realistically manufacturers need to combine those sweeteners with something else, most commonly sugar alcohols such as erythritol or other additives such as inulin fiber. So the stevia or monkfruit that you buy on store shelves is actually mostly erythritol or another base with a touch of stevia or monkfruit added for extra sweetness. Just check the first ingredient on most of these labels, I can promise it won’t be stevia or monkfruit extract, that ingredient is usually a distant second despite what the label on the front of the package might make you think. If we want to know how these sweeteners affect our health, we should really be asking how does inulin fiber, erythritol, or whatever else the base is affect our health?
The answer to that in a nut shell is that it varies. Erythritol can be better for dental health by not providing fuel for the cavity causing bacteria, hence why sugarless gum often uses it for flavoring. Inulin is a prebiotic fiber although it probably has a much more positive effect when obtained from whole foods like artichokes rather than when it is processed with stevia or monkfruit. Both inulin and sugar alcohols have been shown to cause minor bloating and indigestion especially when consumed in large amounts. Long story short, artificial sweeteners aren’t health foods and not something you can consume large amounts of without any side effects.
At the end of the day it is best to limit sugar and sugar substitutes as much as possible. They don’t have nutritional value and will not satiate you. Consuming either of these will make you hungrier more often rather than give you the steady strength and energy of good wholesome food. You would do yourself way more good by incorporating and enjoying whole foods into your diet rather than searching for the perfect alternative to sweets and simple carbs.
Leo Gabriel, Revivalize Inc.
Sources
[1] https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/abundance-of-fructose-not-good-for-the-liver-heart
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3198517/
Go Back Are some sweeteners healthier than others? Are they healthier at all compared to regular sugar? Let’s start with natural sugar based sweeteners such as Honey, Maple Syrup, and Fruits. Honey and maple syrup are going to have similar effects on our glucose levels as sugar does. However, they do at least contain small amounts of antioxidants as well as minerals such as manganese, zinc, and copper. It’s also important to note that we are using raw honey and natural maple syrup made from the sap of maple trees as our comparison to pure sugar. Most maple syrup you buy in stores is just corn syrup with artificial maple flavor. Basically these sugar alternatives are just sugar with a tad of added nutritional value. Compared to sugar and refined corn syrup they are much more like the lesser of two evils than a health food.
With fruit on the other hand, we also get a food that has vitamins and antioxidants but also water and fiber that can hydrate us and slow the release of the sugar within the fruit. You are less likely to overeat because it does provide more of a satiety factor. But because of their high fructose levels splurging on fruits will have similar effects to consuming too much added sugar. Those effects include insulin resistance, fatty liver, and other issues [1]. While the fiber and nutrients can add a satiety factor which prevents overeating, fructose is at the end of the day still fructose. Our cells cannot use it so whenever we consume it, it needs to be metabolized and converted to glucose by our liver. With the exception of fattening fruits like avocados and olives, most fruits derive 80 percent or more of their calories from sugar, most commonly fructose, rather than protein or healthy fat. Don’t believe it? Just look at the nutrition facts of bananas, apples, or any other common fruit and compare the sugar content to the protein and healthy fat content.
But didn’t our skinny cavemen ancestors eat fruits such as wild berries? They certainly did. However, don’t expect to find those berries in bulk on your next grocery store visit. Those berries had much less sugar and much more fiber and nutrients. Most people today would consider them way to sour and bitter for their taste. Years of commercial farming to make food easier to grow and fit our sweet tooth has led to higher levels of “natural” sugar in our fruits. We crave fructose because it helps us store fat, an essential feature for pre-historic humans, but not something we need in our modern more sedentary lifestyles. We need fats and proteins to survive; we would literally die without them! However, sugar and carbs in any form are not essential. To be healthier and lower our risk of chronic disease it is important that we lower our sugar intake, not just get it from more natural means.
So if natural sugars are not an easy fix to eating too much sugar, what is? The main sweeteners on the market used to be the artificial sweeteners created in labs like Sweet-n-Low and Splenda. Nowadays the more common so called “healthier” sugar substitutes we see are monkfruit, stevia, and sugar alcohols like erythritol. Sure they might seem like an easy fix because they don’t have calories, but artificial sweeteners will still cause weight gain because the sweet taste still triggers our body to release insulin, a hormone we use to control our blood sugar levels
For those of you who don’t fully understand insulin, here is why it is important. Our body produces 2 major hormones to control our blood sugar levels; insulin which tells our body to pull sugar out of the blood and glucagon which triggers our body to release stored sugar into our blood to keep sugar levels balanced. When we eat, our blood glucose levels rise and our body produces insulin which kicks off a chain reaction pathway that tells our body to start pulling sugar out of our bloodstream and store it in the liver and muscle. If our sugar stores in the liver and muscle get to full the excess calories become body fat. When we haven't eaten recently, our body produces glucagon which tells our sugar stores to release sugar into our blood, preventing low blood sugar.
As we mentioned, the sweetness of these artificial sugars tricks our body into thinking we are eating sugar. Since artificial sugar doesn’t have calories, our blood sugar levels aren’t rising, yet our body is producing insulin anyway. This means we have sugar pulled out of the blood and possibly converted to fat, leading to lower than normal blood sugar. This low blood sugar makes us even hungrier because our body craves foods, especially starchy foods to overcome the sudden drop in blood sugar. Weight loss comes down to calories in and calories out. Eating artificial sugar can mess with us so much such the added hunger leads to us consuming more calories total from other sources than we would have consumed by just eating regular sugar.
If weight loss is your goal, artificial sugar might even be worse for you than regular sugar because it makes you consume more calories overall. If getting a more balanced diet is your goal, than it could be a slightly better solution to regular sugar and corn syrup. If you make up for the extra hunger caused by artificial sugar by eating foods high in protein, vitamins, and essential fat it will most likely give you a better nutrient profile than sugar would. But lets face it, when our blood sugar falls like that we crave sugars and starch more than we crave protein and fat. Sugar is the definition of “empty calories” and has no nutritional value, overeating on other foods could give you something at least when it comes to vitamins and minerals. One thing is for certain, sugar both in its processed and artificial forms is not a nutrient dense food and not something you should be building your diet around.
If you do want to include some non-sugar sweeteners into your diet, aim for something more natural but be cautious of what you are actually consuming. Most chemical sweeteners are classified as “safe for use” by the FDA but realistically should be avoided because they aren’t real foods and the studies on them still to this day are mostly inconsistent and inconclusive at best [2]. Why risk putting them into your body if they have no nutritional value and there are better quality alternatives on the market?
What are some of those alternatives? Stevia and Monkfuit are probably going to be your best bet. But keep in mind that pure stevia extract is nearly 200 times sweeter than sugar so realistically manufacturers need to combine those sweeteners with something else, most commonly sugar alcohols such as erythritol or other additives such as inulin fiber. So the stevia or monkfruit that you buy on store shelves is actually mostly erythritol or another base with a touch of stevia or monkfruit added for extra sweetness. Just check the first ingredient on most of these labels, I can promise it won’t be stevia or monkfruit extract, that ingredient is usually a distant second despite what the label on the front of the package might make you think. If we want to know how these sweeteners affect our health, we should really be asking how does inulin fiber, erythritol, or whatever else the base is affect our health?
The answer to that in a nut shell is that it varies. Erythritol can be better for dental health by not providing fuel for the cavity causing bacteria, hence why sugarless gum often uses it for flavoring. Inulin is a prebiotic fiber although it probably has a much more positive effect when obtained from whole foods like artichokes rather than when it is processed with stevia or monkfruit. Both inulin and sugar alcohols have been shown to cause minor bloating and indigestion especially when consumed in large amounts. Long story short, artificial sweeteners aren’t health foods and not something you can consume large amounts of without any side effects.
At the end of the day it is best to limit sugar and sugar substitutes as much as possible. They don’t have nutritional value and will not satiate you. Consuming either of these will make you hungrier more often rather than give you the steady strength and energy of good wholesome food. You would do yourself way more good by incorporating and enjoying whole foods into your diet rather than searching for the perfect alternative to sweets and simple carbs.
Leo Gabriel, Revivalize Inc.
Sources
[1] https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/abundance-of-fructose-not-good-for-the-liver-heart
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3198517/