Are artificial sweeteners safe? Should I use honey or agave nectar instead of sugar? I have diabetes – what can I use?
With conflicting information available about sugar and artificial sweeteners, these questions might have crossed your mind.
Have diabetes? Try artificial sweeteners
If you have diabetes, limit your intake of sugar, honey, molasses and agave nectar, which increase blood sugar, and consider opting for artificial sweeteners instead.
Artificial sweeteners, as well as the plant-based sweetener stevia, are good substitutes for people with diabetes because they have no calories and don’t cause blood sugar spikes, Marshfield Clinic dietitian Chrisanne Urban said.
You can use artificial sweeteners for cooking or baking, add them to your tea or coffee, or check food labels for the ingredients listed on the chart below.
Which artificial sweetener is your best option?
“It comes down to taste preference,” Urban said.
Artificial sweeteners are safe
If you’ve heard artificial sweeteners are unsafe, don’t fear; these products are approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Some theories suggest people who use artificial sweeteners have a hard time losing weight or begin to crave sweet foods, but a cause-and-effect relationship hasn’t been proven, Urban said.
Diet sodas, which contain artificial sweeteners, can help people on carbohydrate-control diets transition away from sugared sodas, while they work toward drinking more water.
Spot added sugar in your diet
You don’t have to avoid sugar completely if your doctor or dietitian hasn’t recommended a carb-control diet. But sugar calories add up quickly and lead to obesity over time, so moderation is key.
“Also,” Urban said, “remember that just because a product’s label says ‘sugar-free’ does not mean that product is calorie-free. You can still gain weight eating these foods so again, all things in moderation.”
A teaspoon of sugar in your coffee doesn’t seem like much, but it’s important to pay attention to added sugar found in other foods under different names. For example, Urban recommends checking nutrition labels for high fructose corn syrup, cane sugar and inverted sugar.
The American Heart Association recommends limiting added sugars to 100 calories (25 grams or six teaspoons) per day for women and 150 calories (37.5 grams or nine teaspoons) per day for men.
“A lot of our food supply has added sugar – food we wouldn’t think it would be added to,” Urban said.
“And remember that just because a product says ‘sugar free’ doesn’t mean it’s calorie free. You can still gain weight on these products, so all things in moderation.”
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As a nutritionist and researcher, I will fully disagree with nearly everything in your article.
1. ALL Artificial sweeteners are neurotoxins (please research Dr Christiane Northrop as she has a great description of what artificial sweeteners do to the body)
2. Consuming aspartame is not much different than smoking as both turn to methanol and formaldehyde in the body. Formaldehyde and methanol are KNOWN to cause kidney damage amongst other things.
3. Saccharine has been linked to cancer.
4. Surcralose is a chlorocarbon, meaning it turns into chlorine in the body. This crosses the blood brain barrier causing lesions on the brain.
Now, research peer reviewed studies and see what chlorine, methanol, and formaldehyde do to the body. Also research neurotoxicity. When you consume something that is 100-600x sweeter than sugar, your body craves more sugar. Whether diabetic or not, people need to get back to WHOLE FOODS, which means real sugar (sugar in the raw that's brown), honey, molasses, and maple syrup. The stuff created in a plant are the things increasing our rate of disease…also, have you ever seen a person who is diabetic and utilizing artificial sweeteners ever reverse diabetes? I sure haven't; however, I see it reversed EVERYDAY in my practice when I have people STOP eating products and START eating food. One last tidbit of info – NO research has actually been completed on if ANY artificial sweetener affects blood sugar…NOT A SINGLE STUDY – nor has any study been completed to determine that they ARE calorie free! Get back to basics and whole foods people.
Dawn, thank you for the feedback. I am sharing your comments with the Shine365 blog team and Marshfield Clinic dietitians. To our knowledge, the information we've shared on artificial sweeteners is accurate. We do our best to update information as it is discovered. -Kirstie
There are about 50 calories in a tablespoon of sugar, I believe you accidentally listed this in a teaspoon format. I hope this helps.
Lukas – You're absolutely right! Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We're working on updating this chart to reflect that information. -Kirstie
Great info. I'm 81, have a normal A1C and still worried about using the sweetners.
Are artificial sweeteners harmful for children? (Crystal light rather than lemonade with sugar)
Hi, Ginny,
Thanks for the question.For children, the long-term effects of consuming artificially-sweetened beverages are unknown, so it’s best for kids to avoid them, according to research from Harvard School of Medicine. For both adults and children, it's recommended to limit amounts of any kind of sweetener in the diet, including sugar, sugar alcohols, high fructose corn syrup, Splenda, NutraSweet, and stevia, according to dietitian Teresa Murphy, Marshfield Clinic.
Thanks
Great information on sweeteners. Very helpful., Thanks, Karen