Here is an overview of the most common sugar alternatives

Honey: Often people argue that honey is healthy because it is a natural product. Yes, it comes from nature and yes, it contains vitamins and minerals. But: You would have to eat such a large amount of honey in order to benefit from these vitamins that the negative effects would far outweigh the consequences. Like table sugar, honey contains the two types of sugar, glucose and fructose. Honey consists even to 80% (!) of sugar (the remaining 20% is water). Therefore honey can also promote obesity and caries. It is even more harmful to the teeth than crystal sugar, because its sticky texture makes it stick to the surface of the teeth for much longer. Just like sugar, honey should therefore be used very sparingly (Busse, 2019) and is by no means a healthy sugar alternative!

Agave Syrup: agave syrup is extracted from the agave plant, which mainly grows in Mexico. The juice of the agave is marketed as a healthy sugar alternative. The truth is, because of its high fructose content (almost 90%!) it is just as harmful, or perhaps even more harmful, than table sugar! What is more, agave syrup has a long transport route, which has in addition a negative effect on the climate (Gameau, 2015, p. 94).

Maple Syrup: Maple syrup is obtained from the sap of the maple tree and consists of approx. 66% sucrose (= table sugar; granulated sugar). The amount of sugar is still very high, but unlike table sugar, maple syrup also contains vitamins and minerals such as zinc and manganese. In addition, around 24 antioxidants were found in maple syrup in a scientific study. However, due to the high amount of sugar contained in maple syrup, consumption must be kept low here too. Incidentally, very light maple syrup speaks for a high quality (Schneider, 2020).

Coconut Blossom Sugar: coconut blossom sugar is obtained from the inflorescences of the coconut palm and consists of over 80% sugar (Gameau, 2015, p. 94). That is an obvious thing to say, but this supposedly healthy sugar alternative is almost exclusively made of sugar and therefore not healthy at all! In addition, coconut blossom sugar, like agave syrup, has a relatively long transport route, which also harms the environment.

Palm Sugar: palm sugar is often confused or equated with coconut blossom sugar. However, it is obtained from the sap of the palmyra and date palm and also consists of over 80% sugar (Gameau, 2015, p. 94). If you want to do yourself and the climate a favor: stay away from palm sugar!

Date Sweetness: dates are certainly a better choice than table sugar: although they also contain a lot of sugar, they are also very rich in fiber and nutritional value. Dried dates have a higher energy and sugar content than fresh fruits. Nevertheless, date sweetness should only be used in moderation: due to their high sugar content (approx. 72%) dates are very high in calories and can also harm the teeth (Schümann, 2020).

Rice Syrup: rice syrup is a sugar concentrate. Unlike table sugar, rice syrup consists only of glucose and not of fructose. It is therefore suitable for people with fructose-intolerance. However, rice syrup should also only be used in moderation, as it consists of 53% glucose and can also promote obesity and tooth damage (Jöcker & Riedl, 2019).

I would also like to make the following comment: since the sugar content of 53%, although still high, is somewhat lower than found in the other sugar alternatives, there is a risk that larger quantities of sugar will tend to be consumed in order to compensate for the less intense sweetness. So be careful not to fall into this sugar trap if you like to sweeten your meals with rice syrup.

Erythritol: I use erythritol to sweeten my recipes, so I'll go a little deeper into this topic. There will also be blog entry about erythritol very soon.

Erythritol is a sugar alcohol, not a sweetener, which is also found in small quantities in nature, especially in fruit and vegetables (e.g. mushrooms, strawberries or plums). Erythritol tastes almost the same as sugar, but slightly less sweet (sweetening power approx. 70%). Some people notice a cool aftertaste (Gunnars, 2018), which could sometimes be annoying.

Erythritol has several advantages: 

• it does not attack the teeth (it is even said to have a caring effect),
• it does not cause the insulin level to rise (I did some more detailed research here: this is true in principle, but can vary in individual people, as studies have shown)
• and has no calories
• which benefits the figure.

The disadvantages are

• that erythritol is quite expensive.
• In addition, erythritol can have a laxative effect if consumed in excessive amounts (Gunnars, 2018).
• Furthermore, sweeteners and sugar alcohols, such as erythritol, can also cause ravenous appetite, as they give the brain a short-term fake sweet reward. The brain then demands more sweets in reverse. If you now regularly eat such sugar alternatives, you will not be able to escape the sugar cycle. There is also a very high risk that one will resort to more sugary foods again (Gameau, ２０１５ , p. １５１ ).

Therefore, even sugar alternatives, which contain no sugar at all, should be consumed with caution. Due to this fact and because I live the "Clean Eating Life-Style", I refrain from consuming erythritol daily or weekly. However, from time to time - once or sometimes twice a month - I bake myself something sweet adding erythritol to replace the sugar. But there are also months when I do not consume any of it at all. In the Christmas season it is a little bit more =)

Xylitol and Stevia: Xylitol, also called birch sugar, has 240 kilocalories (kcal) per 100 g, about half as many calories as sugar (Shock, 2017). "Although birch sugar tastes as sweet as normal sugar and has a similar consistency, chemically speaking it is not a carbohydrate but a sugar alcohol" (Schocke, 2017). Since sugar substitutes are often not well tolerated by people with fructose-intolerance, I avoid these substances. Therefore I do not have any experience that I could share with you. I also never use stevia, because I don't like the taste. I think it tastes somehow "chemical". But this is only my personal impression.