Sweeteners

By offering the taste of sweetness without any calories, artificial sweeteners seem like they could be one answer to effective weight loss. The average 12-ounce can of sugar-sweetened soda delivers about 150 calories, almost all of them from sugar. The same amount of diet soda—zero calories. The choice seems like a no-brainer.

The American Heart Association (AHA) and American Diabetes Association (ADA) have given a cautious nod to the use of artificial sweeteners in place of sugar to combat obesity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes, all risk factors for heart disease

Below is the list of sweeteners that you can take by making a smart choice.

The ratings and color below indicate the amount of sugar and how bad is the content for your health. 0/Green being the safest and best and 100 and red being worst.

Note : xylitol and maltitol do create a blood glucose and insulin response, although reduced and should be avoided.

If you are trying to stay in ketosis, avoid the sweeteners in the middle and red zone. Primarily use stevia or erythritol if you need sweeteners – though their long-term health impacts are not yet fully known.

Avoid

Your Best Bet:

1. Stevia : is a sweetener and sugar substitute extracted from the leaves of the plant  native to Brazil and Paraguay. The active compounds are steviol glycosides ,which have 30 to 150 times the sweetness of sugar. The body does not metabolize the glycosides in stevia and therefore it contains 0 calories like some artificial sweeteners. Stevia’s taste has a slower onset and longer duration than that of sugar, and some of its extracts may have a bitter or licorice-like aftertaste at high concentrations.

In Summary , it has no calories , no carbs and does not raise blood sugar.

2. Erythritol: is a sugar alcohol that has been approved for use as a food additive. It occurs naturally in some fruit and fermented foods. At the industrial level, it is produced from glucose by fermentation with a yeast . It is 60–70% as sweet as sucrose (table sugar) yet it is almost noncaloric, does not affect blood sugar, does not cause tooth decay, and is partially absorbed by the body, excreted in urine and feces.

It can cause bloating, gas and diarrhea in some people (though not as much as other sugar alcohols).

3. Monk fruit: The Monk fruit is a round green melon that grows in the mountaintops of Asia. This fruit has been cultivated for centuries, but has been recently rediscovered as a natural sweetener for food and beverages . Monk Fruit is regarded as a healthy, low calorie alternative to sugar and other artificial sweeteners.

Monk Fruit is nearly 200 times sweeter than sugar, but has 97% fewer calories. Its sweetness comes from naturally occurring antioxidants. Monk Fruit extract has been certified for use in both food and beverages

In Summary: It has a better taste profile, with less bitterness of after taste, than stevia and doesn’t cause digestive upset. In our experience, Swerve has been the best and least bitter. Try one now.