Sugar Substitutes - Are they Safe?

Are Sugar Substitutes Safe?


When you are trying to lose weight, studies show that diet is the most important factor. Of the many diets out there, after you finish your "diet" - you will want to modify your eating habits in a way that you can maintain them for the long term.

Which is the best non-sugar sweetener?

Are you going to stay away from sugar forever? Unless you don't like sweets, probably not. However, people are using sugar substitutes in everything from coffee, soda to their baking.  The question is: Are sugar substitutes safe for you?

Let's consider a few of the different alternative sweeteners or sugar substitutes:
Honey
Agave Nectar
Aspartame or Nutrasweet
Sucralose or Splenda
Stevia
Zsweet
Just Like Sugar
Sweet and Slender
Erythritol
Xylitol
Corn Syrup

The sugar substitutes all differ in their safety, calories, taste, ability for baking. We have tried all of these sugar substitutes or artificial sweeteners.
On the good list, the following sweeteners are safe but have different advantages and disadvantages:
Agave Nectar
Just Like Sugar
Xylitol
Erythritol
Stevia
Honey

On the bad list, sugar substitutes that are not good for you and research shows they are not safe and have detrimental effect on the brain or other physiological functions.
Aspartame
Splenda or Sucralose
Corn Syrup is now renamed Corn sugar to throw you off the track of how bad it is.

A couple of the sugar substitutes that we need more information on are
Zsweet which we think is good but haven't found conclusive information on this.
Truvia - created by one of the big corporations as a re-engineered stevia based product - we are very skeptical of Truvia and Purevia. Why use fake re-designed stevia. Pure natural stevia leaf is your best bet if you want to use a stevia product.
Sweet and Slender - a product that has zero calories, it combines a chinese ultrasweet fruit and fructose. We need more information but the taste is good and the ingredients initially are interesting.

Which sugar substitutes either natural or artificial do you use and which are you concerned about the safety of?