What are Some Different Types of Sugar Substitutes?

@surreallife-- I think what happens with artificial sugar substitutes is that our body thinks that we are eating sugar but doesn't actually get any carbohydrates in the process. So immediately after consuming these substitutes, you crave carbohydrates. This is probably why some people gain weight with sugar substitutes.

But I think you can work around this if you have it along with meals or a snack that actually has carbs.

I don't like table sugar or artificial sweeteners. I use agave nectar which I think is the most healthy sugar substitute out there next to honey. It doesn't taste like sugar but you get used to it. Plus, it's natural, it doesn't have side effects, and it has fructose (fruit sugar) so it's not that bad for you.

@simrin-- Sucralose is safe for diabetics, it is not sugar. It won't affect your blood sugar levels, so don't worry.

I think some confusion also comes from the name. The scientific name for sugar is "sucrose." Sucralose sounds similar because it is made from sugar but it doesn't actually get recognized as sugar by the body.

What they do is they break apart the sugar atoms and add chlorine atoms to them which forms sucralose. It's still sweet, but it doesn't act like sugar in the body. So it's safe to consume for diabetics.

I'm a little confused about sucralose (Splenda). I'm a diabetic, I just got diagnosed recently so I had to give up sugar and switch to other alternatives. I've been using Splenda thinking that it's a natural sweetener that is sugar-free. Am I wrong?

The article said that it's made of sugar so it cannot be sugar-free right?

What's the best sugar substitute for a diabetic?

@surreallife-- I remember seeing something about this on the Dr Oz show. Using these sugar substitutes actually had the opposite effect of what they were hoping for. Most all of these sugar substitutes are sweeter than sugar and they somehow trick your brain.

I don't remember all of the scientific facts they mentioned but clearly remember that using these sugar substitutes as a regular part of your diet was not good, and you might end up gaining weight instead of losing it.

With all the studies out there that show many of these as being unhealthy, I think it would be best to stay away from them. That is much easier said than done for many people though because they have become so used to how sweet they are and nothing else seems to taste as sweet or as good.

It might take some time to "wean" yourself off of them, but I think you would be better off in the long run if you could.

@John57-- You can replace sugar with honey, but I am not sure if diabetics can use honey or not. I am thinking that most of them are not able to and would need to use some other kind of sugar substitute.

The best sugar substitute for baking I have found is Splenda. Everything I have made with this has turned out great and you can't tell the difference. It is more expensive than buying sugar so that is the only drawback I have found with it.

What about using honey as a sugar substitute?

That would be considered a natural product and I have heard it is sweeter than sugar so you wouldn't need to use as much of it. There are also other properties in honey that are good for you, and I don't think it would cause your blood sugar to spike as much either.

I am not diabetic and don't know what I would do if I had to rely on artificial sugar substitutes. I am scared to use any of the sugar substitutes mentioned whether they are approved by the FDA or not.

It seems like everyone is all excited about them when they first come out, then later on down the line you hear they cause cancer or something like that.

I would rather use sugar in moderation than any of the artificial sweeteners that many people use every day. I also like to look for natural sugar substitutes or sweeteners and limit my sugar as much as I can.

I'm glad that sugar substitutes exist for diabetics. Being unable to eat any sweet food ever again would be a terrible thing.

However, I'm not diabetic, and I hate the taste of sugar substitutes. They just taste fake to me, like the sweetness they impart just isn't real.

The only exception to this is isomalt. I've had hard candies sweetened with this, and I couldn't tell the difference between them and the kind that contained real sugar.

Aspartame is definitely not the best sugar substitute. I have heard that it can cause depression, cancer, and fibromyalgia in someone who uses it regularly.

I used to drink diet sodas to lose weight, and they were all sweetened with aspartame. I didn't particularly like the taste, but I figured they were helping me keep off the weight.

After I heard from multiple reliable sources all the damage it can do, I stopped drinking diet sodas. I did start feeling better than I had in months. I had just been feeling achy and tired for no reason, but that went away once I eliminated aspartame from my diet.

I chew a lot of sugar-free gum, and xylitol is the sugar substitute that many of these gums have in them. It's great for you teeth, because it can prevent cavities, so I make it a point to chew a piece of gum after every meal.

However, I have heard that xylitol can kill a dog. One of my neighbors said that his dog died after eating some cake that had been sweetened with xylitol. So, I keep my gum up in the cabinet where my dogs can't reach it.

Sucralose is a relatively safe sugar substitute. I've read that our bodies don't absorb much of it, and it just passes through as waste.

So, really it's only purpose is to make foods taste better. You can't get fat from eating sucralose, because it has no calories. Using it as a sugar substitute sounds like a good diet plan for someone with a major sweet tooth.

Sucralose doesn't "taste like sugar." That's just an advertising lie. It's sweet, yes, but with an unpleasant aftertaste that is nothing like sugar.

Cheers to this site for not parroting junk science fear mongering.

How can you promote aspertame or sucralose when the are scientifically proven to be harmful?

Is there a safe limit you can consume? Like how many packages per day?

Every single one of the sugars you listed has known unhealthy side effects including birth mutations, cancer and liver failure. I think that is quite important to at least mention above.

Hi, I am curious why you chose not to include any of the information about how un-healthy aspartame is?

I have read that sugar substitutes might not be the best thing if you want to slim down. Some studies on animals have supported that theory. This is not conclusive yet, and studies have not been done on humans, but it appears that using sugar substitutes instead of sugar leads to overeating.