When it comes to low carb sweeteners there are a lot of choices and it can be very confusing. I often get asked the question what about honey or coconut sugar? Although these are natural sugars (and what can be wrong with natural?) they are still sugar. Honey has a glycemic index of 50 and coconut sugar has a glycemic index of 35. Compared with table sugar (sucrose) having a glycemic index of 65. They are capable of spiking the blood sugar almost as fast as regular table sugar. This in turn causes a release of insulin. When insulin is present in the blood, ketones cannot exist. Whereas some of my favorites have a glycemic index of 0-1.
My number one favorite sweetener is Stevia Glycerite. Not to be confused with stevia, it is stevia without the bitter aftertaste. Just a few drops will get you a lot of sweetness, so a bottle will last you a long time. The smaller 2 oz bottle is great for traveling or taking to work for your coffee, while the 8 oz bottle is great to keep at home for baking. The glycemic index is 0 and the insulin response is 0. Click on the picture for the link.
My second favorite sweetener is Monkfruit Powdered Sweetener. There is also a granular option but I find it doesn’t mix as well and can come out crunchy in your baking. The reason I chose this as my second favorite is because it mixes so well with other ingredients, has a lot of sweetness and it doesn’t have the cool aftertaste that you can sometimes get with stevia. It is a mixture of both monk fruit and erythritol. Beware of similar products that contain more ingredients usually for anti caking reasons. This particular brand does not contain any additional ingredients and I don’t find that it ever clumps together. Its glycemic index is 0 and its insulin response is 0.
Number 3 on my list is Swerve Confectioners. Again there is the granular option but I prefer the confectioners because it blends better. It is a combination of erythritol and oligosaccharides. Neither which have been known to affect blood sugar or insulin. I wondered about the oligosaccharides but apparently they don’t digest in the body and therefore do not affect blood sugar. Although this is another reason I’ve been using the monkfruit sweetener more often.
It’s hard to say that the next two products are my 4th favorite because they are a different type of sweetener all together. They are a substitute for brown sugar. But I guess you would say I use them the least because I don’t often make things requiring brown sugar. The Lakanto Monkfruit Sweetener (Golden) comes in a little cheaper at around $6.95 for a half pound bag ($0.84/ounce). It’s made with erythritol and monk fruit extract. The golden part comes from it being extracted from the skin and the seeds of the monk fuit rather than from the pulp which is where the traditional white monk fruit sweetener comes from. The Sukrin Gold is around $16.99 for a 1.1 lb ($0.97/ounce). It’s made with erythritol, stevia and malt extract.
For more information on different types of sugars and sweeteners check out the Sugar and Sweetener Guide
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