What sweeteners do you have available? Are you using them, and how much?
The Short Answer
Check your kitchen and office. What’s in the sugar bowl, the packet drawer, the coffee station? Regular sugar delivers calories and blood sugar spikes. Artificial sweeteners deliver sweetness without calories, but one review proposes they may keep sweet cravings going, and a small study links them to gut-bacteria changes. How much are you using? One packet in morning coffee is different from six throughout the day. The quantity and pattern matter as much as the type. Some people do well with sweeteners; others find they sustain cravings that would otherwise fade.
Something to Sit With
How much sweetener do you actually use daily across all sources?
Has your need for sweetness increased, decreased, or stayed stable over time?
What would two weeks without any added sweeteners reveal about your cravings?
Learn More
The Audit.
Take inventory:
What types?
- Regular sugar (white, brown, raw)
- Honey, maple syrup, agave
- Artificial sweeteners (Splenda, Equal, Sweet’N Low)
- Sugar alcohols (erythritol, xylitol)
- Natural non-caloric (stevia, monk fruit)
How much is used?
- One packet/teaspoon daily?
- Multiple times throughout the day?
- In coffee, tea, and other drinks?
- In cooking or baking?
In what pattern?
- Morning only?
- Throughout the day?
- Concentrated or spread out?
Regular Sugar: The Known Quantity.
Sugar is straightforward in its effects:
Calories: ~16 per teaspoon
Blood sugar impact: Raises glucose and insulin
The question: How much are you using?
- 1 teaspoon in morning coffee = ~16 calories, minimal impact
- Multiple sweetened drinks daily = calories that add up
- Sugar bowl constantly in use = pattern worth examining
For most weight management approaches, reducing added sugar is beneficial. How much you’re currently adding is the starting point.
Artificial Sweeteners: The Debated Territory.
Artificial sweeteners (sucralose, aspartame, saccharin) are controversial:
The case for:
- Zero calories, doesn’t spike blood sugar
- Allows sweet taste with little direct blood sugar effect
- Helps some people transition from sugary drinks
The concerns:
- May perpetuate sweet cravings by keeping the palate calibrated to sweet: Swithers’ learning account, the proposal her review advances rather than an established mechanism[1]
- May alter gut microbiota. In mice the change is causal for glucose intolerance; in seven human volunteers, four developed glucose intolerance on saccharin and three did not, with baseline microbiome predicting which[2]
- Possible insulin response from sweet taste alone in some people (proposed, not established)
- Doesn’t address the underlying preference for sweetness
The research isn’t conclusive. Some people use them successfully; others find they maintain cravings that would otherwise resolve.
Sugar Alcohols and Natural Non-Calorics.
Sugar alcohols (erythritol, xylitol):
- Fewer calories than sugar
- Minimal blood sugar impact
- Digestive issues at higher amounts
- Used in “keto-friendly” products
Stevia and monk fruit:
- Zero calories
- No blood sugar impact
- Plant-derived (if that matters to you)
- Distinct aftertaste for some
On this page’s view these may be reasonable middle grounds, though they still maintain sweet taste.
The Deeper Question.
Beyond calories and blood sugar:
Are sweeteners maintaining a sweet tooth?
If you continuously provide sweet taste, whether from sugar or substitutes, you may be preserving a palate calibrated to sweetness. Everything else tastes bland by comparison. On that account the preference for sweet is maintained rather than fading.[1]
Alternatively: if sweeteners allow you to avoid sugar while gradually reducing overall sweetness, they’re serving a purpose.
Which is true for you depends on your pattern and your body.
The Experiment.
Consider testing:
Option 1: Reduce all sweeteners. Two weeks without sweeteners in coffee, tea, etc. See what happens to taste preferences and cravings.
Option 2: Substitute sugar with alternatives. Same sweetness, different source. See if cravings decrease without the blood sugar impact.
Option 3: Reduce gradually. Decrease quantity over weeks: from 2 packets to 1 to none.
Different people find different approaches effective. Data from your own experience beats theoretical debates.
Questions to Ask.
What’s your total daily sweetener intake? Add it up across all sources.
What happens without it? Have you tried eliminating sweeteners entirely?
Is sweetness supporting or hindering your goals? Does it help you avoid worse options, or perpetuate cravings?
Could drinks be unsweetened? Coffee, tea, and water need nothing added.
Further reading:
- Pepino MY et al., “Sucralose affects glycemic and hormonal responses to an oral glucose load”[3] — Diabetes Care, 2013
- Suez J et al., “Artificial sweeteners induce glucose intolerance by altering the gut microbiota”[4] — Nature, 2014
- Swithers SE, “Artificial sweeteners produce the counterintuitive effect of inducing metabolic derangements”[5] — Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2013
Written by AI, directed and approved by me. How this is made →