What are Keto Sweeteners ?

The ketogenic diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet that offers many health benefits.

The ketogenic diet (or keto diet)  is a very low-carb, high-fat diet enabling Ketosis to happen through the day. In which the body fat is transformed into energy.

This will cause drastically reducing your carbohydrate intake and replacing it with fat. This reduction in carbs will push the body into the metabolic of ketosis.

Effects of Ketosis will make, your body becomes incredibly efficient at burning fat for energy. As it will break down the fat-filled diet into ketones in your liver, which increase the BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) in your body

Ketogenic diets can cause massive reductions in blood sugar and insulin levels. This, along with the increased ketones, has numerous health benefits like

• Rise in energy levels
• Diminishing anxiety and depression
• Healthier lives
• Sound sleep

 

Keto Sweeteners

With the change in people's attitudes towards sugar, the food and beverage industry is looking for new and healthy natural sweetening options. Most importantly a natural origin with a sweet taste.

Here are the 4 choices:

1.Stevia

2.Erythritol

3.Monkfruit

4.Xylitol

 

1.STEVIA

Stevia is derived from the leaves of plant Stevia Rebaudiana. From ancient times peoples have used the sweet leaves in teas, medicines and to chew as a treat, most often simply taking fresh leaves or drying the leaves for various uses.

These days the active sweet compounds, called stevia glycosides, are extracted and refined in a multi-step industrial process to meet with US and European regulatory requirements. The FDA, while not approving the unrefined leaves, has designated the refined extract as “Generally Regarded as Safe (GRAS).”

Sweetness: 200-350 times sweeter than table sugar.

Pros

It has no calories and no carbs.

It does not raise blood sugar.14

Stevia is 200 to 350 times the sweetness of sugar.

 Cons

While intensely sweet, it doesn’t taste like sugar.

2: Erythritol

Erythritol is a Natural source sweetener with minimum caloric content but a full sugar taste profile. It appears as a white crystalline odorless product. It is considered natural because it occurs in nature and it is made from fruits and plants and the process used to make is yeast fermentation.

Sweetness: About 70% as sweet as table sugar.

Pros

Clean sweet taste with no aftertaste.

It has zero calories and no carbs.

It does not raise blood sugar or insulin levels.17

It has very low hygroscopicity.

It is tooth-friendly and powerful cariostatic agent.19

Cons

Excessive consumption can lead to laxative

Products: Granulated erythritol or blends of Erythritol with Monk Fruit or Stevia.

 

3: Monk fruit

Monk fruit is a relatively new natural sugar substitute. Monk fruit or Luo Han Guo is a fruit that comes from Southeast Asia and hundreds of times sweeter than sugar. It is derived from a round, green fruit Native to Southeast Asia. The plant is cultivated for its fruit, whose extract is nearly 300 times sweeter than sugar and has been used as a natural sweetener in food and drinks.

The monk fruit is notable for its sweetness, which can be concentrated from its juice. The fruit contains 25 to 38% of various carbohydrates, mainly fructose and glucose. The sweetness of the fruit is increased by the mogrosides, a group of triterpene glycosides (saponins). The five different mogrosides are numbered from I to V; the main component is mogroside V, which is also known as esgoside.[3]

Sweetness: 250 times as sweet as sugar.

Pros

It has a better taste profile, with less bitterness of aftertaste than stevia.

It is often mixed with erythritol or stevia to reduce the price and stevia’s aftertaste.

It does not raise blood sugar or insulin levels.20

Cons

It is expensive.

Products: Granulated blends with erythritol or stevia, or liquid drops.

4:Xylitol

Like erythritol, xylitol is a sugar alcohol derived from plants. It is produced commercially from the fibrous, woody parts of corn cobs or birch trees through a multi-step chemical extraction process. The result is a granular crystal that tastes like sugar but is not sugar.

Xylitol is low carb, but not zero carbs. Xylitol’s carbs can quickly add up on a keto diet.

Sweetness: Equivalent in sweetness to table sugar.

Pros

It has about half the calories, but the same taste as sugar.

It can replace sugar 1 for 1 in recipes.

When used in small amounts, it has a minor impact on blood sugar and insulin levels.22

It has a low glycemic index.

It’s been shown to help prevent cavities when chewed in gum.23

Cons

It may cause digestive upset (gas, bloating, diarrhea) even when consumed in small amounts.24

It is toxic to pets

Product: granulated xylitol.

 

Final Word on Keto Sweeteners

We have many options of natural Keto sweeteners to choose from Stevia, Erythritol, Monk Fruit, Xylitol and others. It is difficult to choose the best one as they have their pros and cons and depends upon their use. The best way is to consult with your health care provider and test them and choose which one suits you purpose.