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The Healthiest Sweetener

There are two sweeteners that are actually good for you.

November 8, 2010 |
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Supplementary Info

The Healthiest Sweetener, 4.7 out of 5 based on 10 ratings

Sources Cited

M. P. Katherine and H. C. Monica. Total antioxidant content of alternatives to refined sugar. J Am Diet Assoc. 2009 Jan;109(1):64-71.

Acknowledgements

Transcript

Now there are sweeteners that do have some nutrition. This new article in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association measured the antioxidant content of a whole list. Which is healthier? In alphabetical order: Agave nectar, blackstrap molasses, brown rice syrup, corn syrup, date sugar, dark brown sugar, light brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, raw cane sugar, plain old sugar sugar, or turbinado sugar.
Here’s the graph. Two actually have some significant nutrition, but the rest are pretty much a wash. Let’s start filling this in. Should we start with an easy one to launch us off? Table sugar versus raw, pure organic agave nectar. Which is worse? Does sugar have less nutrition? Or does agave nectar have less nutrition? Or do they both have the same? Remember how I asked if we should start out with an easy one? Well I guess the answer is no. They have exactly the same nutrition, which is to say basically none.
Sugar is here, agave is here. Each with a completely pitiful two micromoles of plasma ferric acid reducing ability, which is essentially zero antioxidant power. There’s one sweetener with even less though. Now all these down at that end are basically just empty calories, but out of curiosity, what has even less nutrition than sugar?
Ten left to choose from. Which one is all the way down at the end? Do you think molasses is least healthy? Brown rice syrup? Corn syrup? Date sugar? Dark brown? Light brown? Maple? Honey? Raw case? Turbinado?
Now we knew corn syrup was here—same as sugar, remember?
They’re all empty calories, but brown rice syrup measured out as the emptiest.
Which is worse? Honey??? Maple syrup??? Or the same???
Well they can’t be the same, right? There aren’t two bars left the same size. Both still just sugar, but honey beats out maple syrup.
In fact all these down here are basically just sugar, whether dark, light, raw, or turbinado. There are only two health promoting sweeteners, only two sweeteners that are actually good for you—molasses and date sugar. They’re both good, but out of curiosity which one falls to second place. Do you think molasses is less healthy than date sugar? Or does date sugar fall to second-place?
The healthiest sweetener on the planet is, date sugar. Date sugar is not sugar, it’s just whole dried dates pulverized into powder. As the only whole food up there, no wonder it’s number one. It’s the only thing I ever use in baking. Because it’s a whole plant food it has fiber, though, so there is a thickening effect, which is great for smoothies or hot chocolate, but what if you want to sweeten your tea or coffee? You don’t exactly want thick tea. Now you could add sugar, but then you’re adding empty calories, and if you drink as much tea as you really should, that can add up.

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.

To help out on the site please email volunteer@nutritionfacts.org

Dr. Michael Greger

Doctor's Note

Please feel free to post any ask-the-doctor type questions here in the comments section and I’d be happy to try to answer them. And check out theother videos on sweeteners. Also, there are 1,449 other subjects covered in the rest of my videos--please feel free to explore them as well!

For some context, please check out my associated blog posts: The Best Foods: test your nutrition knowledge and Is There a Safe, Low-Calorie Sweetener?

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/mgreger/ Michael Greger M.D.

    Please feel free to post any ask-the-doctor type questions here in the comments section and I’d be happy to try to answer them. And check out the other videos on sweeteners. Also, there are 1,449 other subjects covered in the rest of my videos–please feel free to explore them as well!

  • JJ

    Since seeing this video, I have been trying date sugar in my breakfast food. It seems to take a lot of date sugar to sweeten to my satisfaction and date sugar is pretty spendy. I’m willing to spend for a good cause (my health), but I’d like to minimize the expense as much as possible. Does anyone have recommendations for relatively affordable date sugar? Would this be one of those foods where it is very important to get organic?

    Thanks!

    • Tawakoni1

      Chop up little chuncks of dates instead. Whole dates are also easy to use in baking and make a moist product.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/morechocolate/ morechocolate

    This does not address the very important information of how the body’s blood sugar reacts to the sweetener. This claims that brown rice syrup has no nutritional content; however, I’ve read quite the opposite and that, in fact, it is one of the best sweeteners as it does not cause the blood sugar levels to spike the way sugar and most sweeteners do. Would really appreciate clarification on that.

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/lucas/ Lucas

      The fact that a particular sweetener does not effect blood sugar is not the deciding factor on whether or not the sweetener is healthy. Brown rice syrup is composed of about 50% complex carbohydrates, which break down more slowly in the bloodstream than simple carbohydrates but it has all of its nutrients removed. Brown rice syrup is also about half as sweet as sugar but with the same amount of calories, forcing you to use more of it. The reason why date sugar is best is because all of the vitamins, minerals and fiber is still intake.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/becochic/ becochic

    Yep I read the same about agave… that it doesn’t cause a spike in blood sugar as much.

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/lucas/ Lucas

      The fructose content of agave syrup is much higher than that of high fructose corn syrup. High fructose corn syrup contains 55% fructose while agave nectar syrup contains 90%. Fructose does not impact insulin levels as much as sucrose, but it is still not optimal to consume fructose outside of fruit that one would eat whole.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/LuisRojas/ Luis Rojas

    Dr. Greger,
    I am a big fan of the nutritionfacts.org. The other day I was watching a video about the healthiest sugar and you named date sugar because it is made using a whole food and it has fiber. I had my wife find some when she went to Portland, OR. She brought back organic date sugar. Dates are the only ingredient. It is in a granulated form. It even has a warning that there may be pit fragments. When I looked on the nutritional label, it says, “Dietary Fiber 0g (0% DV)”. Why would that be?

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/toxins/ Toxins

      Hello Luis!

      To answer your concern, the daily value will always say 0 if it is under .5 grams per serving. You will notice, presumably, many servings for your date sugar. I see some in the upper 100′s. Since it is a whole food, it has fiber. It will just be under .5 grams per serving due to the many servings per container. To see more on serving sizes view this video http://nutritionfacts.org/videos/good-great-bad-killer-fats/
      Hope this clears up your question!

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/CrystalNiedzwiadek/ Crystal Niedzwiadek

    Fascinating! Thank you Dr. I would love it if you added liquid Stevia to your comparison. It’s my go to for sweetening herbal teas, smoothies or oatmeal.

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/mgreger/ Michael Greger M.D.

      Thanks for your question Crystal. I cover Stevia in my video “Is Stevia Good For You?”

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/yurple/ yurple

    How about whey-low? It is a combination of fructose, lactose and sucrose, I believe (please check me), and supposedly has a much lower glycemic index than regular sugar because of the way the sugars work together. Any harm?

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/aguccionesbcglobal-net/ aguccione@sbcglobal.net

      The harm is found in those side effects associated with glucose and fructose. Whey-Low has the added harm connected with milk protein (whey), which, to me, would decrease it’s popularity among health conscious individuals. This product’s lower glycemic index (if it does), does not out-weigh the whey!
      Research the side effects of whey. See how these various sugars rank in this video:
      http://nutritionfacts.org/videos/sugar-vs-corn-syrup/

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/veganteen/ veganteen

    This information is wonderful, thank you! I do have one question, though, because I’ve been hearing from a lot of sources that Sucanat is a generally healthy sweetener. For someone that is pretty much avoiding everything that is unhealthy, would Sucanat be ok to use in baking cookies? I can’t seem to get date sugar to make them sweet enough.

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/aguccionesbcglobal-net/ aguccione@sbcglobal.net

      Hi Veganteen, Sucanat is only healthier because unlike refined sugar, it isn’t filtered through animal bone charcoal! Use Sucanat for your occasional treat. Try applesauce, orange jc concentrate or dried cranberries as alternatives. Have fun experimenting!

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/petergerry/ PeterGerry

    In the study, was raw honey used? One might expect raw honey to have more antioxidants?

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/shopgirl/ Shopgirl

    Hi, Thank you for all your wonderful videos.
    What is your opinion on Manuka Honey? Is it good for us? Do you know where it would fit in the line up of this video?
    Thank you in advance for your reply.
    Kind regards, B

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/jessica/ Jessica

    In some of your recipe suggestions, such as your hibiscus punch, you suggest using erythritol. I am reluctant to feed my daughter (age 6) any artificial sweeteners, even those like erythritol that appear to be harmless. I’ve had trouble finding date sugar, though I do plan to try to make my own. While I realize some other sweeteners have fewer antioxidants (brown sugar) or none (agave), would there be any harm in using these sweeteners in otherwise health-boosting recipes for someone who is not overweight?

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/mgreger/ Michael Greger M.D.

      You always want to try to boost your family’s nutrient to calorie ratio, and those sweeteners are basically just a bucketload of empty calories. If you have a good blender you can blend some (pitted) dates in and don’t have to worry about finding date sugar.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/AnthonyZacchino/ Anthony Zacchino

    What about Palm Sweet Coconut Sugar?

    • OmTigressDoingGood

       Yes, my question also….what is your opinion of coconut sugars?

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/ghulstyle/ ghulstyle

    how about salty flavours? Table salt is bad for your health but are there any healthy alternatives?

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/toxins/ Toxins

      Iodized salt is actually ok, as long as you keep your daily sodium intake 1200-1500 mg or less per day you will be just fine. People who are at high risk for heart disease, or people trying to reverse it should keep their intake at 500 mg or less.

      • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/ghulstyle/ ghulstyle

        thx!

    • h7opolo

      Himalayan pink salt is nutritious.

      • http://nutritionfacts.org/ Michael Greger M.D.

        In what way, h7opolo?

        • Lily

          Why did you respond to this statement but none of the other many questions and statements on this thread? Just wondering.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/vegan2u/ vegan2u

    Jeff Novick who works a lot with Dr Mcdougall, points out that if you read the label on packaged date sugar, it has 0′s for any nutrition, perhaps the fresh food is better. Molasses on the other hand states lots of nutrients on the bottle, what gives? Also, the blood sugar effects of Date sugar are purported to be low but is that because it is high in fructose? Thank you…

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/liseroy/ liseroy

    I would like to know your opinion about honey. I don’t eat it but I need arguments.

    I would also know your opinion about apple cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar.

    Thank you.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/ghulstyle/ ghulstyle

    honey is shown 3:06 in the video

    vinegar seems to be helpful, allthough i dont know about balsamic
    http://nutritionfacts.org/videos/is-vinegar-good-for-you/

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/joda51cartergmail-com/ joda51carter@gmail.com

    Could you please tell me if Xylitol is any good. I am a diabetic, still have a very sweet need, what would be best for me to use, if any?

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/bgrune/ bgrune

    As some other viewers have pointed out, there might be other factors besides antioxidant content to consider. Where a sweetener falls on the glycemic scale would seem to be important. Someone asked about coconut palm sugar and it is my understanding that it is quite low on the glycemic scale, has a high mineral content and presumably antioxidants, and is ecologically sustainable to boot. I can personally attest that it is quite delicious. I would love to see what Dr. Greger can find out about this sweetener.
    Thanks

  • Michael Greger M.D.

    For some context, please check out my associated blog post The Best Foods: Test Your Nutrition Knowledge!

  • Lizw798

    disappointed to see the results for agave.  got caught up in the raw food mentality.  I wonder if there are any studies for the coconut nectars/sugar and green leaf stevia. 

  • http://twitter.com/garyyuen गरिष्ठ

    If we lived in a place where we could directly pick and eat sugarcane, it wouldn’t be so bad. A sort of unrefined version is jaggery (used in India). 

    http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308814609006207http://www.panelamonitor.org/media/docrepo/document/files/cytoprotective-and-antioxidant-activity-studies-of-jaggery-sugar.pdf

  • http://www.facebook.com/lauren.r.ard Lauren Rae Layton Ard

    Doctor Greger, I keep bees in my back yard and harvest raw honey for our family’s main sweetener. It is my understanding that raw honey is nutritionally superior to store-bought pasteurized honey (and it is also lower on the glycemic index). Where do you think raw honey would fall in this chart?

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Stuart-Pierce/100001040642393 Stuart Pierce

    I’d be interested in how coconut sugar compares to the rest of the sweeteners?

  • Audrey_dh

    What about coconut sugar/nectar?

  • Joe

    How about barley malt syrup? It’s sold in my local health food store in the same place as other liquid sweeteners.

  • djhixson

    do u have to talk so slowly?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=666366687 Stephen Lucker Kelly

    Can you tell me the dangers of Honey. Some people say Manuka Honey has health benefits? I don’t believe it does, but does it?

    So I guess my question is: What are the dangerous of honey?

    I also believe creating honey farms would be a environmental problem.
    Can you also tell me the environmental dangerous of honey?

    To me I think the dangerous to the environment look obvious. Bees are the main pollinator of plants our main food supply.

    The reason I see it as a environmental problem is if honey bees are manipulated to eat sugar rather than there own honey, it will lead them to no longer bothering with getting pollen as they don’t need it and lead them to just looking for fruit and sugar cane sources.

    Based on this I don’t agree with bee farms for honey as I worry about evolution of bees. I think this will make them evolve in a bad direction, I think bee sanctuaries are fine, and using bees in general is fine. I just don’t agree with taking Bees honey as I wonder if it will stop the pollination of plants if bees no longer keep there honey what would be the point in bees getting pollen from plants. They will look for sugar sources instead. This is dangerous in my view.

    It’s not like in the wild where humans would destroy a nest forcing them to build a whole new nest. Humans are creating bee farms and manipulate the bees in to thinking that this is how nature is. And so they will evolve to get the sugar thinking this is a natural occurrence. To me this is dangerous. Bees need to be left to there own ends. With us possible manipulating where they get the pollen from but not stealing there honey.

  • mike

    Hi Dr Gregor,

    Some of these results were surprising, so I started to look into it more.

    What about other methods for measuring antioxidant activity? Your ranking was based on FRAP, but what about oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC)? I’ve seen high ORAC values published for maple syrup et al and I have found studies showing very disparate values for FRAP and ORAC for the same food (e.g. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12009973).

    thanks!

  • slywlf

    Since date sugar does not dissolve, and is thus useless in coffee or tea, and burns easily making baking or cooking with it problematic, it looks like the best use for it is sprinkled over my morning oatmeal. What I take from this – and it is purely my own opinion – is that most sweeteners are wasted calories if natural or a health threat if artificial. It seems to me that the best thing we can do is retrain our taste buds to enjoy the natural flavors in real food, rather than catering to a ‘sweet tooth’ which is essentially an atavistic response dating from times when we were all hunter/gatherers. Just as our tendency to look for salty flavors, once vital to our healthy balance, has been exploited by the food industry, so has our fondness for sweetness.

    • Name

      Finally! Can’t say that any better!

  • Caniwi

    Hi Doc. On a separate note–it would be really interesting if you would provide us with some info about ‘carrageenan’. What exactly is it? Harmless or harmful?

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/ Michael Greger M.D.

      I’m going to be covering that in an upcoming video–stay tuned! So you don’t miss it make sure you’re subscribed.

    • Shreela

      I’ve been diagnosed with IBS, about 4 years ago I started having bad inflammation and burning in one area of my large intestine – around the sigmoid area. CT, Ultrasound, 2 colonoscopies found nothing wrong. I did many kinds of rule out diets, and was telling my 2nd GI’s partner about how I realized it sounded a bit crazy, but the only pattern I picked up on with the rule-outs was the “IBS-attack” seemed to follow commercial foods. He replied that he didn’t think it sounded crazy, as he himself suffered from food-additive sensitivities.

      He said at that time, there were no tests to figure out which additives might cause our sensitivities, so first I had to go on a whole, natural diet just to see if the attacks stopped. Then I could slowly experiment with commercial foods to see if they caused me problems, and write down their additives, so that over time I’d hopefully detect a pattern.

      After a few months, I figured out that Carrageenan was my absolute worst additive. Nitrates and Annatto also caused problems, but not as severe as Carrageenan. There’s at least one other additive I haven’t figured out – something that’s added to commercial broths, but I’d rather make my own broth than sleuth out more additive-sensitivities, since they’re fairly painful.

      I’ve found websites stating that Carrageenan is used in medical studies to cause inflammation and pain when injected into tissues, so that the scientists can see if their product helps decrease pain/inflammation. My guess is that maybe I have a patch of dysbiosis that’s leaky, allowing the additives to get into my intestine’s tissues, but I’m not a scientist. Searching the web for Carrageenan problems seems to find few results, as opposed to other allergens/sensitivities, so I’m guessing only a small amount of people have issues with Carrageenan, unless I’m just one of the front-runners.

  • rawveganfitness

    I echo the many other requests for your rating on Coconut Palm Sugar. I have search all the comments and replies below twice. I have searched the rest of the site and other videos. Please reply as this is a popular request. Thank you

  • http://www.facebook.com/DD.LoveDove Didi Nour

    yes dates :) desert bedouins’ best strengthening food

  • Sharon

    What about coconut sugar?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=666366687 Stephen Lucker Kelly

    Doesn’t maple syrup have high amounts of magnesium, and zink. You sure this wasn’t a copy cat maple syrup? Using mostly corn syrup?

  • Rossman1

    Hi doctor, I was wondering about honey, I know that vegans don’t eat honey, but is there a medical reason to avoid it, other than ideology?

    • Toxins

      Honey is another sweetener that is more or less, empty calories.

  • NovemberMoon

    how do i see the rest of the information?

    • NovemberMoon

      never mind, it went on. :)

  • Max

    I have lately started using pure date syrup as a sweetener. Is there any info regarding date syrup?

  • Mary

    I notice Xylitol doesn’t even get a mention. What’s the latest on this as a sweetener?

    • Toxins

      xylitol is not healthful because it draws water out from the large intestines which can lead to diarrhea.

      http://nutritionfacts.org/video/a-harmless-artificial-sweetener/

      • http://www.facebook.com/mary.lawrence.58910 Mary Lawrence

        Yes but if you only have it in small quantities, then that’s the only concern as far as I can see, or is my research letting me down? Is it harmful otherwise?

  • daisy

    re: Date Sugar and Fiber, Once the date is broken down, does it not lose the value in fiber? Changing it’s whole make up of a fruit changes nutritional value right? I believe it would be the same for all fruits and vegitables. I really think juicing fruits/vegetables is not as healthy as we think? Please educate me.

    • Toxins

      The fiber is “disrupted” but not destroyed. Disrupted meaning it does not satiate as well as the whole unprocessed food itself, but this is an issue for someone who is battling weight loss.The fiber is still intact and has the same function.

  • daisy

    testing

  • daisysgca

    re: Fiber: by breaking down foods’ make up, are we not loosing nutritional value? Especially fiber? How can juicing fruits and vegetables have the same nutritional value compared to it’s original state?

  • WholeFoodGirl

    Dear Dr. Gregor – I love your videos and your website. It seems there’s still a lot of confusion about sugars, fructose/glucose ratio, glycemic index, etc. I imagine more videos down the pipeline. I am curious, as others seem to be, about your rating of the sweeteners based on “antioxidant activity” vs. nutrients. While I agree that dates are deliciously and nutritiously sweet, what about the minerals in grade B maple syrup, for example? In your video, it didn’t fare well, which surprised me. And it seems like the industry is now on a coconut sugar craze. Will this turn out to be another “agave” fad? And with all the palm products on the market now, are animals, like chimps, losing their habitats in order to satisfy our collective sweet tooth or is palm farming (sugar, flour, oil) helping the animals? Lots of questions! Thank you!

  • http://www.facebook.com/dan.lundeen Dan Lundeen

    As a (mostly former) gout sufferer I am also very mindful of fructose which metabolizes to uric acid. How do the fructose contents of these sweeteners stack up?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=510806796 Marisa Blake

    where does coconut sugar/syrup fit in?

  • http://fromkarlyn.com/ Karlyn

    Excellent! Thank you for this information Dr. Greger!
    Karlyn

  • Mary

    I recently found, in the supermarket, a no calorie sweetener called “Monk Fruit In The Raw” which claims to be suitable for vegetarians and safe for diabetics. Is it safe?

  • AS

    what is your feeling towards coconut sugar?

    Is date sugar still the healthiest vs coconut sugar?

    I use coconut for everything: coconut sugar, coconut oil, coconut water..

    I hear a lot of benefits towards coconut products but not sure if it’s true since coconut has a lot of saturated fat.

    To cook which is better, coconut oil or grape seed oil?

    Or which oil is better to use that won’t change to trans fat?

  • Nicole

    What about Xylitol? It is actually good for the teeth…

  • julieblack77

    Interested in your thoughts on coconut palm sugar? Thank you.

  • MamaMimi
  • Alon Sherman

    this guy’s voice is hella annoying

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