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The Glycemic Index of Sweeteners

The glycemic index (GI) is a measure of how quickly foods raise blood sugar levels.  The glycemic index for sweeteners is a function of three things:

1. The amount of carbohydrate present. 
2. The type of carbohydrate present. 
3. The presence of other substances (soluble fiber for example) that slow metabolism of carbohydrates. 

• Low-GI foods have a GI value under 55, while
• medium-GI foods are between 51–69 and
• high-GI foods are over 70.

High-GI foods raise blood sugar quickly because they contain sugars that are easily absorbed by the gut.

May 2023: sucralose, which is sold under the trade name Splenda, damages DNA.
The European Food Safety Authority determined that consuming the chemical in quantities exceeding .15 micrograms per day is of "toxicological concern."
Trace amounts of sucralose-6-acetate in a single, daily sucralose-sweetened drink exceed that threshold,". "And that’s not even accounting for the amount of sucralose-6-acetate produced as metabolites after people consume sucralose."

Investigating Artificial Sweeteners July, 2019

• Consuming moderate amounts of sucralose and aspartame is probably fine for the majority of healthy people.
• Avoid using sucralose when baking at high temperatures.
• Avoid aspartame if you suffer from PKU.
• Sucralose and aspartame may aid in weight maintenance and weight loss.

GI values of non-Western foods

Artificial Sweeteners do not cause weight gain, Diabetes, disrupt gut bacteria nor cause Cancer.

Look for erythritol(GI=1) instead of maltitol's high gycemic index.  -- both sugar alcohols = carbohydrate. 2g of erythritol = 2g of carbohydrates = 1% of "% Daily Value".

What is erythritol?
Like sorbitol and xylitol, erythritol is a sugar alcohol, a carb found naturally in many fruits and vegetables.
“Some of the diabetes-labeled foods we looked at had more erythritol than any other item by weight.”
Erythritol is also the largest ingredient by weight in many “natural” stevia and monkfruit products,
Just a small amount of stevia and monkfruit is needed in any product.
The bulk of the product is erythritol, which adds the sugar-like crystalline appearance and texture that consumers expect.

 truvia^® powder  is mostly Erythritol (GI = 1) and the rest Stevia. Stevia, itself, contains no carbohydrates and no calories and accordingly has a glycemic index of zero.

 Maltitol is a carbohydrate with calories. Our bodies do not absorb all the calories in maltitol, but it still has about 2 to 3 calories per gram, compared to 4 calories per gram of sugar. maltitol syrup has a glycemic index of 52, which is not that much better than table sugar’s glycemic index of 60. The powdered form has a glycemic index of 35, which is still higher than most other sugar alcohols . You often find instead of maltitol , - sorbitol(GI=4) or xylitol(GI=12). 

The type of sugar replacer you find in Sugar-free Chocolate (which can include sorbitol, xylitol, mannitol, and isomalt, in addition to maltitol) is particularly helpful to people with diabetes because only a portion of it is digested and absorbed. And the part that is absorbed through the intestinal tract is absorbed slowly, so there is little rise in blood sugar and little need for insulin. SOURCE WebMD
 

Plasma glucose and insulin peaks occurred 30 min after ingestion of the load for both sugars.

The peak of the delta glucose concentration was significantly smaller after maltitol than after sucrose
--- (21 +/- 4 vs 38 +/- 4 mg/100 ml, p less than 0.02),
as was the peak of the delta insulin concentration
---(9.3 +/- 2.7 microU/ml after maltitol vs 25.5 +/- 5.0 microU/ml after sucrose, p less than 0.001).

The peak of the stimulation of glucose oxidation occurred
--- 60 min after the load of sucrose and
--- 90 min after the load of maltitol.

The delta glucose oxidation was significantly lower with maltitol than with sucrose during the first 90 min after the ingestion of the load.
It was slightly higher (although not significantly) with maltitol than with sucrose starting from the 210th min.

Maltitol resulted in a cumulated suprabasal glucose oxidation which amounted to 40% that obtained with sucrose after 180 min.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3298708

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 Aspartame is one of the most common artificial sweeteners in use today. It is sold under the brand names NutraSweet® and Equal®. Aspartame is made by joining together the amino acids aspartic acid and phenylalanine. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins and are found naturally in many foods. Aspartame is a minor source of aspartic acid, a naturally-occurring amino acid found in foods that contain protein. The artificial sweetener aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet), which is added to many medications, diet foods and diet sodas, contains phenylalanine. Federal regulations require that any food that contains aspartame bear this warning:  "Phenylketonurics: Contains phenylalanine." Milk contains eight times more phenylalanine than aspartame.  you’d have to consume 97 aspartame packets or more than 17 cans of diet soda in less than 24 hours to reach the aspartame levels deemed unacceptable by the FDA ! source
An Equal sachet contains  dextrose, aspartame(1.7%), acesulfame potassium(1.2%), starch, silicon dioxide(an anti-caking agent), maltodextrin, and unspecified flavoring _[2]
A Nutrasweet sachet:- dextrose with maltodextrin , aspartame
New research casts doubts on safety of Aspartame

Both the natural zero calorie sweeteners such as Stevia, and the artificial ones such as Saccharin have no glycemic index. They do not raise blood sugar at all. Saccharin has been around since the late 1800s. It’s between 300 and 500 times sweeter than table sugar and best known as Sweet’N Low.
In the 1970s, saccharin got a warning label after lab tests in rats suggested a possible link to bladder cancer. "Since then, more than 30 studies demonstrated that the results found in rats were not relevant to humans, and that saccharin is safe for human consumption, ( the FDA's web site states). Saccharin no longer carries a warning label.

Glucose has a glycemic index (GI) of 100 and fructose is 25. Sucrose (Ordinary sugar) which is made up of a combination of these two has a GI of 65. For more information on Glycemic Index click here. The search for a low GI natural sugar based sweetener is somewhat futile as they all contain combinations of the above, or similar sugars.

Although fructose has a fairly low GI=25, it has other harmful effects and must be considered unsafe to take in large quantities. Agave Syrup has a low GI=15 because it is mainly fructose. Agave Syrup has been delisted and banned by the Glycemic Research Institute of Washington DC because serious side effects were observed in clinical trials.

Acesulfame potassium(GI=0) (Acesulfame K) is a calorie-free sweetener that has been used in foods and beverages around the world for 15 years. The ingredient, which is 200 times sweeter than sugar, has been used in numerous foods in the United States since 1988. ... More than 90 studies have demonstrated the safety of acesulfame potassium.

Coconut Palm Sugar (2024: has a glycemic index of 54)contains mainly sucrose and one would expect a GI of about 65. However it scores well in the glycemic index for sweeteners list. Tests have indicated a GI of only about 35. This may be partly because of other substances in it such as soluble fiber. However, the testing was very limited. More testing may well produce a higher GI.

Yacon Syrup, scores best in the Glycemic Index (GI=1) for Sweeteners that are sugar based. It derives it's sweetness from Fructo-oligosaccharides, a type of sugar with a very low GI. It is probably the only truly raw, organic, natural, low calorie, and low glycemic sweetener available.

Monk fruit contain powerful antioxidants called mogrosides, which are metabolized differently by the body than natural sugars.  Mogrosides may stimulate insulin secretion. This may not be helpful for people whose pancreas is already overworking to make insulin. They haven’t been on the U.S. scene very long. They’re not as well studied in humans as other sweeteners. Some monk fruit sweeteners contain other sweeteners such as dextrose. Depending on how the ingredients are processed, this may make the end product less natural. This may also impact its nutritional profile.    Otherwise it has a zero glycemic index, contains no calories .

 Allulose is a naturally occurring sugar found in figs, raisins, wheat, maple syrup and molasses. Safe for your teeth and doesn't cause tooth decay.
I dumped tablespoons of RxSugar(Allulose)  into my tea and could taste little difference in sweetness :(
Has 70% of the sweetness of sucrose(sugar).
Provides 0.4 calories per gram vs 4 in sugar.
A simple sugar that's found in small quantities in plant foods, such as:
Brown sugar, maple syrup, Wheat, Dried fruits like figs and raisins, other fruits, including jackfruit.
It's only found in small quantities in nature.
Extracting it from these sources is not cost-effective.

 Guar Gum is made from legumes called guar beans. Used as stabilizer, emulsifier and thickener in various food products and contributes to soluble dietary fiber. Used to treat diabetes because it slows the absorption of glucose from the gut.

Date syrup is a natural sweetener made from dates. It has a low GI of 46, which means it does not raise your blood sugar levels as fast as refined sugar or honey. However, it still has a high sugar content, mostly from fructose and glucose, and a high calorie content. Therefore, it should be consumed in moderation and with caution by people with diabetes or prediabetes345.

The G LOAD of date syrup depends on how much you consume. One tablespoon (20 grams) of date syrup has about 16 grams of carbs and 60 calories.
To calculate the GL, you multiply the GI by the carbs and divide by 100. So, the GL of one tablespoon of date syrup is 46 x 16 / 100 = 7.36. This is considered a low GL, as it is below 10.

fructooligosaccharides, FOS, is a plant carbohydrate often used as a natural low calorie sweetener. (along with Inulin  they both make a significant improvement in the cognitive  score. Not to mention improvement in gut.)
Both inulin and fructooligosaccharides (FOS) are polysaccharides, which are long sugar molecules that can only be digested by gut bacteria. They are both prebiotics and can promote the growth of Bifidobacteria

Brazzein ( the brand Oobli  )is a sweet-tasting protein that is 500–2,000 times sweeter than sugar and is found in the fruit of the Pentadiplandra brazzeana plant, which is native to tropical African forests. It is calorie-free, thermostable, and stable over a wide range of pH levels.

Source 

The University of Sydney publishes a searchable database containing the results of glycemic testing.
Type "dextrin" into the FOOD NAME and see the GLYCEMIC LOAD of Soy Milk.

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Last modified: Thursday February 22, 2024.