This Guide to Keto Sweeteners explains some of the best sweeteners for a keto diet.
Sweeteners are a hot topic in the keto community. Many “diabetic” foods and sweets have artificial sweeteners in them that actually have an effect on your blood sugar and insulin! So the question is, what sweeteners can you use on a keto diet?
Transitioning to Keto Sweeteners
When first transitioning from a Standard America Diet (SAD) to a low carb or keto diet, one thing people miss most are baked goods. They’re like an American tradition.
At every birthday party you have either cake or cupcakes.
Bake sales are super common for fundraisers at schools and there you’ll find a plethora of brownies, cookies, cakes, and pies. Basically, everything that could potentially spike your glucose through the roof.
Go to grandma’s house and you’ll find a cookie jar full of 15 different kinds of cookies.
It’s hard.
So, one way to make transitioning to a keto diet easier is finding low carb versions of your favorite baked goods. BUT to do that, you need to find what sugar substitutes and sugar replacements you can use on a keto diet.
Not all keto sweeteners are created equal!
Sugar Alcohols
The following are sugar alcohols that effect your blood sugar and insulin, and should be avoided while on a keto diet:
These sugar alcohols should be avoided on a keto diet. In addition to effecting blood sugar and insulin, some of these sugar alcohols may also cause some GI distress like bloating, cramping, and/or diarrhea.
What is Sorbitol?
Sorbitol is a sugar alcohol that is naturally found in fruits, but most of it is manufactured from corn syrup. It can also act as a laxative. Sorbitol is about 60% as sweet as table sugar (sucrose). Sorbitol has about 2.5kcals/g.
What is Isomalt?
Isomalt is a mixture of 2 sugar alcohols produced from sucrose. It has a glycemic index of 9. Isomalt can cause GI distress and possible diarrhea. Isomalt has about 2kcals/g.
What is Lactitol?
Lactitol is a sugar alcohol that is about 40% as sweet as sugar. It is composed of galactose and sorbitol. It can also act as a laxative.
What is Xylitol?
Xylitol is a sugar alcohol found in many fruits and vegetables. High intake of xylitol can cause GI distress, diarrhea, gas, and/or IBS. Xylitol is just about as sweet as table sugar. Xylitol has about 3kcals/g.
What is Maltitol?
Maltitol is a sugar alcohol that is naturally found in some fruits and vegetables. Maltitol is about 90% as sweet as sugar. Maltitol has about 2.7kcals/g.
What is Polyglycitol?
Polyglycitol is a sugar alcohol that is about 25 to 50% as sweet as sugar. Polyglycitol is a combination of maltitol and sorbitol. It has about 2.8kcals/g.
Natural Sweeteners
The following are natural sweeteners that should be avoided or used in moderation on a keto diet:
Keto Approved Sweeteners List
In a well-formulated keto diet, we try minimize the use of natural sugars, sugar alcohols, and artificial sweeteners. Try to focus on eating nourishing whole foods.
But with that being said, sometimes you just want something sweet! You can use keto sweeteners to make keto baked goods to help you stay on track, especially when you’re first transitioning to a ketogenic lifestyle.
Natural Sweeteners With No or Minimal Effect on Blood Sugar
Sugar Alcohols With No or Minimal Effect on Blood Sugar
- Erythritol (may have a cooling effect to some people; may cause GI distress)
- Truvia (Erythritol + Stevia) – also has brown sugar alternatives
- Swerve (Erythritol + Oligosaccharides) – also has brown sugar alternatives
Artificial Sweeteners With No or Minimal Effect on Blood Sugar
- Sucralose (found in Splenda)
- Aspartame (found in Equal and NutraSweet)
- Saccharin (found in Sweet’N Low)
Keto Sweeteners FAQs
Is Polyglycitol Keto?
No, it causes a glucose and insulin response.
Is Splenda Keto?
Splenda is a combination of sucralose, dextrose, and maltodextrin. Since Splenda is made up of two different sugars, it is not ideal for a keto diet.
Is Sucralose Keto Friendly?
Sucralose does not seem to have an impact on glucose, but there are better sugar alternatives for a keto diet.
Is Coconut Sugar Keto Friendly?
No, coconut sugar causes a glucose and insulin response.
Can You Have Maple Syrup on a Keto Diet?
Maple syrup causes a glucose and insulin response so it is not ideal for a ketogenic diet.
However, we love Lakanto maple-flavored syrup!
Do Artificial Sweeteners Effect Ketosis?
Not all artificial sweeteners effect blood sugar and insulin levels. Please refer above to determine which artificial sweeteners are okay on a keto diet.
Is Allulose Keto?
Yes. Allulose does not seem to have an affect on glucose or insulin levels.
Can You Have Honey on a Keto Diet?
Honey causes a rise in glucose and insulin levels so it is not ideal for a keto diet.
What Are Keto Approved Sweeteners?
Keto sweeteners that do not cause a rise in glucose or insulin levels are allulose, erythritol, stevia, and monk fruit.
Is Stevia Good for Keto?
Liquid stevia extract does not cause a spike in glucose so it is very popular on a keto diet.
Should I Use Sugar Substitutes?
Sugar substitutes are a great way to help you transition to a keto diet! They allow you to make many awesome recipes to replace the ones you use to love like our keto chocolate chip cookies.
Sugar substitutes also come in handy around the holidays when you want to make something sweet to put out for Santa come Christmas time! Grab our Holiday Baking: Christmas Cookies and More recipe ebook, and try some of the recipes for yourself!
We love getting messages from people who bought our book saying how much they love our recipes. One person messaged us on Instagram and said they already made our Almond Butter Chocolate Kiss Cookies four times and it wasn’t even two weeks past Christmas!
Sarah Bellwood says
Glad you’ve written this article, but I have a niggly grammar gripe. Using Affect as a verb is fine. Correct to say some sugars can AFFECT (verb) your blood glucose. But using it as a noun is misleading. You write that some sugars “have an AFFECT (noun)”. The noun to use here is EFFECT. The correct noun to use here is EFFECT – to have an effect on blood glucose. The noun “affect” means emotion or desire. I’m sure you didn’t mean to say “some sugars have an emotion or desire”!
K says
Hello is lactitol suitable for a Keto diet?
Michaela Maynard says
Hi K! Lactilol is not approved for a ketogenic diet. This sweetener will influence your blood sugar, causing an insulin response, which we want to limit while following traditional ketogenic patterns
Liam says
Erythritol made my feces smell horrible. Stevia tastes like engine oil. I will be using Xylitol till I find something better.
Phil Nolan says
As opposed to the scent of roses ?
Jenna says
2 questions:
1. How about sucralose? There is this syrup that uses it along with grape juice concentrate. It’s by E.D. Smith and called “No Sugar added syrup: sweetened with sucralose”. How will this affect insulin and blood sugar?
2. How about SWERVE? I always hear about this product making it a popular keto sugar alternative. I think it’s made of erythritol and nd fermented glucose, I’m not sure.
But do you know about these products? I would love to hear feedback about these two products! 🙂
Lara says
We try not to use sucralose when possible (we sometimes get sugar free syrups at Starbucks though). It does not seem to spike our glucose. Swerve we do use in certain products and it doesn’t seem to spike glucose.
Ricky says
Is Torani Sugar Free Caramel Syrup that contains sucralose okay to use in your coffee without any blood spike. The label states its sugar free and has 0 total sugars and 0 added sugars. In the ingredients it states it has sucralose.
Lara says
Sucralose doesn’t typically spike your blood sugar. We would just try to limit it since it isn’t our favorite.
Lisa says
I use Xylitol 1 tsp. each in my 2 cups of coffee a day and my iced tea, is that ok?
Lara says
Hi Lisa,
Personally I wouldn’t use xylitol. I’d opt for stevia or nothing instead.
Karen Brush says
Just FYI xylitol is deadly for dogs. My puppy got into some sugar free toothpaste that contained xylitol and we had to race her to the animal ER where she had to have her kidneys monitored for three days. So extra caution is needed with these things when pets are around.
Rachel says
No keto sweetener list is credible if you don’t have BochaSweet!
Lara says
Hi Rachel,
We haven’t tried that one before, but we will look into it!
Erik M Zettersten says
I think you have isomalt categorized incorrectly. It actually doesn’t increase your blood sugar levels…
Can you re-check your assertions?
Lara says
Hi Erik, here’s a scholarly article that ranks sugar alcohols and their glycemic index. Isomalt has a glycemic index of 9, where as erythritol has a glycemic index of zero. So it will slightly increase your glucose. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00217-015-2437-7 Hope this helps.
Vanna says
Is there a difference between liquid stevia extract and powdered stevia?
Lara says
Yes! The powder is normally bound to a filler like dextrose or maltodextrin, that’s why we prefer the glycerate or extract
Linda says
I read what you said about Splenda but what about Splenda Naturals that is made with stevia? Have you had a chance to review this product for keto diet?
Lara says
Hi Linda,
I have not reviewed the product yet, but I just glanced at the ingredients list and it contains tapioca maltodextrin. Maltodextrin typically raises blood sugar since it is a type of sugar. If a product has less than 0.5g of carbs per serving it can list 0g on the ingredients list FYI. I hope this helps.
Tim says
D-Ribose is a sugar that is really good for your heart. Is this sugar allowed on a Keto Diet ?
Sean Holley says
I dont care about blood sugar and insulin and what not… I just want 0 carbs and sweet to add to my coffee. At starbucks, work and everywhere they have splenda. I bought Stevia packets and they contain 1G of Carbs each pack. I used erithol and it was instant diarrhea…in coffee…straight.
Lara says
Hi Sean, I’m sorry to hear that you had a poor experience with erythritol. Have you tried liquid stevia extract to sweetened things?
Ericha says
We all must pick our battles and decide what is most important to us. If this is one way that you can sustain a health-ier diet, then that is better than not having Splenda in your coffee. The whole point of a low-carb diet is to lower blood sugar (and now we know…insulin levels too). This is where all of the health benefits come from. Keep calm and Keto on!
Lara says
Hi Ericha,
Yes, we like to think of non-caloric sweeteners as a tool. The main goal is to lower carbohydrate intake and if using these sweeteners sparingly can help, we say go for it. But in the long run we try to omit them from our diet when possible.
Nelly Polikandrioti says
Hello, can we use truvia freely? i have two coffees a day and i use 12 tablets .. is that acceptable?
Lara says
Hi Nelly,
We do use truvia, but normally only 1 packet at a time. There may be an upper limit as to how much you should consume. You can probably find this information on the manufactures website or your healthcare practitioner could also give you more information.
Andrew Kauffman says
What about equal? I have about 6 packets a day
Faith Gorsky says
Andrew, We prefer not to use products containing aspartame, instead opting for stevia because it’s plant-derived and you can choose less-processed forms of it. We wrote a post on sweeteners you might find helpful: https://theketoqueens.com/keto-sweeteners/
Lynette says
What about agave sweetner?
Lara says
Agave will spike your insulin and glucose.
Tanya Maestas says
My stomach cannot handle the alcohol sugars, erythritol or xylitol. I am miserable. How bad is splenda for keto, because everything ending in “tol” is making me sick.
Faith Gorsky says
Tanya, We try to avoid Splenda, instead opting for less processed sweeteners. Are you able to tolerate stevia? That is our personal favorite.
Ericha Cook says
Recent studies show that we may even need to be more concerned about insulin levels then only glucose levels. Reasearxh concluded that it is VERY rare to get GI upset with typical usage of erythritol because 90% of it is excreted in our urine and the other 10% does not feed gut bacteria in the colon. I suppose too much of anything could cause a problem though. Even though stevia does not raise blood sugar, it DOES raise insulin levels… so is not appropriate for fasting days.
Really, only erythritol (and possibly Allulose-which is still being studied, but looks promising) is safe if non-nutritave sweeteners must be consumed during fasting.
Research on monk fruit revealed inconclusive results (insulin spiked in some and not in others)… so that’s not a great option yet.
Angela Grange' says
Chicory root packaged as « I cannot believe it’s not sugar « .. allowed in Keto ??
Lara says
Normally chicory root is okay, but I have not heard of that product. I will look into it though.
Richard Thompson says
So what is the best sweetner for the Keto diet? You took the scenic route and never got back on track.
Lara says
Stevia, allulose and monk fruit are my favorite and then erythritol in moderation.
Todd Watrous says
Where do U get Monkfruit???
Lara says
We use lakanto, you can use our affiliate link http://www.lakanto.com?aff=113 and THEKETOQUEENS at checkout for a discount.
Ina van Dalen says
what about rice bran syrup?
Lara says
Rice bran syrup is higher in carbs so it wouldn’t be good on a keto diet.
Danzig E says
What about coconut sap?
Lara says
I would say coconut sap would elicit a glucose and insulin response, but if you used it in a small amount you may still be able to stay in ketosis.
Alvaro Munizaga says
Hey! Whats your opinion on tagatose?
Lara says
I haven’t heard of it! I’ll definitely look into it though!
Morgan says
What about the skinny syrups? They have liquid sucralose
Lara says
If it’s just sucralose it doesn’t contain carbs and shouldn’t raise your blood sugar
Barb says
What about splenda?
Lara Clevenger says
Splenda packets have fillers in them which contain dextrose and maltodextrin which will impact your blood sugar.
Steve says
I’m beginning 16/8 intermittent fasting. I use Splenda only with 4-5 cups of black coffee in the morning (fasting). No other time. Will this mess things up or would Stevia or ? Be better?
Faith Gorsky says
Steve, Splenda is bound to dextrose and maltodextrin, which are carbs so depending on how much Splenda you’re putting in your coffee, it may trigger a glucose and insulin response, possibly kicking you out of ketosis depending how insulin-sensitive you are. Stevia may be a better option, but we recommend minimal artificial sweeteners if possible.
Deborah says
What about Sukrin products
Lara says
Hi Deborah,
We have not used their products yet so I can’t vouch for them either way.
Donna M Stuart says
Yes stevia is a much better choice. It does have an aftertaste at first but goes away.
Cornel says
What about sugar free Silan(date syrup)?