Sugar or sweetener: which is healthier?

Too much sugar makes you sick. The supposed "healthier" alternative is sweeteners and sugar substitutes. But is sweetener really better than sugar? Read what the research says here.

Compared to traditional sugar, sweeteners contain fewer or no calories. It also does not cause blood sugar levels to rise, or barely at all, and does not cause insulin secretion. So far, so good. But does this alone make sweeteners etc. healthier than sugar?

Regarding dental health, a clear verdict can be made: yes, sweeteners and other sweeteners are healthier for our teeth because they do not cause tooth decay. On the other hand, sugar is the main cause of tooth decay.

Although sweeteners and sugar substitutes seem like they should be a healthier alternative to traditional sugar on paper, research has yet to agree on the end result.

Although sweeteners and sugar substitutes can be classified into groups with similar properties from a chemical point of view, they sometimes have a very individual effect on the human organism. The long-term effects of sweeteners on us have not yet been studied. There is not yet enough data from long-term studies to verify the health effects that can be expected from regular consumption of stevia.

Sweetener: What sugar substitutes actually are?

In public discourse, a distinction is usually made between “regular” sugar – that is, refined table sugar – and “artificial” sweeteners. However, the range of sweeteners is larger than generally assumed. Strictly speaking, when it comes to artificially produced sugar substitutes, a distinction is made between sugar substitutes and popular sweeteners.

Sugar substitutes: effect on the body

Sugar substitutes are sugar alcohols and therefore have a completely different chemical structure than “regular” sugar. The three most popular sugar alcohols are xylitol with an EE number of 967, erythritol with an E number of 968 and sorbitol with an E number of 420.

These and other sugar substitutes do not trigger the release of insulin in our bodies and do not significantly increase blood sugar levels. Many sugar alcohols have a weaker sweetening capacity than table sugar. Although these substances do not cause tooth decay, eating just 10 to 20 grams of them can cause digestive problems such as flatulence and diarrhea.

Sweeteners: their effect on the body

On the other hand, sweeteners are usually extracted from natural raw materials using very complex industrial processes. In order to be able to extract steviol glycoside from the stevia plant, the plants must be chemically filtered and the resulting raw stevia juice must be purified with the addition of mineral salts.

Approved sweeteners, the most famous of which are aspartame (E 951) and stevia (E 960). Sweeteners do not have any caloric value relevant to our body, so they do not provide any calories and are excreted almost unchanged. It also has no effect on blood sugar levels or insulin secretion.

Aspartame may be carcinogenic - WHO warns

The World Health Organization (WHO) runs its own cancer research agency that provides assessments of foods or stressors that we all deal with on a regular basis. This cancer research agency recently classified the sweetener aspartame as “probably carcinogenic.” This classification comes as scientific evidence increases that aspartame may be linked to the development of cancer later in life.

More recently, researchers from France concluded that consuming large amounts of sweeteners such as aspartame can lead to a slight increase in the risk of cancer. In their study, the researchers examined data from 100,000 participants.

How much sweetener can I take daily?

The amount of sweetener one can consume daily depends on the type of sweetener and body weight. The Food Safety Authority has set acceptable daily intake (ADI) levels for various sweeteners. For example, the ADI for aspartame is 40 milligrams per kilogram of body weight and for sucralose is 15 milligrams per kilogram of body weight.

However, it is important to note that the long-term effects of high consumption of sweeteners are not yet fully understood. Some studies suggest that high consumption of artificial sweeteners such as aspartame

Cons: Sweeteners make you fat

In a study conducted by researchers, it was observed in animal experiments that even small amounts of the sweetener were sufficient to change the intestinal flora. The sweetener caused the bacteria to multiply, which then metabolized more carbon. According to researchers, this would increase the effect of foods high in sugar and fat, leading to weight gain.

Pro: Sweetener helps you lose weight On the other hand, these research findings contradict a descriptive study from 2020. The researchers examined 20 individual studies on the relationship between sweeteners and weight and compiled the results. Conclusion: Consuming sweeteners can have a positive effect on weight. A positive effect was observed, especially in overweight people who replaced sugar with sweeteners and did not follow a diet, but rather ate a normal, balanced diet. They lost more weight compared to the control groups. What these contradictory research findings show is that science is still far from being able to provide a clear and concise picture of the health effects of sweetener consumption. But in general, the following applies: Regardless of whether it is sugar or a sweetener, consumption of sugary or sweetened foods should be reduced. In the long term, it's best to eat fewer sweet foods and give your body regular breaks from foods containing added sugar or sweeteners.