Idk but I can say smth about artificial sweeteners, if you’re curious. Basically, their molecular structure is very different from that of glucose, our body’s main source of energy. As a result, they cannot be used by our bodies and are just treated as foreign products. They don’t give us energy and therefore don’t contain any calories, thus we won’t get fat if we consume lots of them. There’s been some evidence that some artificial sweeteners do cause insulin spikes but that’s still being researched if I’m not mistaken. The main advantage of these sweeteners is that they can be used by diabetic people and they don’t cause teeth decay since the bacteria living in our mouths can’t use them like they do with sugar (resulting in the forming of acids that damage our teeth). The taste can be somewhat weird but at least there’s no real health risks related to their use that have been identified yet.
Generally, yes. Reducing the amount of added sugar we consume is a good thing overall. While there’s a lot of pointless fad diets out there advocating for cutting out all forms of carbs, our bodies do need sugar and it’s the main source of fuel we have. That said, refined sugars that aren’t bundled up in fibre (like in fruit) are not great for us (which is also why you shouldn’t drink a lot of juice and smoothies at once – the fibre is broken down in the process so the sugar is too readily available).
As well as that, the dangers of the sugar replacements – whether natural or artificial – are unsubstantiated. Some people do have a sensitivity to things like aspartame which can give them headaches but if you’re not one of those people, it is harmless.
There is still a concern with sweeteners provoking an insulin response in your body and I’m not 100% clear on the current accepted science behind it, so I won’t state one way or the other. However on balance, replacing a product that has added sugar with one that doesn’t is a net benefit for the body. And as usual, all things in moderation.
Excess sugar is behind so many preventable issues, that cutting out an easy source of it simply makes sense. And the widespread substitutes (e.g. aspartame) are thoroughly studied and agreed to be fine for most people in reasonable amounts (e.g. less than 20 cans of soda a day).
The common maybe parts are either psychological (diet soda means I’m healthy, so I can eat that entire bag of chips) or less than the same amount of sugared products would be (short term gut biome disruption is still better than advanced diabetes).
It is all situational. Are they better in every situation? Absolutely not.
But if you were getting far too many calories and switching to a calorie-free substitute makes it so you are now not getting far too many calories, then they are better for you.
And in the Western world, there are a lot of people in exactly that situation.
It’s important to discuss it in the perspective of calories. Sugar has tons of calories. Meaning it has a lot of energy for your body. This energy can be used if needed or stored, such as in fat.
Artificial sweeteners have almost zero calories in the quantities needed to mimic sugar flavor. Your body can’t use them for energy. So they can’t store them as fat or otherwise, they essentially do nothing and go right through you.
So if you need energy or calories, sugar is a fantastic source, of course consuming too many calories can be a problem too. But that has nothing to do with being sugar, only calories
If you don’t need calories, artificial sweeteners are a great way to sweeten food without needing to have the extra calories provided by sugar.
Both do things your body needs depending on what your body needs.
Most zero sugar products actually contain things which behave just like sugar in the body, but are much, much, much sweeter. So a few miligrams of them, adding up to maybe 10 calories, can taste as sweet as dozens of grams of sugar adding up to several hundred calories.
There is evidence that they may cause insulin spikes and thus increase risk of diabetes, just like sugar, but they physically contain very few calories so cannot on their own contribute to things like fatty liver, congestive heart failure or obesity.
Also some people have sensitivities to some of them and they have been linked with digestive discomfort and headaches in those with sensitivity.
But on balance they are probably better for you than consuming excessive amounts of processed sugar, but also probably not completely healthy.
If you’re referring to sugar alcohols, they seem alright unless you’re one of those people who get painful gas and bloat from consuming them. Just give me real sugar, thank you.
I mean, if you consume too much sugar then almost certainly yes. If you consume a very modest amount of sugar already than you’re not likely to see any benefits by replacing that with artificial sweeteners.
It depends entirely on what the sugar is replaced with, some products were able to lower the sugar content dramatically by increasing the fat content. The key is to look a the calorie content of the sugar and zero sugar item. Some sugar replacement chemicals may have an adverse action on the body, but that is generally better than consuming massive amounts of sugar.
Sugar is fine in moderation. The thing that’s good for your body is avoiding overconsumption of calories. And zero sugar food products tend to be lower in calories.
It’s just tricking your taste buds into seeing sugar that’s not there. The body can’t use it and it passes through. This obsession with artificial sweeteners like it’s a bad word, it’s unbelievable to me how quickly people eat up this nonsense.
Soda, by itself, is not good for you. If you are at all attempting to manage weight as part of healthy living, it’s probably attempting to lower your caloric intake. As such, it’s not that artificial sweeteners are good for you, they do nothing for you, but if they allow you drink a Coke Zero instead of a Coke, that’s like 150 calories or more of sugar you didn’t consume.
There’s different things that they use to get sweetness without sugar, depending on the food.
A sugar substitute that works great for soda or coffee, may not work for, say, reeses peanut butter cups. Maybe because it changes the taste when mixed, or doesn’t last long enough, or changes the texture.
Each sugar substitute has its own drawbacks.
For example, the one used in Zero-cal sodas is usually aspartame. Some studies show it probably increases the chances of getting certain cancers, but you need to eat/drink a lot of it. Something like 20 sodas a day would put you at risk. Something like 2 sodas a day is fine.
Being fat is a big health risk, not just for cancer but for a bunch of things… diabetes, heart disease, liver disease.
You can look up the substitutes used for different foods, and decide on a case-by-case basis if they sound ok for you. For a lot of people obesity is a serious health risk, and switching to something like zero sugar soda is a no-brainer.
For others who are fit, maybe something like zero sugar Reeses doesn’t quite taste as good as the sugar version, and they’ll probably be fine to just have the normal Reeses instead, even if the one with maltitol (the sugar substitute) are fine and would be safe for them to eat.
Even your taste buds will revolt if you try to eat that much sugar in one sitting without the different flavors masking it.
Body has to maintain a narrow range of blood sugar levels at all times. Body’s internal mechanism has to work extra hard to get blood sugar levels back in control when you intake that much sugar in one go, especially in liquid form which readily gets absorbed. Do this frequently enough and even body’s mechanisms start to fail, in medical terms its called insulin resistance or type-2 diabetes.
There may be health risks associated with them, but there isn’t a clear consensus.
I think they are good for some people, because while they may have health risks, excessive amounts of sugar most certainly do have very negative health implications.
It would be best to just drink water. But if you’re going to guzzle soda one way or another, sugar free versions are better than full sugar versions.
It depends on the product. The only one that I know has at least some scientific evidence supporting that it’s actually beneficial to consume is allulose.
I have a T1 diabetic teenage child. They decided in a moment of great wisdom to eat an entire jar of low sugar frosting. With a spoon. Like a rabid animal.
She had the gummy-bear-rumbles for two straight days.
Fake sugar and especially the sugar alcohols in low sugar products can do some nutty things to your system if treated like a “eat anything you want” free card.
My throat becomes irritated after drinking anything with Sucralose. So I have a hard time now because I’ve stopped drinking basically anything with zero sugar as it’s so common in those drinks.
Excess sugar is proven to be strongly linked to a ton of health problems. Artificial sugars have not been proven to cause health issues. Do you want the substance that will most definitely cause you health issues or the one that has not been shown to (despite tons of research)?
I’d say it’s a complicated matter because of dosage, frequency, and what sweetener.
Most artificial sweeteners disturb the gut microbiome in different ways. I’d avoid them. Dysbiosis, reduces gut diversity, messes with the gut brain signaling, gas and inflammation.
Use natural. Stevia from trees, Monk fruit, real honey, maple syrup.
Not that anyone asked but I’ve been ‘off’ sugar for 4 years and I lost weight and it’s stabilized so it really showed me how much sugar I was consuming on the regular. Reading the labels helped figure out what was ‘worth it’ or not. In general it led me to eat a ton more vegetables and proteins. Natural sugars, I’m good with.
Zero sugar substitutes are better tasting than in the past, just gotta watch out for those sugar alcohols too.
Just going to say it’s important to understand that the issue isn’t sugar, it’s energy toxicity.
That is to say, consuming too many calories/too much sugar. Zero sugar products help with that problem, but there are really no reasons to avoid sugar in the context of a balanced and healthy diet.
Zero sugar products can be a healthier choice, especially for reducing calorie intake and managing blood sugar levels. They help cut down on added sugars, which are linked to weight gain and diabetes. However, many contain artificial sweeteners or sugar alcohols, which may cause digestive issues for some people and have uncertain long-term effects. While they can be better than sugary alternatives, it’s still important to check the ingredients and not assume they’re automatically healthy. Moderation and overall diet quality matter most.
No, they are not. While reducing added sugar consumption can have health benefits, ‘sugar-free’ products often contain artificial sweeteners that are not entirely safe.
Depends on the artificial sweetener. Sugar alcohols can be bad for your gut health and gut microbiome. Common ones are xylitol malitol and sorbitol. You might be able to test out your sensitivity by chewing some sugar alcohol gum and see how it affects your stomach. Some people are really really sensitive to it and it can give rhyme headaches and stomach aches which can really affect their mood
No, they are about half as bad but definitely not good for you. I drank too many sweeteners like Sweet N Low and messed up my gut biome. Took me four months of hell to not be in daily pain and over a year to truly heal. I occasionally have a Coke Zero but it’s rare. Try not to have either type of soda. They’re both terrible for you.
Zero sugar products such as water are great for your body.
Zero sugar products, such as those full of artificial sweeteners can cause problems, but there is not a consensus about how bad these are. Some nutritionists consider zero-sugar products harmless, and better for you than those with sugar. Others consider such products essentially poisons that can cause all kinds of bad things including cancer, insulin resistance, bad changes to your the microbes in your intestines, weight gain due to influence on overall eating patterns, and other problems.
Artificial sweeteners can alter the composition and function of gut microbiota. You can find studies showning that sweeteners like saccharin, sucralose, and aspartame can disrupt the balance of bacteria in the gut, leading to glucose intolerance and metabolic changes.
Sugar as such isn’t a problem, generally. Refined sugar and nonsense like hfcs are. Just eat whole foods in the shape you’ve evolved to eat and you’ll be fine. No need for industrial slop like aspartame. Even for diabetics, and maybe especially for diabetics, there are infinitely better choices available than industrial slop.
A lot of the answers here talk about how zero-calorie sweeteners won’t cause weight gain or whatever.
At least one recent study has shown a possible connection between artificial sweeteners and diabetes. That is, your body senses you are eating something sweet, so it releases more insulin to handle it, but the sugar isn’t there, so over time you might develop a resistance to insulin because of it, a.k.a diabetes.
For me, I stay away from them and use sugar sparingly.
Not necessarily, it’s just replacing one evil with another. “Sugar-free” = chemical sh!tstorm. You’d have to subjectively select the lesser of two evils 🤷♀️
They’re kinda better if you’re watching your sugar intake, but tbh, they can still have other stuff that’s not so healthy… so, I guess it’s a trade-off, tho.
Lots of good comments already about the negative health impacts of sugar so I just wanna add some additional food for thought:
The fact that sugar is bad for you doesn’t necessarily mean that zero-sugar products are ‘better for your body’. If a sugary food has no significant nutritional value, then taking out the sugar doesn’t add nutrients. It only reduces the harm. It’s ‘better’ in the sense of no longer being actively harmful, but that doesn’t make it healthy.
So if you take, for instance, soft drinks. Sugar-sweetened soft drinks are obviously bad for our bodies. Replace the sugar with an artificial sweetener, and the soft drink is still nutritionally vacant, even if it’s no longer harmful. It’s basically flavoured water at that point.
If the goal of evaluating food choices is to improve the nutrition of your diet, reducing sugar intake is helpful but only part of the overall picture. You also want to seek out foods that are nutritionally dense. As a rule of thumb this means whole, minimally-processed foods like fresh meats and vegetables.
Comments
Idk but I can say smth about artificial sweeteners, if you’re curious. Basically, their molecular structure is very different from that of glucose, our body’s main source of energy. As a result, they cannot be used by our bodies and are just treated as foreign products. They don’t give us energy and therefore don’t contain any calories, thus we won’t get fat if we consume lots of them. There’s been some evidence that some artificial sweeteners do cause insulin spikes but that’s still being researched if I’m not mistaken. The main advantage of these sweeteners is that they can be used by diabetic people and they don’t cause teeth decay since the bacteria living in our mouths can’t use them like they do with sugar (resulting in the forming of acids that damage our teeth). The taste can be somewhat weird but at least there’s no real health risks related to their use that have been identified yet.
Generally, yes. Reducing the amount of added sugar we consume is a good thing overall. While there’s a lot of pointless fad diets out there advocating for cutting out all forms of carbs, our bodies do need sugar and it’s the main source of fuel we have. That said, refined sugars that aren’t bundled up in fibre (like in fruit) are not great for us (which is also why you shouldn’t drink a lot of juice and smoothies at once – the fibre is broken down in the process so the sugar is too readily available).
As well as that, the dangers of the sugar replacements – whether natural or artificial – are unsubstantiated. Some people do have a sensitivity to things like aspartame which can give them headaches but if you’re not one of those people, it is harmless.
There is still a concern with sweeteners provoking an insulin response in your body and I’m not 100% clear on the current accepted science behind it, so I won’t state one way or the other. However on balance, replacing a product that has added sugar with one that doesn’t is a net benefit for the body. And as usual, all things in moderation.
Short answer is yes.
Excess sugar is behind so many preventable issues, that cutting out an easy source of it simply makes sense. And the widespread substitutes (e.g. aspartame) are thoroughly studied and agreed to be fine for most people in reasonable amounts (e.g. less than 20 cans of soda a day).
The common maybe parts are either psychological (diet soda means I’m healthy, so I can eat that entire bag of chips) or less than the same amount of sugared products would be (short term gut biome disruption is still better than advanced diabetes).
“Yes”.
Too much sugar is awful for you. Sugar substitutes that just pass through your system don’t cause the same harm.
It is all situational. Are they better in every situation? Absolutely not.
But if you were getting far too many calories and switching to a calorie-free substitute makes it so you are now not getting far too many calories, then they are better for you.
And in the Western world, there are a lot of people in exactly that situation.
“Better” isn’t a good word.
It’s important to discuss it in the perspective of calories. Sugar has tons of calories. Meaning it has a lot of energy for your body. This energy can be used if needed or stored, such as in fat.
Artificial sweeteners have almost zero calories in the quantities needed to mimic sugar flavor. Your body can’t use them for energy. So they can’t store them as fat or otherwise, they essentially do nothing and go right through you.
So if you need energy or calories, sugar is a fantastic source, of course consuming too many calories can be a problem too. But that has nothing to do with being sugar, only calories
If you don’t need calories, artificial sweeteners are a great way to sweeten food without needing to have the extra calories provided by sugar.
Both do things your body needs depending on what your body needs.
Most zero sugar products actually contain things which behave just like sugar in the body, but are much, much, much sweeter. So a few miligrams of them, adding up to maybe 10 calories, can taste as sweet as dozens of grams of sugar adding up to several hundred calories.
There is evidence that they may cause insulin spikes and thus increase risk of diabetes, just like sugar, but they physically contain very few calories so cannot on their own contribute to things like fatty liver, congestive heart failure or obesity.
Also some people have sensitivities to some of them and they have been linked with digestive discomfort and headaches in those with sensitivity.
But on balance they are probably better for you than consuming excessive amounts of processed sugar, but also probably not completely healthy.
If you’re referring to sugar alcohols, they seem alright unless you’re one of those people who get painful gas and bloat from consuming them. Just give me real sugar, thank you.
I mean, if you consume too much sugar then almost certainly yes. If you consume a very modest amount of sugar already than you’re not likely to see any benefits by replacing that with artificial sweeteners.
It depends entirely on what the sugar is replaced with, some products were able to lower the sugar content dramatically by increasing the fat content. The key is to look a the calorie content of the sugar and zero sugar item. Some sugar replacement chemicals may have an adverse action on the body, but that is generally better than consuming massive amounts of sugar.
Sugar is fine in moderation. The thing that’s good for your body is avoiding overconsumption of calories. And zero sugar food products tend to be lower in calories.
It’s just tricking your taste buds into seeing sugar that’s not there. The body can’t use it and it passes through. This obsession with artificial sweeteners like it’s a bad word, it’s unbelievable to me how quickly people eat up this nonsense.
Soda, by itself, is not good for you. If you are at all attempting to manage weight as part of healthy living, it’s probably attempting to lower your caloric intake. As such, it’s not that artificial sweeteners are good for you, they do nothing for you, but if they allow you drink a Coke Zero instead of a Coke, that’s like 150 calories or more of sugar you didn’t consume.
There’s different things that they use to get sweetness without sugar, depending on the food.
A sugar substitute that works great for soda or coffee, may not work for, say, reeses peanut butter cups. Maybe because it changes the taste when mixed, or doesn’t last long enough, or changes the texture.
Each sugar substitute has its own drawbacks.
For example, the one used in Zero-cal sodas is usually aspartame. Some studies show it probably increases the chances of getting certain cancers, but you need to eat/drink a lot of it. Something like 20 sodas a day would put you at risk. Something like 2 sodas a day is fine.
Being fat is a big health risk, not just for cancer but for a bunch of things… diabetes, heart disease, liver disease.
You can look up the substitutes used for different foods, and decide on a case-by-case basis if they sound ok for you. For a lot of people obesity is a serious health risk, and switching to something like zero sugar soda is a no-brainer.
For others who are fit, maybe something like zero sugar Reeses doesn’t quite taste as good as the sugar version, and they’ll probably be fine to just have the normal Reeses instead, even if the one with maltitol (the sugar substitute) are fine and would be safe for them to eat.
If you have type 1 diabetes, and some forms of type 2. Yes absolutely. No carbs/calories/sugar, so your body has nothing to pull from
It depends what you’re trading off. If you’re trading off sugary sodas for zero sugar, soda, then they’re probably better for you.
If you were drinking less water, then maybe not, though the health changes are very minimal.
Read the label, and compare the sugar content in number to what it looks like in tangible amounts. http://dataphys.org/list/how-much-sugar-do-you-consume/
Even your taste buds will revolt if you try to eat that much sugar in one sitting without the different flavors masking it.
Body has to maintain a narrow range of blood sugar levels at all times. Body’s internal mechanism has to work extra hard to get blood sugar levels back in control when you intake that much sugar in one go, especially in liquid form which readily gets absorbed. Do this frequently enough and even body’s mechanisms start to fail, in medical terms its called insulin resistance or type-2 diabetes.
There may be health risks associated with them, but there isn’t a clear consensus.
I think they are good for some people, because while they may have health risks, excessive amounts of sugar most certainly do have very negative health implications.
It would be best to just drink water. But if you’re going to guzzle soda one way or another, sugar free versions are better than full sugar versions.
If you replace your soda with diet soda you will see a significant drop in your calories ingested daily.
It depends on the product. The only one that I know has at least some scientific evidence supporting that it’s actually beneficial to consume is allulose.
I have a T1 diabetic teenage child. They decided in a moment of great wisdom to eat an entire jar of low sugar frosting. With a spoon. Like a rabid animal.
She had the gummy-bear-rumbles for two straight days.
Fake sugar and especially the sugar alcohols in low sugar products can do some nutty things to your system if treated like a “eat anything you want” free card.
Speaking specifically as a diabetic, yes. The consequences of consuming sugar far outweigh the consequences of substitutes.
If you are fat, yes. If you are underweight no. Most people are fat, so mostly yes.
ELI5: Sugar makes you fat. Fat makes you unhealthy.
Yes, no sugar.
Sweeteners when used in moderation have no negative effects.
There are so many levels to this but to keep it simple, in a general sense? Absolutely.
People debate about whether or not sugar substitutes are bad.
It is universally recognized that too much sugary food and drinks are bad.
My throat becomes irritated after drinking anything with Sucralose. So I have a hard time now because I’ve stopped drinking basically anything with zero sugar as it’s so common in those drinks.
Most processed edible products are not great for you and should be consumed in low quantities.
Sugar should also be consumed in low quantities.
It’s mostly advertising and a product but still processed and not good for you.
Eat 80% of your calories from real food and do whatever with the 20% left.
If you eat good and clean most of the time then real sugar in real food is better than a processed product whatever sweetener they used.
Excess sugar is proven to be strongly linked to a ton of health problems. Artificial sugars have not been proven to cause health issues. Do you want the substance that will most definitely cause you health issues or the one that has not been shown to (despite tons of research)?
I’d say it’s a complicated matter because of dosage, frequency, and what sweetener.
Most artificial sweeteners disturb the gut microbiome in different ways. I’d avoid them. Dysbiosis, reduces gut diversity, messes with the gut brain signaling, gas and inflammation.
Use natural. Stevia from trees, Monk fruit, real honey, maple syrup.
In short it’s a no go.
Not that anyone asked but I’ve been ‘off’ sugar for 4 years and I lost weight and it’s stabilized so it really showed me how much sugar I was consuming on the regular. Reading the labels helped figure out what was ‘worth it’ or not. In general it led me to eat a ton more vegetables and proteins. Natural sugars, I’m good with.
Zero sugar substitutes are better tasting than in the past, just gotta watch out for those sugar alcohols too.
Just going to say it’s important to understand that the issue isn’t sugar, it’s energy toxicity.
That is to say, consuming too many calories/too much sugar. Zero sugar products help with that problem, but there are really no reasons to avoid sugar in the context of a balanced and healthy diet.
Zero sugar products can be a healthier choice, especially for reducing calorie intake and managing blood sugar levels. They help cut down on added sugars, which are linked to weight gain and diabetes. However, many contain artificial sweeteners or sugar alcohols, which may cause digestive issues for some people and have uncertain long-term effects. While they can be better than sugary alternatives, it’s still important to check the ingredients and not assume they’re automatically healthy. Moderation and overall diet quality matter most.
not inherently, no. sugar isn’t bad. excessive sugar is bad. not having enough sugar can also be bad. moderation and balance are what’s important.
No, they are not. While reducing added sugar consumption can have health benefits, ‘sugar-free’ products often contain artificial sweeteners that are not entirely safe.
Depends on the artificial sweetener. Sugar alcohols can be bad for your gut health and gut microbiome. Common ones are xylitol malitol and sorbitol. You might be able to test out your sensitivity by chewing some sugar alcohol gum and see how it affects your stomach. Some people are really really sensitive to it and it can give rhyme headaches and stomach aches which can really affect their mood
No, they are about half as bad but definitely not good for you. I drank too many sweeteners like Sweet N Low and messed up my gut biome. Took me four months of hell to not be in daily pain and over a year to truly heal. I occasionally have a Coke Zero but it’s rare. Try not to have either type of soda. They’re both terrible for you.
Zero sugar products such as water are great for your body.
Zero sugar products, such as those full of artificial sweeteners can cause problems, but there is not a consensus about how bad these are. Some nutritionists consider zero-sugar products harmless, and better for you than those with sugar. Others consider such products essentially poisons that can cause all kinds of bad things including cancer, insulin resistance, bad changes to your the microbes in your intestines, weight gain due to influence on overall eating patterns, and other problems.
All i know if some artificial sweetners in excess give me the runs something fierce
No.
Artificial sweeteners can alter the composition and function of gut microbiota. You can find studies showning that sweeteners like saccharin, sucralose, and aspartame can disrupt the balance of bacteria in the gut, leading to glucose intolerance and metabolic changes.
Sugar as such isn’t a problem, generally. Refined sugar and nonsense like hfcs are. Just eat whole foods in the shape you’ve evolved to eat and you’ll be fine. No need for industrial slop like aspartame. Even for diabetics, and maybe especially for diabetics, there are infinitely better choices available than industrial slop.
A lot of the answers here talk about how zero-calorie sweeteners won’t cause weight gain or whatever.
At least one recent study has shown a possible connection between artificial sweeteners and diabetes. That is, your body senses you are eating something sweet, so it releases more insulin to handle it, but the sugar isn’t there, so over time you might develop a resistance to insulin because of it, a.k.a diabetes.
For me, I stay away from them and use sugar sparingly.
https://diabetesjournals.org/care/article/46/9/1681/153434/Artificial-Sweeteners-and-Risk-of-Type-2-Diabetes
Aren’t artificial sweeteners really bad for your microbiome?
Not necessarily, it’s just replacing one evil with another. “Sugar-free” = chemical sh!tstorm. You’d have to subjectively select the lesser of two evils 🤷♀️
They’re kinda better if you’re watching your sugar intake, but tbh, they can still have other stuff that’s not so healthy… so, I guess it’s a trade-off, tho.
Sooo Dr Pepper zero is still bad, but not AS BAD as Dr Pepper?
Lots of good comments already about the negative health impacts of sugar so I just wanna add some additional food for thought:
The fact that sugar is bad for you doesn’t necessarily mean that zero-sugar products are ‘better for your body’. If a sugary food has no significant nutritional value, then taking out the sugar doesn’t add nutrients. It only reduces the harm. It’s ‘better’ in the sense of no longer being actively harmful, but that doesn’t make it healthy.
So if you take, for instance, soft drinks. Sugar-sweetened soft drinks are obviously bad for our bodies. Replace the sugar with an artificial sweetener, and the soft drink is still nutritionally vacant, even if it’s no longer harmful. It’s basically flavoured water at that point.
If the goal of evaluating food choices is to improve the nutrition of your diet, reducing sugar intake is helpful but only part of the overall picture. You also want to seek out foods that are nutritionally dense. As a rule of thumb this means whole, minimally-processed foods like fresh meats and vegetables.