Artificial sweeteners
- No nutrition
- Zero calories
- Minimum or no raise in blood sugar
- Negligible to minimum raise in Insulin hormone levels
- Highly processed
- May have negative impact on gut microbiome
- List of popular artificial sweeteners:
- Aspartame
- Saccharine
- Sucralose
- Acesulfame Potassium
Natural sweeteners
- No nutrition
- Zero calories
- No raise in blood sugar
- No raise in Insulin hormone levels
- Derived from plant sources
- Tastes intense sweetness
- Gentle on stomach
- List of popular natural sweeteners
- Stevia
- Monk fruit extract
Sugar Alcohols (artificial)
- No nutrition
- Has calories but lesser than sugar
- Can raise blood sugar
- Can raise Insulin hormone levels
- Processed from sugar
- May cause stomach upset and bloating
- Can be fermented by gut microbiome
- List of sugar alcohols in the order of preference
- Erythritol – Lowest calories of all and least stomach upset- 0.2 Kcal/gram
- Mannitol – 1.5 Kcal/gram
- Sorbitol – 2.5 Kcal/gram
- Xylitol – 2.5 Kcal/gram
- Maltitol – 2.7 Kcal/gram
It is recommended to prefer Natural sweeteners when compared to Artificial sweeteners or Sugar alcohols.
*Do read the Disclaimer