Artificial sweeteners. So many substitutes for sugar are showing up in supermarkets that the choice can be “overwhelming.” If you’re diabetic, you’ve probably tried zero-calorie synthetic sweeteners like sucralose (Splenda), aspartame (Equal), and saccharin (Sweet’N Low). They don’t aid weight loss, though, because they trigger food cravings.
Sugar alcohols. Sugar alcohols occur naturally in fruit, but they’re also manufactured and “can be easily identified on ingredient labels by the ‘ol’ endings”: maltitol, sorbitol, etc. Calorie-free erythritol is sold for home use as ZSweet and Zero, and tastes like sugar in sweetened drinks and baked goods.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
