Reasons why some Sugar-Free Products can cause more harm than good

Which is more harmful, high-sugar foods or foods loaded with artificial sweeteners?

To answer your question in short: both refined sugary foods and foods made with artificial sweeteners are harmful to your body. They both can cause long-term severe effects and are both addictive. Refined white sugar can cause weight gain, heart disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and hamper your cholesterol levels, among other effects. Further, all types of artificial sweeteners may be likelier to make you more hungry, eat more throughout the day and develop diabetes. There are essentially 5 main types of artificial sweeteners: Aspartame, Sucralose, Acesulfame K, Saccharin, and Xylitol. Regarding the side effects, Aspartame can cause headaches, migraines, allergies, depression, and more severe effects like seizures and weight gain. Other than that, sucralose cause extreme digestive and immune system problems like inflammation, obesity, and diabetes. Moreover, Acesulfame K. and Saccharin, both can increase the risk of obesity and diabetes. Further, Xylitol has critical side effects like diarrhea and irritable bowel syndrome. In contrast to both refined sugar and artificial sweeteners, Natural sweeteners like Stevia, Erythritol, and Monk fruit sweeteners have zero sugar, are safer to use, and can be more beneficial to your body. All these natural sweeteners are can be chosen over artificial sweeteners. Hope this answer is informative for you!

Are there any ways to make a cake without sugar? For example, can I substitute fruits in place of sugar & still have the sweet taste? If so, how do I?

Yes, you most definitely can! There are a lot of different options and alternatives out there that can replace refined sugar as an ingredient in baking cakes and much more. Some sugar-free recipes have organic honey as an alternative, but a lot of people don't find it sweet enough. A lot of baking recipes include sugar substitutes like sucralose and xylitol which are considered comparable to regular sugar. Yet, these substitutes may cause more harm than good. Sucralose, for example, can cause severe side effects on your body like changing your gut microbiome by lowering the number of good bacteria by half. Further, it can also increase inflammation in the body, and over time, this inflammation can lead to problems like obesity and diabetes. Now, Xylitol is not exactly any better either as has negative side effects like diarrhea and irritable bowel syndrome in some people. Moreover, it is considered unsafe when used in very high doses long-term and might cause tumors. But all hope is not lost. Naturally extracted sweeteners like Stevia Sweetener and Monk Fruit can be used as sugar substitutes in baking, cooking, adding to tea and coffee, and more. These are better for your health and safer to use. Hope that helps!

Why is Diet Coke or Coke Zero sugar called sugar-free when it contains abundant artificial sweeteners (aspartame and acesulfame K)?

This is because Diet Coke and Coke Zero Sugar don't contain refined white sugar. However, they include artificial sweeteners like Aspartame and Acesulfame K. This addition of artificial sweeteners essentially means you are consuming no calories, as compared to regular Coke with high amounts of refined sugar and calories. Yet, these artificial sweeteners have ill effects on the body, you are likely to crave more throughout the day and develop diabetes earlier. That's why natural sweeteners like Stevia, Erythritol, and Monk fruit sweeteners are better for your body and more effective for people with diabetes.

Are there any widely available “sugar-free” energy drinks that don’t have harmful sweeteners like Aspartame or Sucralose?

Typically, sugar-free energy drinks contain artificial sweeteners like Aspartame and Sucralose, which cause more harm than good to your body. Firstly, sucralose is 600 times sweeter than sugar which can eventually lead to weight gain and might cause extreme digestive and immune system problems like inflammation, obesity, and diabetes. Secondly, Aspartame can have severe side effects on your body like headaches, migraines, irritability, anxiety, and insomnia, among others. This is why natural sweeteners like Stevia, Erythritol, and Monk fruit are better for you. A few sugar-free energy drinks that contain natural sweeteners include Proper Wild, Zevia, CELSIUS, and Yerbae.

How can I lose weight and still eat lots of candy and drink lots of soda? 

If only it was that easy, right? It sort of is. Shifting over to a sugar-free lifestyle can be quite difficult but there are products out there that make it easier to start a healthy lifestyle while also supporting weight management. When starting out a sugar-free diet, people usually jump to artificial sweeteners or cut sugar out of their diets completely. Cutting sugar off can be quite effective as it has severe long-term effects on your body like weight gain, diabetes, liver diseases, etc.

But going cold turkey isn't easy for everyone. Plus foods and drinks that are "sugar-free" contain artificial sweeteners which are also equally bad. Artificial sweeteners like Aspartame, Sucralose, Acesulfame K, etc. can cause a higher risk of diabetes and obesity and also have side effects like migraines and digestive issues. But all hope is not lost! There definitely are products out there that are sweet and healthy at the same time because they contain natural sweeteners like Stevia, Erythritol, and Monk fruit. These natural sweeteners don't cause severe and life-threatening side effects and are more beneficial. 

Bottomline: 

Although it is abundantly known to most that foods and drinks with high amounts of refined sugar are extremely unhealthy. It may come as a surprise that even if one picks “sugar-free” products over products that contain regular white sugar, they are still consuming harmful products due to artificial sweeteners.

Starting or continuing a sugar-free journey can be challenging but sugar alternatives like natural sweeteners (Stevia, Erythritol, and Monk fruit) make it easier to manage your healthy lifestyle while also being beneficial for your body!