Many of us crave sugar.
Reaching for a chocolate chip cookie or another scoop of pistachio ice cream can seem like the right move.
When we’re tired and need a pick-me-up or when we’re bored or even sad, we turn to sugar. But too much refined sugar can put us on a not-so-sweet path to high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and obesity.
There are many alternatives to sugar to satisfy your sweet tooth. Different artificial sweeteners mimic the taste of sugar, and some come pretty close. In fact, sometimes they taste sweeter than refined sugar, which attracts some people and deters others. But are their harmful side effects?
Are artificial sweeteners bad for you?
Artificial sweeteners aren’t harmful as long as you don’t eat them in large quantities. An occasional dessert or diet soda with an artificial sweetener is fine.
Sugar substitutes may be a good choice for people trying to lose weight or prevent peaks in their blood sugar levels. Most artificial sweeteners have little to no calories, and, unlike sugar, honey or molasses, they won’t cause your blood sugar to spike. That’s helpful if you’re on a diet, have diabetes or even prediabetes. And they don’t lead to tooth decay like sugar can.
Popular sugar substitutes
Aspartame tastes a little more chemical or fake than some other artificial sweeteners. It’s sold under the brand names Equal and NutraSweet and may cause diarrhea in some people.
Sucralose, sold under the brand Splenda, is unlike artificial sweeteners because it’s made from refined sugar. It’s good for baking as a substitute for sugar, but you need far less of it because it’s so much sweeter-tasting than sugar.
Stevia is derived from a leaf, so it’s less processed than many sugar substitutes. It tastes the least sweet among sugar substitutes. Stevia may affect your gut in that it can cause bloating and gas.
Monk fruit sweetener is from a fruit that looks like a lime on the outside and a walnut on the inside. You crack it open and the pieces of it are processed into a powder. It has no known side effects. It is, however, expensive compared to other sugar substitutes.
Regardless of which sugar substitute you choose, consider these tips:
1 Try several different types of artificial sweeteners.
With so many options, you are bound to find one that you like to replace refined sugar, which offers no benefit except possibly its taste.
2 Balance bitter with sweet.
If you’re craving something sweet, say for dessert after a meal, try to have something bitter with it, such as having berries, which are typically sweet, with a piece of dark chocolate that’s made of 70% or higher cocoa. The blend tastes good and will satisfy your craving. Having something bitter with something sweet helps tame your craving for sweets.
3 Artificial sweeteners will not solve all your problems.
Sometimes, when your body thinks it’s getting something sweet and filled with calories and instead gets something with artificial sweeteners and few calories, you’ll crave more of the artificially sweetened item. So, you have to be careful about how much you eat of it. You don’t want to overindulge on too many pieces of an artificially sweetened cake just because it doesn’t have refined sugar in it.
Besides using artificial sweeteners, try to make other changes to your diet and exercise routine to lose weight and lower your blood sugar levels. Replacing refined sugar with artificial sweeteners alone won’t take away diabetes or obesity, but it may be a helpful tool to help manage those conditions.
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