--- title: Sugar Substitutes: What Are The Best Sugar Alternatives? description: Why sweet and good-for-you might not go together canonical: https://time.com/3644573/sugar-alternatives-sweeteners/ author: Markham Heid article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-24T15:28:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:44:06.214Z article:section: Health og:title: You Asked: What's the Healthiest Sweetener? og:description: Why sweet and good-for-you might not go together og:url: https://time.com/3644573/sugar-alternatives-sweeteners/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt11dd412472063d90/6987772ba988cafa2d6ab97e/you-asked-sugar.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: you-asked-sugar og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: You Asked: What's the Healthiest Sweetener? twitter:description: Why sweet and good-for-you might not go together twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt11dd412472063d90/6987772ba988cafa2d6ab97e/you-asked-sugar.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # You Asked: What's the Healthiest Sweetener? > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [Markham Heid](https://time.com/author/markham-heid/) ## Markham Heid Markham Heid is a contributor at TIME. He is the author of The Habit Trap, due out in early 2027. Dec 24, 2014 3:28 PM UTC  Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME by [Markham Heid](https://time.com/author/markham-heid/) ## Markham Heid Markham Heid is a contributor at TIME. He is the author of The Habit Trap, due out in early 2027. Dec 24, 2014 3:28 PM UTC You’ve heard sugar is bad news. But what about all those low-cal or no-cal substitutes? And organic honey! That has to be healthier, right? “Honey, table sugar—doesn’t matter. It’s all sucrose, and your body metabolizes it the same way,” says Dr. Robert Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of California, San Francisco. Lustig is also board president of the Institute for Responsible Nutrition, and presenter of “[Sugar: The Bitter Truth](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM)”—a much talked about YouTube lecture that lays out the perils of the sweet stuff. Apart from its high calorie content, which contributes to weight gain and obesity, sugar messes with your body’s insulin responses, Lustig says. Heart disease, diabetes and fatty liver disease have all been linked to the types of insulin issues sugar provokes. “Sugar also binds to proteins in your body and causes damage,” he says—the same kind that browns fruit left out on your kitchen countertop. “We’re all browning. That’s part of aging,” Lustig explains. “But sugar causes you to brown seven times faster.” ### You Asked: Your Top 10 Health Questions Answered  You Asked: Are Cleanses Healthy? Potions that claim to clear your body of toxins might sound alluring, but do they deliver? Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME  You Asked: Is Eating Dessert Really That Bad For Me? Bad news for sweet-eaters—except if you end your meals with this kind of treat. Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME  You Asked: What’s the Best Way to Whiten My Teeth? Yes, teeth whitening actually works—but here's why you have to dish out major bucks to see results. Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME  You Asked: Is Meditation Really Worth It? From easing stress to lowering heart disease risk, focusing your mind can do some amazing things for your body. Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME  You Asked: What’s the Healthiest Sweetener? Take a taste of the unsettled science of sweeteners. Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME  You Asked: Should I Go Paleo? The pros and cons of eating like a caveman. Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME  You Asked: Is Cracking Your Knuckles Bad? Here's what really happens to your joints when you snap, crackle and pop. Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME  You Asked: Is Running on a Treadmill as Good as Running Outside? You'll fool your body into thinking it's outside with this one small treadmill tweak. Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME  You Asked: Does Laughing Have Real Health Benefits? Here's proof that everybody could use a belly laugh. Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME  You Asked: What Is My Poo Telling Me? If you listen hard enough, you'll hear all kinds of health stories from #2. Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME There’s more to say on the subject of sugar and your health, but the bottom line is that too much sugar is bad for you, and most Americans consume way more than they should. “Your liver can process roughly six to nine teaspoons a day without significant issue,” Lustig says. “The average American consumes 19.5 teaspoons a day.” And while honey may contain antioxidants or compounds that, on their own, may offer some benefits, “The sucrose in honey is still sucrose,” Lustig adds. Unfortunately, when it comes to artificial sweeteners and other sugar alternatives—from stevia to sucralose—the health picture grows foggier, not clearer. “Some people believe that, because some artificial sweeteners have no calories, they have no consequences,” says Dr. Yanina Pepino, research assistant professor in medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. “But we know that’s not true.” Pepino’s research has demonstrated that sweet tastes—even those produced by non-caloric sweeteners—have the power to ramp up your body’s insulin responses. She says there’s also data suggesting non-caloric sweeteners contribute to the development of metabolic disorders and type 2 diabetes. **MORE**: [Should I Drink Diet Soda?](http://time.com/3628546/diet-soda-bad-for-you/) More new research has hinted that artificial sweeteners may mess with your gut’s microbes, the tiny organisms that live in your digestive system and help manage the ways your body breaks down and processes the stuff you eat. Like opening Pandora’s box, Pepino says any changes to the gut’s microbiota may lead to widespread negative health consequences. “When it comes to sugar substitutes, we just don’t know enough,” she says—a sentiment Lustig repeats over and over again. And not knowing makes choosing between sugar and sugar alternatives a thorny proposition. While some new sweeteners may claim to be healthier than others, the fact is they’re simply newer, so there’s not as much known about them, Lustig says. In the end, both he and Pepino agree there’s only one right answer if you’re watching out for your health: Limit the amount of sweet stuff in your diet. “I know people won’t like that answer, but that’s the only one I can give,” Pepino says. “There’s just no way to say one is better than another without a lot more data.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3644573/sugar-alternatives-sweeteners/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3644573/sugar-alternatives-sweeteners/"},"headline":"You Asked: What's the Healthiest Sweetener?","datePublished":"2014-12-24T15:28:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:44:06.214Z","description":"Why sweet and good-for-you might not go together","url":"https://time.com/3644573/sugar-alternatives-sweeteners/","keywords":["Diet & Nutrition","Sugar","You Asked"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt11dd412472063d90/6987772ba988cafa2d6ab97e/you-asked-sugar.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Markham Heid","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/markham-heid/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt11dd412472063d90/6987772ba988cafa2d6ab97e/you-asked-sugar.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"you-asked-sugar","caption":"","creditText":"Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/dietnutrition/","name":"Diet & Nutrition"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3644573/sugar-alternatives-sweeteners/","name":"You Asked: What's the Healthiest Sweetener?"}}]}] ```