Decoding Sweeteners From Stevia To Coconut Sugar: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

Americans eat an average of 765 grams of sugar every five days—and much of it comes from not knowing where sugar is lurking or what alternative name it's going by! Compare that number to the year 1822, when Americans ate just 45 grams in the same time period. Every person eats and drinks 130 pounds of added sugar every year, an average of 3,550 pounds in a lifetime. That is equal to eating 1.7 million Skittles or an industrial-sized dumpster full of sugar.

While fruit and dairy provide natural sources of sugar, I’m talking about added sweeteners here. Wherever you look in the grocery store or restaurants, sugar and sugar substitutes are added to just about everything—it's in nut butter, condiments, kombucha, crackers, popcorn, and most everything else that comes in a package. These ingredients go by many names, even super-healthy-sounding euphemisms, so it can be hard to even recognize sugar in all its varying forms. 

What's someone interested in maintaining a healthy body and living green to do? As a functional medicine doctor, my job is not only to help make people healthy but also to provide useful recommendations for them to stay healthy. Not many people want to live a sugar-celibate life. So let's get practical.

This artificial sweetener is so widely used it can be shocking to learn just how many products actually contain it; even foods that you wouldn’t think need sweetening. High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is found in salad dressing, other condiments, soda, candy, baked goods, certain yogurts, frozen processed foods, canned fruit, bread, juice, granola bars, coffee creamer, jams, jellies, and ice cream. This is not an exhaustive list.

HFCS is derived from corn starch (largely GMO corn) through an intensive chemical process that is anything but natural. Aside from being empty calories, HFCS and its higher proportion (higher than table sugar) of fructose is thought to be metabolized differently, and not in a good way.

Also known as rice syrup or rice malt, this sweetener is made from the combination of brown rice and enzymes. The enzymes break down the starch, and then it is boiled down to create a syrup. The fermentation makes the sugars easier to digest. In addition to the high glycemic index of rice syrup, another issue is that sometimes barley enzymes are used, which contain gluten. Unless you are specifically looking for gluten-free brown-rice syrup, you could be unknowingly perpetuating health problems if you are sensitive to gluten. Commercial-scale brown rice syrups typically use enzymes from bacterial or fungal origins, instead of barley.

Stevia is derived from the Stevia rebaudiana plant (from South America), and the no-calorie sweet taste comes from two primary glycosides found in the plant, stevioside and rebaudioside. A zero-calorie low-glycemic sweetener that’s also natural?! It sounds almost too good to be true—and it kind of is. It all depends on what kind of stevia you are buying. 

Make sure you are getting raw organic stevia that is still in its green form. Otherwise, in other conventional stevia brands, which may be heavily processed, you may be exposing yourself to other chemicals added as preservatives. These stevia products are often combined with erythritol (and sugar alcohol), dextrose, and flavors. 

We aren’t talking about your run-of-the-mill pancake syrup product. Instead, we are talking about 100% pure organic maple syrup. What makes this a much better alternative to traditional sugar is the fact that it actually contains a good amount of essential minerals like zinc and manganese (along with some calcium, potassium, and iron) and a variety of phenolic antioxidants (at least 24 different kinds). 

Straight from the honeycomb, this is one of the best natural options when you need to add a little sweetness to your life. I recommend you purchase it in its raw, unpasteurized, and unfiltered form to receive its benefits in its most natural state. Honey contains a wide range of phytochemicals, like phenolic acids and flavonoids, which have potent antioxidant properties to fight oxidative stress (involved in processes of aging and disease). 

This sweetener is made by boiling the juice of sugar cane (or sometimes sugar beets) to concentrate it and result in sugar crystallization.. This refining process produces the dark, thick syrup we know as molasses. Full of phytochemicals, minerals (e.g. iron, potassium, magnesium, calcium, selenium), and vitamin B6—molasses is unique in that way. It's phenolic antioxidant properties12 have been shown in cell models.

Dates or date palms are sweet fruits that are completely unprocessed and can be eaten fresh or dried or pureed into a paste to add to many different recipes. Since they are naturally very high in fructose it is still important to keep their intake to a moderate amount. 

Often found in “sugar-free” foods, sugar alcohols or polyols include sorbitol, mannitol, erythritol, maltitol, and xylitol (amongst others). While some sugar alcohols are found naturally in fruits and vegetables, most of these sweeteners on the market are derived through chemically processing (hydrogenating) sugars, like glucose from corn starch Unlike other sugar-free sweeteners that have zero calories, sugar alcohols can contain up to three calories per gram. Along with stevia, these sugar alcohols are still decent options for people looking for natural sugar-free options and lowering their calorie intake and glycemic load.

Like stevia and sugar alcohols, monk fruit sugar or luo han guo fruit is another low-carb sweetener option. It's fermented from the pulp of the fruit, which removes the sugars but leaves a residual sweet flavor. Used for hundreds of years in Asian countries where it is harvested, this “Buddha fruit” contains beneficial antioxidants called mogrosides. Because of this, our little friend monk has been used as a natural antioxidant 17and anti-inflammatory method for centuries in Chinese medicine. 

These natural sweeteners are derived from the nectar inside the coconut blossoms (i.e., the coconut palm sap) of the coconut tree, not the coconut itself. Also called coconut palm sugar, this sweetener is a better option than regular sugar (“empty” calories). First, coconut sugar has a slightly lower glycemic index thanks to its inulin (prebiotic) fiber content. 

When my patients are looking to add sweetness to food I first recommend raw organic stevia, monk fruit, organic coconut sugar, maple syrup, molasses, and dates. With any of these, moderation is still important—no more than a couple tablespoons per day is ideal. The bad and ugly sweeteners should still be avoided as much as possible for thriving long-term health.