You’ve probably heard someone say they use honey in their tea because “it’s healthier than sugar.” Or maybe you have noticed tea brands that advertise teas that are sweet but sugar-free. If you’re really deep into the tea community, you may have even seen people complain about tea blends that include Stevia.

If you’re like me, these occurrences have probably left you with many questions: Is honey really healthier than healthier? What’s wrong with stevia? How much sugar is too much sugar? Are artificial sweeteners safe? I did a deep dive into some of my early Nutrition notes for the answers to these questions.

Why Does Sugar Matter?

Excessive sugar intake can lead to tooth decay, Type 2 Diabetes, and other health-related diseases. I don’t think I need to tell you that US Americans have high levels of these diseases, or that we are generally consuming way too much sugar. But did you know that about 47% of our sugar intake comes from beverages? (And that’s not even including milk or 100% fruit juice!) Of that percentage, 7% comes from coffee and tea. That may not seem like a large amount, but it is worth cutting down on if you drink a lot of sweetened tea (or coffee).

Natural Sugars

First, let’s compare four naturally occurring sugars: table sugar, raw sugar, honey, and molasses.

According to the US Department of Agriculture, these four products have approximately the same number of calories and carbohydrates. Honey has the highest amount of both at 64 calories and 17.3 grams of carbohydrate per Tablespoon; table sugar has the least with 49 calories and 12.6 grams of carbohydrate. None of the four sweeteners have any fat or fiber. One Tablespoon of honey has 0.06 grams of protein, which is basically nothing, and the rest have zero grams each.

Additionally, none of the four sweeteners have any Vitamin A or folate. Only honey has Vitamin C, which may be why it is considered good for preventing or fighting off illness. However, at 0.1 mg per Tablespoon, the benefits are actually quite minimal. Similarly, only molasses has Thiamin (Vitamin B1), but it only adds 0.008 milligrams per Tablespoon. Conversely, molasses is the only sweetener of the four that does not have Riboflavin (Vitamin B2)—honey has the most with 0.008 milligrams per Tablespoon.

Interestingly, molasses has 41 mg of calcium per Tablespoon, while honey has 1 mg, raw sugar has 2 mg, and table sugar has no calcium per Tablespoon. Molasses also has the most iron, with 0.94 mg per Tablespoon. The other sweeteners have less than one milligram per Tablespoon each. On a less positive note, molasses is the highest in sodium, 7 mg/Tbsp; honey has 1 mg/Tbsp and the others have none. Finally, molasses has 293 mg of potassium per Tablespoon. Honey has 11 mg/Tbsp, raw sugar has 4 mg/Tbsp, and table sugar has no potassium.

So what does all of this mean? For starters, the amount of most vitamins and minerals in each sweetener is so tiny that the benefits are negligible. You may have been surprised to find that honey has more calories and carbohydrates than sugar, but the difference is also small enough that it won’t make much of a difference in your overall health. If you like honey in your tea, keep drinking it. If you like sugar, that’s great too.

Artificial Sweeteners

There are many different artificial sweeteners, and there always seems to be controversy around them.

First up is saccharin, which was once considered a potential carcinogen. Good news for any Sweet n’ Low lovers, it is no longer listed as such and is now considered safe for consumption. The Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) is 5 milligrams per kilogram of body weight.

Next is the less popular Acesulfame-K, commonly known as Sweet One or Sunnette. The main benefit of this sweetener is that it can be used in cooking. It is also 200 times sweeter than table sugar, meaning you should need less product to get the desired sweetness.There are some studies that say Acesulfame-K is carcinogenic and some that say it has an effect on neurological functions, but these studies are older and flawed. The ADI for Acesulfame-K is 15 mg/kg of body weight.

Then there are the blue packets: Aspartame (NutraSweet or Equal). These sweeteners are also generally considered safe, but not for cooking. However, anyone with Phenylketonuria (PKU) should steer clear of aspartame because it is made of phenylalanine, along with aspartate. The ADI for Equal and similar sweeteners is 50 mg/kg of body weight.

Neotame is a sweetener that is similar to aspartame, but is heat stable and safe for PKU. It also at least 7,000 times sweeter than table sugar, making this the sweetest artificial sweetener. While neotame is not widely used, it is the only artificial sweetener with a safe seal from the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Finally, Sucralose is a very popular artificial sweetener known as Splenda. It is made from sucrose (table sugar), but the processing makes in non-digestible and therefore calorie and carbohydrate free. It is about 600 times sweeter than sucrose, so it is another sweetener that you don’t need a lot of in order to make your tea sweet. The ADI for sucralose is 5 mg/kg of body weight.

Just like with the natural sweeteners, there is little difference in artificial sweeteners. If you decide to use an artificial sweetener, you should just use whichever one you like the taste of. The only exception would be for cooking, in which case you should stick to Acesulfame-K or Neotame.

Other Sweeteners

The sweeteners Truvia and PureVia, which come from the stevia plant, have gained popularity in the last few years. Stevia is actually not considered an artificial sweetener but a dietary supplement and food additive. Thanks to the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, dietary supplements are not regulated in the United States. This means no safety tests are required. A quick Google search reveals that there may be some side effects, most notable is that it can lower your blood pressure. I’ve also noticed that a lot of people complain about the bitter flavor that stevia adds to tea blends, so it’s probably not the best sweetener for your tea.

Agave is a popular vegan substitute for honey and a common choice for tea drinkers. It has the same number of calories as sucrose but is 1.4 to 1.6 times sweeter. Some studies show agave also has a lower GI index and doesn’t cause a great rise in blood sugar. However, 90% of the sugar in agave is fructose, which isn’t absorbed in the bloodstream and instead metabolized in the liver. Consuming large amounts of fructose can lead to insulin resistance, which causes Type 2 Diabetes and other health-related diseases.

Finally, you may have heard of sugar alcohols such as sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, malitol, and lactitol. These are low-calorie (but not calorie-free), non-carcinogenic, non-fermentable sweeteners. Sorbitol and mannitol do exist naturally, but most sugar alcohols are formed through a process called catalytic hydrogenation. They are generally significantly less sweet than table sugar, and they may cause gastrointestinal problems in some people.

So What’s the Tea?

Whether you actually made it through all that science-talk, or you just read the last paragraph of each section, you can probably tell what my final thoughts on sweeteners are. But it bears repeating: Use whichever sweetener you like best. No sweetener is a superfood (is any food really a superfood?), and most health risks are over-hyped and under-researched. Even if you’re considering a sweetener that I didn’t mention here, I can pretty much guess that it is no better or worse for you than anything else.

Note:

I am not yet a Registered Dietitian and am therefore not certified to give nutrition counseling. Please consult your doctor or other healthcare provider before following the advice in this article.

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