# Arificial Sweeteners? Which is best? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 22, 2021, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arificial-sweeteners-which-is-best/951123 "2021-09-22T15:18:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arificial-sweeteners-which-is-best/951123/21 "2021-09-23T03:24:41Z")
Personally, I’ve found that Splenda tastes the most like real sugar and doesn’t have that chemical aftertaste that diet sodas usually have. It’s what they use in Cascade Ice, a line of carbonated fruit-flavored drinks that are usually my go-to when I’m on break at work. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arificial-sweeteners-which-is-best/951123/22 "2021-09-23T03:51:39Z")
I’m very much in the Splenda (sucralose) is the best, Sweet’N Low (saccharine) is the worst camp. The second by a country mile due to its distinctively awful aftertaste. But as we can see in this very thread there are people with the exact opposite opinion. You really have to give them all a try. ---
**Author:** ![yarblek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/71e660/32.png) [@yarblek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yarblek)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arificial-sweeteners-which-is-best/951123/23 "2021-09-23T04:14:09Z")
According studies, the best sugar substitute is probably [erythritol](https://nutritionfacts.org/video/erythritol-may-be-a-sweet-antioxidant/), at least in terms of health. > [@](#): > > In videos in years past, I’ve talked about erythritol as being harmless. But, new data suggests I may have to change my tune. Now, it actually may be helpful. Adding to its role as a “low-calorie, tooth-friendly, bulk sweetener,” erythritol may be “a sweet antioxidant.” > > This shows the dose-dependent protective effect of an increasing concentration of erythritol on the oxidative destruction of red blood cells. The reason they even looked for antioxidant activity is because it structurally looks like mannitol, a well-known antioxidant. The problem with mannitol and the other polyols (such as xylitol and sorbitol) is that they aren’t absorbed, and so can cause gastrointestinal symptoms lower down in the colon. > > “Safety studies suggest that erythritol is well tolerated and shows no signs of toxicity. It is therefore an excellent sugar substitute [for example] for individuals with [diabetes]” because it can both replace sugar and maybe even help reduce free radical formation. Both are expected to reduce the onset and progression of painful and life-threatening diabetic complications.” A good alternarive for sugar substitutes would be whole fruits, like pureed dates or date “sugar” (which is just dates in powdered form) where applicable. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arificial-sweeteners-which-is-best/951123/24 "2021-09-23T09:08:36Z")
> [@yarblek](#): > > The problem with mannitol and the other polyols (such as xylitol and sorbitol) is that they aren’t absorbed, and so can cause gastrointestinal symptoms lower down in the colon. I can’t speak to the science of it, but I have had gastro-intestinal problems from too much erythritol that felt exactly like similar problems with other sugar alcohols. I’m not sure I trust your source here. ---
**Author:** ![yarblek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/71e660/32.png) [@yarblek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yarblek)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arificial-sweeteners-which-is-best/951123/25 "2021-09-23T15:10:23Z")
Looking into it, you are correct. However, too much anything, including ordinary sugar and yes, erythritol, can cause gastrointestinal symptoms, but it’s still generally better tolerated than many other sugar substitutes, or at least all the other sugar alcohols. There is good evidence it may have additional health benefits that I don’t think **any** other non-caloric sugar substitutes have, which is why I think it should be the sugar substitute of choice, as long as one doesn’t ingest more than 35g at once. [Gastrointestinal tolerance of erythritol and xylitol ingested in a liquid](https://www.nature.com/articles/1602532) [Health effects of erythritol](https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13749-014-0067-5.pdf) [Erythritol functional roles in oral-systemic health](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29355425/) ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arificial-sweeteners-which-is-best/951123/26 "2021-09-23T18:32:59Z")
If I just taste sweeteners by themselves, they all taste like a mad scientist experiment gone wrong. So I snitched some packets from a local coffee shop and tried them on my cereal. Stevia passed the “Plain Cardboard-Flavored Mini- Wheats Test” with flying colors, with Splenda close behind. The blue and pink packets? I could tell there was “diet something” in my cereal (shudder). ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2021, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arificial-sweeteners-which-is-best/951123/27 "2021-09-26T05:19:40Z")
I use a combination of Splenda and a sucralose solution that I make from sucralose powder. For iced tea I just use the solution. Splenda is sucralose with maltodextrin, so it’ll taste a bit different from plain sucralose. To me, both taste so close to sugar that I don’t miss it. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2021, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arificial-sweeteners-which-is-best/951123/28 "2021-09-26T05:50:51Z")
Xylitol is my personal favorite. Advantages: - Doesn’t have a chemical taste to it - Same sweetness ratio as sugar Drawbacks: - You will shit like a startled animal - Xylitol is deadly to pets even in small doses - Xylitol is expensive and somewhat difficult to find (local mileage may vary of course) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arificial-sweeteners-which-is-best/951123.md?page=1)