There are so many different sweeteners to enhance the flavor of drinks like coffee, tea, oatmeal, and plain yogurt that you need to create your own menu.
The options are many and varied: white sugar, brown sugar, honey, artificial sweeteners, plant-based sugar alternatives, etc. But what is the healthiest choice?
Before you pick out your favorite package of sweet treats, hear what nutrition experts have to say.
Is sugar good or bad for your health?
Sugar, or glucose in its simplest form, isn’t bad for you, says Natalie Rizzo, R.D., nutrition editor at TODAY.
“Your body needs glucose to live and grow. Glucose gives your brain, muscles, and organs energy to perform their daily functions. Plus, glucose provides energy for exercise,” she points out.
“That being said, all foods that contain carbohydrates contain sugar, but that doesn’t mean all of them are healthy.”
For example, bananas are full of natural sugars and contain other beneficial nutrients like fiber and potassium, while soda only contains added sugar.
According to the USDA, sugar, honey, maple syrup, and molasses are known as nutritive sweeteners and provide energy in the form of carbohydrates. Non-nutritive sweeteners, also known as sugar substitutes and artificial sweeteners, contain little to no carbohydrates or energy.
While Rizzo is a big supporter of natural sugar in food, she says it’s important to limit added sugar, as it’s usually found in less nutritious foods.
Sugar isn’t inherently bad, it’s the extra calories in your diet that are the problem, adds Joan Slavin, PhD, a registered dietitian and professor of food science and nutrition at the University of Minnesota.
“We have an obesity problem,” Slavin told TODAY.com, “but I’m not saying that sugar is bad at all for healthy people. Sugar is necessary.”
What is the healthiest sweetener?
Using fruit or 100% fruit juice to sweeten your foods and drinks is a healthy choice — for example, adding fresh strawberries to your plain yogurt, a banana to your oatmeal, or a splash of orange juice to your soda — because fruit contains nutrients that are beneficial to your health, Rizzo says.
“If you want a sweet flavor, use fruit,” agrees Slavin.
When it comes to choosing the healthiest sweetener for your coffee or tea, both nutritionists say the options are not all that different, so it’s mainly down to personal preference.
“Let’s be honest, all added sugars are pretty similar,” Rizzo points out.
“Health-wise, they’re both pretty similar,” Slavin said.
From a taste-test perspective, for most people, nothing beats sucrose, or regular white sugar, Slavin adds. One teaspoon contains about 16 calories.
The American Heart Association recommends that women should limit themselves to six teaspoons of added sugars per day and men to nine teaspoons, but it says people are consuming two to three times that amount or more.
Is honey a healthier sweetener than sugar?
Not actually the case, experts say.
“When you look at the composition of honey, it may have some vitamins and minerals that are better for it than refined sucrose, but to me, it’s basically like a little something,” Slavin says. “The same goes for maple syrup.”
Rizzo points out that honey and maple syrup may be “slightly healthier” because they contain trace minerals and plant compounds, but at the recommended serving size of about one tablespoon, they’re neither healthy nor a good source of nutrients.
Artificial sweeteners and sugar
Artificial sweeteners are chemically synthesized and constitute a non-nutritive sweetener.
They contain no carbohydrates, so they won’t affect your blood sugar levels and they have zero calories, TODAY.com previously reported.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved six artificial sweeteners: aspartame, acesulfame potassium, sucralose, neotame, advantame and saccharin.
The World Health Organization has noted that such “non-sugar sweeteners” do not help with weight control and recommends against their use for weight control.
In 2023, the WHO’s Cancer Research Group classified aspartame as a probable carcinogen, but the FDA disputed this, noting that aspartame is “one of the most studied food additives in the human food supply.”
A 2022 study found a potential link between artificial sweeteners and heart disease.
Rizzo says he’s not too worried about artificial sweeteners. Slavin adds that artificial sweeteners wouldn’t be on the market if they weren’t generally considered safe. He sees them as a tool in the nutrition toolkit to help people reduce their sugar intake.
“It’s like a nitpick about which is better,” Slavin says. “For most people, they’re not necessary. It’s just a personal choice.”
What about stevia or monk fruit?
Stevia and monk fruit are one of three FDA-approved “high-intensity sweeteners from plants and fruits.” The third is thaumatin, a group of proteins isolated from the West African catemphe fruit.
Stevia is a plant native to South America. According to the agency, the components in stevia leaves are 200 to 400 times sweeter than sugar. Some people find it has a bitter aftertaste.
The WHO classifies stevia as a non-sugar sweetener that does not help with weight control.
Native to southern China, Monk fruit is 100 to 250 times sweeter than sugar.
Slavin said many people feel that these products offer some benefit and are more consumer-friendly because they are made from plants rather than chemicals mixed in a lab.
“But I wouldn’t say, ‘Use that much and never use aspartame or sucralose,'” she says. “If I had to rank them, I wouldn’t put them above the other options.”
Conclusion:
Of the things most people have to worry about, adding a little sugar to their coffee or breakfast is “pretty low” on Slavin’s list.
“When people ask, ‘Should I eliminate sugar from my coffee?’ I say absolutely not for the average person,” she points out.
It’s important not to overdo it.
Think about what other foods you’re eating throughout the day and whether you’re consuming more added sugars than you need, advises Rizzo.
This article originally appeared on TODAY.com.
