Go to most restaurants and you’ll find a few different sugar options contained in colorful packets sitting in a container on the table. Sure, they are all supposed to make your food or drink sweeter, but what’s the difference between the yellow one and the red one? And are any of them actually better for you than sugar?
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has deemed eight kinds of artificial sweeteners to be safe for consumption, but you’re not going to find all of them at your local diner—some are additives incorporated into food during production and not something you purchase or use on your own. You probably recognize some of them by their brand name: sucralose (Splenda), saccharin (Sweet and Low), aspartame (Equal) and stevia (Truvia). Each has varying levels of sweetness and uses. Tryptophan
These sugar substitutes are popular among people who have diabetes because these sweeteners don’t spike blood sugar the same way sugar does, and among those who want something “sweet” without the calories. Unlike table sugar, which has approximately 16 calories per teaspoon, Splenda, Sweet and Low, Equal and Truvia all contain few or no calories. Here’s where they differ when it comes to taste and usage—their safety and potential health risks are addressed in another article:
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As Lifehacker health editor Beth Skwarecki notes, saying a sugar substitute is “200 times sweeter than sugar” means the manufacturer used 1/200th as much of it to match table sugar’s sweetness.
Also, keep in mind that artificial sweeteners get a lot of bad press, so if you’re worried, check out our breakdown of artificial sweeteners’ safety in your diet and find one that’s best for you.
Choline This story was originally published in 2016 and was updated on 11/25/19 to provide more thorough and current information.