Or you’re not sure whether the replacement sweeteners are just as bad as the real thing?
With sugar being touted as one the worst things for health, many people look for alternatives. After all, who doesn’t want to cut back, lose weight and still be able to enjoy a guilt-free sweet treat?
However not all artificial sweeteners are equal.
It’s pretty clear any form of soft drink labelled "diet" is likely to be harmful.
These types of artificial sweeteners kill off our good gut bugs, resulting in less diversity in the gut microbiome.
A lack of variety of gut bacteria is associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes, mood disorders and a number of other health conditions.
Further, any sweeteners containing aspartame have been shown to increase the risk of mental health issues so these are best avoided.
People often wonder if honey is a better choice because it’s a more natural form of sugar. However, in the end, sugar is sugar and, regardless of its form, it still results in negative health consequences, particularly if you are a type 2 diabetic.
The main difference between these natural forms of sugar is there tends to be other beneficial nutrients that come along with the sweet flavour, compared to refined white sugar.
So ... what about stevia?
Stevia, which is often put into things like Coke to make the popular product Coke Zero, has risen in popularity. However my concern is there is no long-term research to support the safety of consuming stevia of in such large volumes.
When baking, I like sweetening things with either ripe bananas or soaked dates (in limited amounts). Both bananas and dates contain some fibre (dates less so) but the fibre helps to mitigate the effects of rapid rises in blood sugar on the gut wall.
In summary, avoid artificial sweeteners if you can — there is mounting evidence that some could be harmful to human health.
And try to stick to the WHO guidelines, which recommend no more than six teaspoons of added sugar per day, but ideally zero.
