There’s no winning anymore—people say “sugar” and “artificial sweeteners” with the same amount of venom in their voices.
But not all artificial sweeteners are created equal, after all. So let’s take a look at how some of the most common ones measure up.
- High fructose corn syrup. For a while now, this sweetener has been thought of as the worst of the worst—it was even connected to obesity in a recent study, which made everyone want to avoid it like the plague. In reality, HFCS only contributes to obesity as much as you consume it, just like any other sweetener. Everything in moderation.
- Sucralose, also known as Splenda. It has zero calories, but it would be harmful to your body. The Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health found that sucralose decreases good gut bacteria by over half when it metabolizes. It also makes medication less effective for this reason.
- Agave syrup. Like it or not, this stuff is basically high fructose corn syrup. Sure, it’s low on the GI index, but its liquid form means it has the highest fructose-containing sugar substitute. Again, portion control is the key, especially since one nutritionist told the Huffington Post that “agave syrup is almost all fructose, highly processed sugar with great marketing.” Ouch.
- Aspartame, or Equal. Here’s the thing about Equal that not a lot of people know. Equal contains the same amount of sugar and calories as regular sugar does, but it just is much, much sweeter. There have been scares from society groups about aspartame’s abilities to cause cancer. But this has been disproven, and now the only people we need to worry about are those who eat too much of it (obviously) and those with phenylalanine intolerance. Those people should avoid it, but otherwise you’re probably fine.
