What Type of Sweetener Can I Use on Keto?

If you’re on a keto diet, long gone are the days of using typical sweeteners like table sugar, honey, and other things that contain real sugar. How can you sweeten your coffee or enjoy keto-friendly desserts? Enter keto-friendly sweeteners!

There are several keto-friendly sweeteners for you to choose from – we’ll review 19 of them in this article, and they include:

• Acesulfame potassium
• Advantame
• Allulose
• Arabitol
• Aspartame
• Chicory root syrup
• Erythritol
• Isomalt
• Lactitol
• Maltitol
• Mannitol
• Monk fruit sweetener
• Neotame
• Saccharin
• Sorbitol
• Steviol glycosides (Stevia)
• Sucralose (Splenda)
• Tagatose
• Xylitol

We’ll explain what each of these keto-friendly sweeteners is, what sweeteners to avoid on keto, and much more in this article!

Refresher on the keto diet

Before we dive into which sweeteners are keto-friendly, let’s quickly review what a ketogenic (keto) diet is.

A keto diet is a very low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet. Carbohydrates are one of the main nutrients your body uses for energy and are found in foods like fruits, grains, starchy vegetables like potatoes, and anything sweetened with regular sweeteners – sugary drinks, desserts, candy, etc.

If you’re on a keto diet, you’ll need to limit your total carbohydrate intake to 50 grams or fewer per day and aim to get most of your calories from fat.

The goal of a keto diet is to go into a state of ketosis, which is when your body burns fat for fuel instead of stored carbs.

Sweeteners not recommended on keto

Before we delve into keto-friendly sweeteners, let’s look at which kinds of sweeteners are not keto-friendly.

Any sweetener that contains real sugar is generally not keto-friendly. Several different sweeteners contain sugar without having “sugar” in the name – here are a few popular sweeteners that are not keto-friendly:

• Agave nectar
• Brown sugar
• Coconut sugar
• High-fructose corn syrup and regular corn syrup
• Honey
• Maple syrup
• Molasses
• Sucrose (table sugar/white sugar)
• Raw sugar (turbinado sugar)

Keto-friendly sweeteners

Keto-friendly sweeteners are generally considered artificial, which means they’re not found in nature. However, some keto-friendly sweeteners are considered natural, such as stevia, which is made from the stevia plant.

Sugar alcohols are another popular type of keto-friendly sweetener. Sugar alcohols occur naturally in small amounts, but for the sake of this article, we count them as artificial when they’re isolated and used specifically as a low- or no-calorie sweetener.

Sugar alcohols aren’t absorbed well by your intestines, which is why they provide very few calories and sugar. This also means they can cause digestive upset in some people, especially if you eat a lot at once.

19 keto-friendly sweeteners

1. Acesulfame potassium (Ace-K)

• This is considered an artificial sweetener. Its most common brand names are Sunnett and Sweet One.
• Ace-K is one of the ingredients in Equal, a popular artificial sweetener.

2. Advantame

• An artificial sweetener that is around 20,000 times sweeter than regular sugar.

3. Allulose

• This sugar occurs naturally in some foods, but as a sweetener, it’s made artificially by converting fructose (fruit sugar) to allulose through the use of enzymes.
• Described as having a more pleasant aftertaste compared to some artificial sweeteners.

4. Arabitol

• A sugar alcohol that isn’t very commonly used.

5. Aspartame

• One of the more popular artificial sweeteners approved by the FDA.
• Brand names include Equal and Nutrasweet.
• Not suitable for people with a metabolic condition called phenylketonuria (PKU).

6. Chicory root syrup

• High-fiber syrup made from chicory roots.
• Chicory root’s high fiber content makes it low in net carbs and is generally considered a keto-friendly sweetener.
• Some debate the keto-friendliness of chicory root fiber because of its higher glycemic index, but it’s generally still considered keto-friendly.

7. Erythritol

• One of the more popular sugar alcohols for keto-dieters.

8. Isomalt

• A sugar alcohol made from beet sugar.

9. Lactitol

• Another sugar alcohol, lactitol isn’t as sweet as table sugar (around 30-40% as sweet).
• Not one of the most ideal keto sweeteners, but still considered keto-friendly in moderation.

10. Maltitol

• A sugar alcohol that is around 90% as sweet as table sugar.
• Not one of the most ideal keto sweeteners, but still considered keto-friendly.

11. Mannitol

• This sugar alcohol is commonly used in sugar-free gum and sugar-free chocolate coating.

12. Monk fruit sweetener

• Made from the Luo Han Guo plant, which is native to China.
• One of the few keto-friendly sweeteners that are considered natural.
• 100-250 times sweeter than table sugar.

13. Neotame

• An artificial sweetener that is around 8,000 times sweeter than table sugar.

14. Saccharin

• “Sweet’n Low” brand.
• Around 500 times sweeter than sucrose, but is described as having a bitter aftertaste.

15. Sorbitol

• This sugar alcohol is used in sugar-free products as well as toothpaste, mouthwash, and other non-food items.

16. Steviol glycosides (Stevia)

• A popular natural zero-calorie sweetener, stevia is around 200-350 times sweeter than sugar.

17. Sucralose (Splenda)

• Sucralose is made from real sugar but is still considered an artificial sweetener.
• A very commonly-used artificial sweetener that is around 600 times sweeter than sugar.

18. Tagatose

• A sugar that occurs naturally in some foods, tagatose isn’t technically a sugar alcohol but has a similar structure.
• Similar in sweetness to table sugar but is lower in sugar and calories.

19. Xylitol

• Sugar alcohol occurs naturally in some fruits, but is extracted from corn fiber or birch trees to make the sweetener.
• Commonly used in sugar-free gum.

Most popular keto sweeteners

We know 19 different sweeteners are a lot, so we’ll narrow them down to the five most popular among keto dieters (not in order of popularity, just alphabetically)!

1. Erythritol
2. Monk fruit sweetener
3. Stevia
4. Sucralose (Splenda)
5. Xylitol

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