What's The Best Sweetener To Use?
Like almost everything about healthy eating, the topic of sweeteners is confusing. Is sugar really that bad for you? Are artificial sweeteners better? What about natural sweeteners? How do you know which sweetener to use?
The Best Sweetener
Before I get into my recommendation for sweeteners, you should know that the best thing you can do is to cut down your consumption of any type of sugar or sweetener.
Cutting down on sugar isn’t as difficult as you might think. About 90% of the added sugar in the average American’s diet comes from ultra-processed foods.
If you’re eating mostly whole, minimally processed foods, the small amount of sugar you add to your morning coffee or homemade cookies is not such a big deal, and I wouldn’t waste time and energy worrying about it. Just use whatever you like. I give specific recommendations at the end of this article.
If, however, you regularly add a lot of sugar to your food, it’s probably worthwhile to come up with strategies for decreasing the amount you use (like measuring your use and slowly cutting back).
And if you’re eating a lot of ultra-processed foods, start by making healthy swaps to incorporate more nutritious foods.
Also think about the big picture. Whether or not a sweetener is a health risk depends on how much you use on a regular basis, the nutrients (if any) in the food you eat with it, and how good your body is at regulating your blood sugar.
By the way, one of the best ways to get better at controlling your blood sugar is by exercising regularly. Exercise is essential for your health for a lot of reasons, but it’s particularly good for your blood sugar. That's because your muscles burn sugar every time you use them. I can’t stress enough how good regular exercise is for you.
What About Artificial and Zero-Calorie Sweeteners?
To avoid sugar, many people turn to artificial sweeteners and “natural” sweeteners that provide sweet taste without adding calories. Unfortunately, research shows that no-calorie sweeteners and diet drinks do not necessarily help with weight loss.
Some studies have found that they can help lose a small amount of weight, some studies found no effect, and some have even found that these sweeteners lead to a small amount of weight gain.
You might wonder why that is, since switching to zero calorie sweeteners can help you cut calories. First, as I’ve said before, focusing on counting and cutting calories is not the key to weight loss.
Researchers also think that no-calorie sweeteners might be messing with our brains and metabolism.
Things that taste sweet usually have carbohydrates in them, and carbs are your body’s preferred source of energy. When your brain senses that you’re eating something sweet, it releases hormones and other substances to get your body ready to digest those carbs and do something with the energy they provide.
When you eat something with an artificial sweetener or other no-calorie sweetener, your brain and body get ready, but the carbs never arrive. Over time, that might cause issues with your metabolism.
Artificial sweeteners also seem to have a negative effect on the bacteria in your gut, which are very important for your health. The research on this is still developing.
The term “artificial” has a negative connotation these days, so many people are turning to “natural” sweeteners like stevia or monk fruit extract. Unless you’re growing your own stevia plants (which you can do!), the versions of these you’ll get at the supermarket are still ultra-processed sweeteners.
I wrote about the issue with “natural” processed foods in depth in this article. My stance there applies to sweeteners as well. Just because these substances started out as plants doesn’t necessarily make them better for you once they’ve been heavily processed.
Which Sweeteners Should You Use?
There are some minor differences in the chemical makeup and nutrient composition of various types of sweeteners. You could dig into the science and compare the metabolic pathways and nutrient profiles, but you’d just be splitting hairs.
My philosophy on healthy eating is to keep things simple and focus on the big picture. When it comes to sweeteners, my answer is the same as for any other food.
Your best option is to choose a sweetener that’s processed as little as possible. As with all foods, there is a spectrum of processing, ranging from foods that are pretty close to their natural state to foods that are heavily altered from starting ingredients to finished product.
I spent some time researching the processing behind many common sweeteners and made this graphic from my findings:
My sweetener recommendations are raw unrefined honey (from local sources) or pure maple syrup (real maple syrup, not a “maple-flavored” syrup). *Remember not to feed honey (especially raw honey) to children younger than 1 year because of the risk of botulism.
These sweeteners are most likely to retain some of their nutritional value. However, you shouldn’t be relying on sweeteners for most of your nutrients – those should come from minimally processed foods.
They're also less likely to contain extra additives that could make it more difficult for you to achieve your goals.
The Bottom Line
A little bit of sugar or sweetener that you add yourself is ok in moderation. You can greatly reduce the negative health effects of sugar by practicing other healthy habits like eating whole, minimally processed foods, balancing your meals, and exercising. When choosing sweeteners, aim for the least processed options.
To learn more, download my FREE Guide To Healthy Eating. You'll learn how to tell whether the food you eat is minimally processed, how to balance your meals, and how to create a sustainable healthy diet.