What Makes SugarLike the Best Sweetener On The Market

There are many sweeteners available the market. The challenge is knowing what makes them different from each other and which sweetener products are good and which products are bad.

The good news is that SugarLike is BY FAR THE BEST ZERO CALORIE SWEETENER ON THE MARKET!

1. We make our sweetener differently than the competition

  • Competitor brands make their sweeteners with a simple blending and spray on process. This process is very energy intensive as they dissolve their monk fruit extract in water, blend it together then spray it onto erythritol. After that they heat the mixture to evaporate the water. 
  • This process is bad for the environment as it wastes a ton of water and leads to many problems such as: 
    • Inconsistent flavour and sweetness throughout the package (hot & cold spots) 
    • Clumping together of sweetener
    • Bitter and chemical aftertastes 
    • Hardens in baking 
    • Not measuring 1:1 like sugar

SugarLike solves these issues with its patented dry embedding technology!

  • SugarLike sweeteners are made with a patented dry embedding technology. Instead of using tons of water, we vacuum seal the ingredients together and apply heat to capture the sweetness of monk fruit extract and perfectly embed it with our carrier crystal erythritol. 
  • This process removes the common problems of other sweeteners and creates a product that:  
    • Has the same sweetness level as sugar
    • Has consistent flavour and sweetness throughout the package
    • Doesn’t clump together
    • Doesn’t harden in baking
    • Measures 1:1 like sugar
    • Tastes just like sugar
    • Is good for the environment!

2. We have the highest quality sweetener ingredients

  • Sweeteners have two common ingredients, a high potency monk fruit or stevia extract and carrier crystal like erythritol 
  • The compounds that give monk fruit extract their sweetness are called mogrosides
  • Competitors use low grade mogrosides in their product like mogroside I & II 
    • These mogrosides are low quality and often have bad licorice aftertastes which linger in the mouth after eating 
  • SugarLike is different because we only use the highest quality mogroside V and non-GMO erythritol from corn to make our products, letting us develop sweeteners that are good for your taste buds and your body! 

3. We have a steady supply chain

  • Not only does NutraEx make awesome SugarLike products, but NutraEx also supplies industrial sweeteners to some of the largest food and beverage brands in the world
  • Our industrial business does millions of dollars every year selling our sweeteners to other brands. Because of this, we have a steady supply chain which doesn’t get interrupted by ingredient shortages, higher prices and unexpected events like covid19 
  • SugarLike can provide a consistent, steady supply of sweeteners to make sure when your customers want SugarLike, they can get it at your store

4. We have competitive prices

  • Recently the world has faced a global shortage of monk fruit and erythritol, and other key sweetener ingredients
  • This caused many competitor brands like Lakanto, Swerve and Krisda to go out of stock or raise their prices significantly 
  • SugarLike however keeps consistent pricing which can match and beat the prices of our competitors. This means more margin for your store. 
A table displaying the different prices of sweetener products from different brands
Prices are from Amazon

DIABETES – A Promising Future For Diabetics in Canada


Attention all diabetes patients, advocates and supporters.

Today is a special day! Bill C-237, which is an act to establish a national diabetes framework in Canada, was officially passed in Parliament today! The passing of this bill makes it a law that Canada must establish a national diabetes framework to address the growing epidemic of diabetes in Canada.

Diabetes is a devastating disease which affects millions of Canadians every year and has a huge cost for our health care system and individuals:

this table shows the facts about how many canadians have diabetes and how much it costs our health care system

So what does this all mean?

Now that Bill C-237 has passed, the Federal Minister of Health in Canada has 1 year to table a national diabetes framework in Parliament. This is amazing news for diabetics. Now that this bill has passed and the government has committed to creating a national diabetes framework, Canada can prevent millions of cases of type 2 diabetes and avoid hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations for diabetes-related complications over the next ten years. It can also mean diabetics across Canada will get improved access to medications, devices and critical life saving supplies like insulin pumps and advanced glucose monitoring devices that will ensure that no diabetic struggles to afford the care they need, and deserve!

A Step in the right direction

NutraEx Food and SugarLike were founded because of diabetes, so this news is very exciting for us! Our founder Lily started the company after losing her beloved auntie to diabetes related complications. Lily knew that our world was addicted to sugar and a change needed to be made to how we eat.

Using her food flavoring expertise, Lily created SugarLike, the best tasting zero calorie sweetener on the market! SugarLike zero calorie sweeteners look, taste, measure and bake just like sugar. The best part? They have zero calories and zero glycemic index, making them the perfect diabetic sweetener! SugarLike does everything sugar does, but better since it’s zero calories and diabetic friendly!

SugarLike zero calorie sweeteners empower diabetics across the country to still enjoy that same great taste of sugar, but not have to worry about spiking their blood glucose levels and damaging their body from eating too much sugar. SugarLike was created to empower diabetics to take control over their diet and health, without having to quit eating their favorite sweets. You simply swap sugar for SugarLike 1:1 and you can live the healthy sweet life!

Not a Diabetic? You should still be using SugarLike

Even if you’re not a diabetic, you should still be using SugarLike. SugarLike helps people prevent diabetes before it starts by reducing the calories in your diet while still eating those same tasty sweets!

Spend money on SugarLike now, save money on hospital visits in the future! Shop Now

Learn more about diabetes

Cookies Craving While Pregnant? Make Them With SugarLike!

delicious cookies made with SugarLike!

Eating cookies were all I could think about. Every week, my pregnancy cravings got worse and worse. Most of the time, they were random and sometimes they were the weirdest concoctions one could imagine but the one thing that was always on my mind, were cookies. Unfortunately, after becoming pregnant I had developed gestational diabetes, meaning my pancreas didn’t produce enough insulin to offset the glucose accumulating in my blood from my hormones. This means that no matter how much I crave cookies, that was the one thing I was not allowed to have.

My husband was very good at controlling my what I ate, quite literally actually. Since I was absolutely terrible in the kitchen, he had taken on the task of being the one who cooked for the family. He knew researched a lot about developing diabetes during pregnancy and made it his goal to keep me within healthy blood sugar levels. When I was diabetic-free, the one thing I could pride myself on when in the kitchen, was my ability to make the best cookies in the world. But once again, I was not allowed to eat those cookies. And I was devasted.

“Honey, I know how much you’ve been craving your oh, so beloved cookies. So I’ve been looking at some alternatives for you.” For the first time during my pregnancy, I was hopeful. I stared back him with longing but excited eyes. He noticed how I was looking at him and sighed into a smile, “alright you big baby, let’s go to the store and see which ones you want to try.”

Thankfully, our apartment was a few minutes away from a grocery, allowing us to enjoy a pleasant walk together on a beautiful sunny day. Once we arrived, the blast of the air conditioning felt like a blessing in disguise. No matter how nice it was outside, I was still pregnant, and exercise felt more like a chore than it did before. We browsed through the aisles and noticed that it was hard to find any sweeteners in the diabetics section of the pharmacy. We then thought that maybe it was in the baking aisle, but even then the selection was quite limited. From Paul’s previous research, he had already determined that the selection that was present would not be a good suit for us due to reviews stating that there was an obvious aftertaste and the sweetness level of those sweeteners greatly differed from regular table sugar. We talked to an employee, hoping for some light in the dire situation that we were in.

“So you want a monk fruit sweetener?” This was part of Paul’s request, he heard that by far they were the best tasting. The employee continued, “Well, we don’t stock any here unfortunately, but I heard that London Drugs has a larger selection. A friend of mine recently tried one from there called SugarLike, and they said it was really good. Why don’t you try that?”

We gave our thanks and returned to our apartment to grab the car, the nearest London Drugs was still a 15 minute drive away and I was not going to walk that distance in this weather. After picking up our own bag of SugarLike, I was finally free to make the cookies of which I had been craving for weeks on end. Before Paul even let me start though, he had to do some more quick research to find out if it was okay for pregnant women. Thankfully, it was. Baking the cookies came at such ease, I did nothing to change the recipe and the taste was the exact same taste I was yearning to have. This is it. This is happiness.

Autumn’s Keto Journey and HBaking with SugarLike

Resting Keto Face Vanilla Cake with SugarLike

RKF Keto Product Score
Taste: 10/10

“Flavour wise this is honestly one of the best ones that I’ve ever had…this is the best keto sweetener for baking”

Resting Keto Face super-versatile vanilla keto cake Youtube recipe

Please note that Autumn only provides HONEST product reviews and ratings

JUMP TO HER RECIPE BELOW

What are NET CARBS

RKF Review on SugarLike Keto Sweetener

Autumn from Resting Keto Face started her keto journey in April 2018. Since then, she has lost 40 LBS. For Autum, her “why” is more than just weight loss.

For anyone who’s looking to start keto or is new to keto, she has shared some tips which has helped her reach her weight goals and happily stay on course. She provides HONEST reviews – her own opinions about the low carb, keto products that she receives as samples and recommends them to her reading.

If you are struggling to find keto food products or are getting bored of the same food, you can visit her site to view her recommended shopping list and give them a try. 

HER ‘WHY’ FOR KETO

For Autumn, her “why” for keto lifestyle is improved physical health and well-being. Keto has solved some issues for me that extend beyond the 40lb I needed to lose. Keto has proven to improve her health issues and changed her relationship with food, focusing on better ingredients.

Here are what she has been able to correct by following keto:

  • Inflammation
  • Nausea
  • Stomach pain & digestion issues
  • Brain fog, low energy
  • EVERLASTING HUNGER (even after eating)
  • STUBBORN EXTRA WEIGHT (40 LBS gone)

When Autumn started her keto journey, she did an extensive research and these are some of the questions that many of you might share the same interests:

  • What are net carbs?
  • How much carbs should I have a day?
  • Why are some sugar alcohols different than others?
  • What are the best sweeteners on keto?
  • Keto-friendly recipes

One mistake that she guarantees you will make is that you will find that, maybe once in a while, your carbohydrates intake is higher than planned. So what do you do? Don’t stress it out or as she puts it “KCKO” Keep Calm and Carry On.

If you’re already seeing results from the good choices you’ve been making, just continue making those good choices.

MACROS

Understanding macros, how to calculate them based on your caloric intake is key to Keto diet. One of the pillars of keto is a larger percentage of caloric fat intake than protein and carbs combined.

Autumn describes marcos as “the nutritional breakdown of your foods, generally divided into carbs, fats, and proteins. While 20g net carbs is a universal amount that will likely keep everyone in ketosis, fat and protein amounts will vary from person to person due to body size and activity levels”.

WHAT ARE NET CARBS?

Net Carbs are the total effective carbs absorbed by your body.

Important CARBS to remember for keto:

  • TOTAL CARBS
  • DIETARY FIBER
  • SUGAR ALCOHOL
  • NET CARBS

NET CARBS

Since dietary fiber and most sugar alcohols are not absorbed by the body, that is why subtract those to get the final net carb count. On the nutrition facts, you should be able to see the first three clearly labeled, and probably sugars count as well. To calculate net carbs:

TOTAL CARBS – (DIETARY FIBER + SUGAR ALCOHOL + TOTAL SUGARS) = NET CARBS

The following is The Keto Golden Ratio that Autumn recommends keto beginners to follow:

The keto golden ratio. 70% fat, 25% protein, 5% carbohydrates

LESS THAN 20G NET CARBS, OR 5%

With this 20G net carbs to stay in ketosis, you may wonder “How will I be able to enjoy those amazing sweet treats”. That is exactly where natural, sugar-free sweeteners come in. Natural sweeteners offers a NATURAL alternative solution to sweetening all your sweet treats. SugarLike monk fruit sweetener, derived from real monk fruit extract, does not spike your blood sugar levels because it has ZERO NET CARBS, ZERO SUGARS, and ZERO GLYCEMIC INDEX. Even if you are not on a keto diet, you should still avoid refined, processed sugars that lead to the vicious cycle of blood spikes, diabetes, and damage your health.

With keto, Autumn never finds herself feeling hungry (AND HANGRY) all the time and is finally able to ‘treat’ herself and have a healthy relationship with food.

GREAT TASTING & SAFE KETO SWEETENERS?

SugarLike sweetener used to sweeten coffee

This is a very popular question. Her respond to this? “ Yes, of course they’re safe. But you’ve got to use the right kinds”

Yes, there are many sugar substitutes available in the market today. But no, NOT ALL SUGAR  SUBSTITURES are created EQUAL. There have been extensive research on artificial sweeteners and their harmful effects on our bodies.

“Maltitol and isomalt, for example, will cause laxative effects if used in moderate-to-high doses. Those sweeteners also have glycemic impacts almost as high as sugar. In fact, if you check the label on something that’s sweetened with these, it likely warns of the laxative effect that may occur from more than a single serving of that item.”

“The sweeteners that I recommend for keto are erythritol, xylitol (but keep it away from pets!), monk fruit, and stevia.” 

These sweeteners have low to none glycemic impact on blood sugar levels and have great taste. However, most sweeteners cannot be substituted directly for sugar. For example, monk fruit is up to 200x sweeter than sugar while erythritol is only 0.7x as sweet. They normally cannot provide the functions that sugar provides in baking – for example, the quality of rise, the texture, moisture retention ability. This can really complicate things, and requires many changes to the recipe you are using.

Luckily, you’ve found SugarLike! We understand these problems and created SugarLike Encapsulated Sweetener for you to enjoy without any compromises to  health, taste and texture! You can simply use 1 cup SugarLike for 1 cup sugar in your recipes and enjoy the same great taste of sugar. As our sweetener is encapsulated and is not only just a regular ‘blend’ that you may commonly find in the market, we are able to offer a truly premium natural sweetener that closely imitates the functionality of sugar in food and beverages. Give SugarLike a try!


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RKF REVIEW: SugarLike Zero Calorie Keto Sweetener

The facts of SugarLike. SugarLike is keto friendly, diabetic friendly, gluten free, vegan, non-GMO, sugar free, zero calories, zero sugar, zero net carbs
SugarLike sweetener. A picture showing SugarLike and its beautiful granular crystals

SugarLike is a non-GMO, sugar-Free, zero net carbs. It is made with ONLY two ingredients: Erythritol and Monk Fruit Extract. As we have discussed before, Erythritol and Monk Fruit are indigestible by your body which leaves you with 0 NET carbs. Another important note is that Erythritol and Monk Fruit Extract have low-to-zero glycemic impact which is why the perfect choices for Keto. Both have been used for centuries to sweetener food and beverages, especially for people who have diabetes. 

Many sweeteners with erythritol have an overpowering “cooling” effect which you will not find with SugarLike, “The product also didn’t hurt my mouth, like some other granulated Monk Fruit sweeteners have done in the past.”

She also finds that the other sweetener
“isn’t really sweet and doesn’t really do what [she] wanted it to do”  but when it comes to SugarLike, here’s what
she has to say:

“Flavour wise this is honestly one of the best ones that I’ve ever had”

“The cake was really delicate and it just has a really nice texture…I really think that a lot has to do with the [SugarLike] sweetener that we use, so I think that it did a great job at making sure that it was the right texture”

“Since it held up so well in the oven, I’m going to go ahead and say it: this is the best keto sweetener for baking.” She adds.

POSSIBLE USES & RESULTS

a keto vanilla cake sweetened with sugarlike

“I’ve used this sweetener in my personal vanilla cake recipe, smoothies, tea, and coffee. I think that it did a great job of dissolving and found that it didn’t recrystallize when the recipe was refrigerated for later.”

When a sweetener crystallizes, many crystal grains appear on the surface and may affect the tastes and definitely affects the texture and moisture content – harden and dry out a few minutes out of the oven.

Not sure which recipe to try with SugarLike? Check Autumn’s  YouTube page for her vanilla cake recipe with SugarLike.

Other ideas: sweet sauces, like BBQ and teriyaki, sweetened keto breads, muffins, cookies, and cheesecakes.

“Also, since it did a pretty good job of caramelizing in my cake recipe, I think it would be great in an actual caramel sauce, or in a keto creme brulee.”

Even more interested in trying SugarLike sweetener now?


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OR interested in seeing more great results, see our ULTIMATE SWEETENER GUIDE.

RKF Keto Product Score
Taste: 10/10

“WOO we have a winner here! This tasted very very close to sugar. If I had never had a sugar substitute before, I would not have known that this is different. I had my wife try it and she thought it was sugar. No cooling effect.”

this image shows a keto vanilla cake baked with SugarLike

KETO VANILLA CAKE – Butter Cake – Sour Cream Cake – Pound Cake – RECIPE WITH SUGARLIKE SWEETENER

Ingredient list:

  • Egg
  • Butter
  • Sour cream
  • Salt
  • Baking Powder
  • Vanilla extract
  • Almond Flour
  • Coconut Flour
  • SugarLike Zero Calorie Sweetener

“It definitely acts one to one LIKE sugar and I totally recommend this”


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Encapsulated Sweetener – Not a simple blend like others

“Zero Calories. Zero Compromise.”

SugarLike is not your regular zero calorie sweetener. SugarLike is different because it is an encapsulated monk fruit sweetener!

Lily Zou, our founder, created SugarLike® to be the best-tasting and 100% natural sweetener. Let people enjoy sweet foods without compromising their health. The biggest motivation was her aunt. Auntie passed away at a considerably young age, due to diabetes. She was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Although she was diagnosed with diabetes, auntie had a real sweet tooth. This was a struggle for her, to enjoy sweet foods while keeping her blood sugar levels stable. It was her happiness to bake for the family and enjoy them together. This motivated Lily to put her experience of over 10 years working in food flavour industry to create the ultimate sweetener, SugarLike encapsulated sweetener. It is the sweet solution that can be enjoyed by everyone, adults and children of all ages. Even women who are pregnant and nursing mothers. 

With zero-calorie and zero-sugar, we can finally have a healthy relationship with sweet foods.

What makes our encapsulated sweetener different?

SugarLike was born with the purpose to offer a healthy solution to sweet foods. With many sweet alternatives in the market, you should know how to identify the high quality products that you deserve. With SugarLike, we promise to deliver the best quality product, made from only natural ingredients that is like no others. Our encapsulation process is unique in the world. Our team together has over 30 years’ experience in the food flavour field. SugarLike lets you bring out your sweet side without any compromises to your health and your lifestyle.

Our ingredients are all natural. We guarantee that every ingredient comes from GMO-free sources. We use natural extracts from monk fruit that are grown and cultivated in Southeast Asia. Our erythritol sweetener is made by a natural fermentation process from non-GMO plant sources. All our products are manufactured and packaged in Canada.

Our very own encapsulation process allows for a safe and most natural way to offer the best tasting monk fruit that has the same sweetness as regular sugar.

Why is SugarLike encapsulated sweetener special?

Encapsulation is the process where we take monk fruit extract and incorporate them in erythritol crystals. Encapsulation process is not a new concept, it has been used for centuries in the pharmaceutical community to make the capsules and pills that we use everyday. 

SugarLike’s encapsulation process was first created to capture the sweet taste of Stevioside from stevia leafs and eliminate the problem of unpleasant, bitter and metallic taste that is common in natural sweeteners in the market. Lily wanted to create an even more premium sweetener made from monk fruit, a fruit rich in antioxidants used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for many centuries to heal diseases. She used the same encapsulation process to capture the sweet taste of mogrosides from monk fruit. From this, SugarLike encapsulated monk fruit sweetener was created. SugarLike is your premium monk fruit sweetener that not only tastes and looks like sugar, but can replace sugar directly. It even browns in baking!

an animated GIF to show how monk fruit is used to create our SugarLike encapsulated sweetener

What are the ingredients in SugarLike Zero Calorie Encapsulated Monk Fruit sweetener?

Only two ingredients: 

Erythritol and monk fruit extract.

No additives, no harmful artificial ingredients. 

Why do we include Erythritol?

Erythritol is a type of sugar alcohol that is often misunderstood as an artificial sweetener. Sugar alcohols are naturally found in fruits and vegetables; they were initially used in specialized diabetic products. They are called sugar alcohols because part of their structure resembles sugar and part resembles alcohols, but they are NOT SUGAR NOR ALCOHOL. Erythritol is approximately 70% as sweet as sugar.

Monk fruit extract can be up to 150 sweetener than sugar

Currently, Government of Canada only allows monk fruit extract to be used as tabletop sweetener. Monk fruit extract must have a maximum level of 0.8% calculated as Mogroside V. Mogroside V is a type of compound contained in monk fruit that provides its sweet taste and it can be up to 150-200 times sweetener than sugar. This posed a challenge and inconvenience for users to use monk fruit as a direct substitute for sugar in their recipes. With SugarLike’s encapsulation technology, we were able to incorporating monk fruit in erythritol that created a sweetening solution that has the same sweetness ratio as sugar. 1 cup SugarLike for 1 cup sugar. It is not just blended with erythritol like many sweeteners in the market. This is why it closely imitates the functionality of sugar including an even distribution of sweetness, higher solubility than most sweeteners and browning. 

Monk fruit extract has an herbal, medicine-like taste

Monk fruit extracts, like Stevia, also have the natural herbal and medicine-like taste, some even leave a metallic and bitter linger. Through our encapsulation process, we were able to capture the sweet taste from Mogroside V and incorporate them into the erythritol crystals to eliminate problem of undesirable taste.

Erythritol provides a natural beautiful crystal that looks like sugar

Making an encapsulated sweetener allows for the properties of monk fruit to be protected in a beautiful heat-stable crystalline structure of erythritol that provides the appearance of sugar.

How do we select the highest-quality ingredients?

Erythritol

Erythritol can be found in traces in pears, soy sauce, watermelon and even human tissues. SugarLike’s erythritol is made from high quality corn sources, by a natural fermentation process, the same way that occurs in nature. This is similar to how kombucha drinks or fermented foods are made. Unlike other sugar alcohols, naturally fermented erythritol does not produce the same stomach upsets. It is safe for adults and children of all ages. This is why erythritol has been the preferred sugar substitute in the diabetic community since for decades.

Erythritol is commonly fermented from. Approximately 86% of the world’s crops are genetically modified to be herbicide-tolerant, corn being one of the top four. Canada and United states, the leaders in genetically modified corns, do not require labeling of genetically modified foods. With SugarLike, you can have the confidence that you will omnly have the highest quality, non-gmo products. We only source our corns from gmo-free producers to ensure only the best quality erythritol.  

Monk Fruit

Similarly, monk fruit can be genetically modified. Monk fruit extracts can be very expensive which is why many sweeteners in the market turn to genetically modified, made-made monk fruit extracts. This allows for low-priced monk fruit sweetener. At SugarLike, we only use monk fruit that is extracted from real monk fruits. We take pride in sourcing our ingredients from only non-GMO sources, to give our customers the highest quality ingredients that will give them a peace of mind to enjoy our sweets without compromising their health.

Our core values

Customer Satisfaction.

We developed the best-tasting sweetener alternative that can be used, shared and loved by everyone. Our product is calorie-free, sugar-free, gluten-free, GMO-free, 100% natural and plant-based. Whether our users are vegans, ketogenic, diabetics or just simply looking to stay fit and healthy, they can all enjoy our products, guilt-free!

Taste, Quality and Convenience.

We want to make our world a better place through healthier sweetener alternatives. For this reason, we were determined to create healthy sweet solutions that not only taste and look like sugar, but can be easily substituted for sugar in all applications. With our unique encapsulation technology and highest-quality ingredients, we made this come true. Our sugar-free sweeteners taste sweet like sugar without any off-taste, looks and feels like sugar, and most importantly, can be substituted spoon for spoon.

Health and Environment.

SugarLike commits to transparency. Our ingredients are 100% naturally sourced and plant-based. We do not use any GMO or artificial ingredients in our products.

SugarLike, your healthier way of living.

Is Erythritol Keto-Friendly? The facts about Erythritol and sugar alcohols

Is Erythritol Keto-friendly? YES IT IS!

Fast facts about erythritol:

  • It contains far fewer calories than sugar and has 0 glycemic index
  • It has 60-80% of the sweet taste of table sugar
  • Seems to cause fewer digestive problems than other sugar alcohols
  • Tastes better than other sugar alcohols
  • Preferred sugar substitute for people with diabetes
  • Promotes oral health and doesn’t lead to tooth decay
  • It is proven to be safe for pets. Unlike xylitol which is toxic to dogs

Now let’s get into more details:

1. What is Erythritol?

It is a type of sugar alcohol occurring naturally in fruits and fermented foods. Also existing in small quantities in the human body as a natural byproduct of the fermentation of bacteria in our digestive system. It occurs naturally in wine, beer, mushrooms, pears, grapes, and soy sauce – to name a few.

Erythritol is produced from glucose or sugar. The first step is mixing glucose or sugar with yeast. This yeast ferments glucose to form erythritol. The fermented mixture is then heated and then dried by boiling off water. The crystals are then formed. These crystals are washed and purified to remove impurities, to make it safe for human consumption.

Although the name ‘sugar alcohol’ can be a bit misleading, it is NOT a sugar nor alcohol! Sugar alcohols don’t contain ethanol, so no they will not get you drunk. They also don’t spike your blood sugar like regular sugar. The molecules are like hybrids of a carbohydrate and an alcohol. The molecules are structured in the way that stimulates the sweet taste receptors on our tongues.

Erythritol is around 60-80% as sweet as sugar, according to the International Food Information Council. The mild cooling effect when you consume it is caused by a harmless chemical reaction similar to evaporation.

Fun Facts:

  • Another name for sugar alcohols is polyols.
  • Erythritol was first discovered over 150 years ago, but wasn’t produced commercially until the 1990s.

2. Does it get absorbed into our body?

Erythritol gets absorbed in the small intestine and most of it comes right out in your urine. A recent study concluded that erythritol does “not affect plasma glucose or insulin concentrations or gut microbiota.” Taking into consideration all the fermentation variables such as gas production, pH, and hydrogen accumulation, they found erythritol to be non-fermentable by human microbiota (bacteria, archaea, protists, fungi and viruses). This is why it does not cause the same gassy, cramping or bloating effects that other sugar alcohols do. The diagram below shows the structures of common sugar alcohols and their effects on different types of bacteria.

a infographic showing the structures of common sugar alcohols and their effects on different types of bacteria
Arrows show the effects on an increase or decrease in the number of microorganisms.

3. Why is it keto-friendly?

Erythritol has only 0.24 calories per gram. It contains the least calories among the sugar alcohols.

But isn’t it a carbohydrate?

Technically, yes. However, here is where it gets interesting. The carbohydrates in erythritol will NOT impact your overall carb intake. This is because it does not get metabolized in the body. It is excreted unchanged in the urine.

When you are on a keto diet, the rule of thumb is to limit your carbs to 30 grams a day (net carb). Sweets and dessert seems to be pretty much out of the question.

So even though there are roughly 4 grams of carbs per teaspoon of erythritol, its net carb count is zero.

an image showing sugarlike sweetener made with monk fruit and erythritol nutrition facts
SugarLike Nutrition Fact
an image showing sugarlike sweetener made with monk fruit and erythritol, showing it's nutrition facts and it's unique selling points
Monk fruit blend nutrition panel
an image showing sugarlike sweetener made with monk fruit and erythritol and it's unique selling points
Suitable for all

Past experiments show that there is no change in blood sugar or insulin levels when people were given erythritol. There is also no effect on cholesterol, triglycerides or other biomarkers.

For this reason, erythritol appears to be an excellent alternative to sugar for people who are overweight, with diabetes or other metabolic issues.

4. Comparing with other sugar alcohols

Common sugar alcohols include erythritol, xylitol, sorbitol, maltitol, to name a few.

Of all the sugar alcohols, erythritol contains the least amount of calories per gram. See the graph below for a comparison.

  • Table sugar: 4 calories per gram.
  • Fructose: 4 calories per gram.
  • Maltitol Syrup: 3 calories per gram.
  • Sorbitol: 2.6 calories per gram
  • Xylitol: 2.4 calories per gram.
  • Maltitol: 2.1 calories per gram.
  • Lactitol: 2 calories per gram.
  • Erythritol: 0.24 calories per gram.
a comparison chart showing the calories of erythritol and other sugar alcohols

Even better, erythritol has zero glycemic index! If you refer to the graph below, you will see that it is the only sugar alcohol which does not affect blood glucose levels at all.

What is Glycemic Index?

The Glycemic Index (GI) is a scale from 1-100 that ranks carbohydrate foods by how much they raise blood glucose levels. Carbohydrates with a low GI value (55 or less) are more slowly digested, absorbed and metabolized and cause a lower and slower increase in blood glucose. Find out why a spike in blood glucose is bad for you here.

a comparison chart showing the glycemic index of erythritol and other sugar alcohols

5. Benefits of Erythritol

Erythritol may help reduce calories and added sugar in your diet. It doesn’t raise your blood sugar — no blood sugar spike means no cravings that can lead to weight gain.

A study from the Food and Chemical Toxicology found that it did not produce evidence of toxicity in humans. Even at high doses, they are mostly passed through the urine. There’s also no link between it and carcinogenic or cardiovascular risks reported. The FDA has not set a daily limit or recommended daily amount, and it is generally safe to eat in large amounts.

The Center for the Science in the Public Interest’s Chemical Cuisine recommends to limit xylitol, while it classifies erythritol as safe health line research.

What about the gassy effects or stomach upset?

When it comes to erythritol, you have to be eating of a LOT of it to experience these effects. We are talking about more than 30 grams a day. If you still concerned, you can stick to the recommended amount of roughly 10 to 15 grams per day as suggested by the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

We recommend that you use any food, sugar alcohol or non-nutritive sweetener (like monk fruit or stevia) in moderation as part of a healthy, balanced diet.

Did you know:

Manufacturers are not required to list a sugar alcohol count on the nutrition label. So you might not see it on every food that has erythritol listed as its ingredient. If it is included, you will find it listed under the total carbohydrate count, where is says “sugar alcohol”.

To substitute erythritol for sugar:

1 cup sugar =  1 + 1/3 cup erythritol

If this is too confusing to you, you can always use our 1:1 sugar substitute that is a blend of monk fruit and erythritol:

an image showing sugarlike sweetener encapsulated with monk fruit
Kitchen size – great for baking and cooking
an image showing our encapsulated monk fruit sugarlike sweetener
Nutrition panel
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Individual serving size – easy to carry around
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Individual serving

SugarLike monk fruit blend is a great alternative to sugar. No bad aftertaste, zero calories and zero glycemic index! Learn more about monk fruit here.

Now you know why everyone on the keto diet is so obsessed with Erythritol!

Sources

  • (2018, March 1). 7 Things to Know about Sweeteners on Keto: Paleo Leap. Retrieved from https://paleoleap.com/7-things-know-sweeteners-keto/
  • Anderson, P. (2013, July 17). How Sugar Substitutes Stack Up. Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/7/130717-sugar-substitutes-nutrasweet-splenda-stevia-baking/
  • Cloe, A. (2019, January 10). What Is Erythritol Made From? Retrieved from https://healthfully.com/22548-erythritol-made.html
  • Miller, M. (2019, March 9). Everyone On The Keto Diet Is Obsessed With This Sugar Replacement. Retrieved from https://www.womenshealthmag.com/food/a19055328/erythritol-side-effects/
  • Nitsu, D. (2019, April 24). Erythritol On Keto: Benefits And Side Effects. Retrieved from https://ketoconcern.com/erythritol-keto/
  • Oberst, L. (2017, October 11). Xylitol vs. Erythritol: What’s Healthier? Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/xylitol-vs-erythritol#1
  • (n.d.). Recent advances in biological production of erythritol. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07388551.2017.1380598
  • Roxy. (2018, October 3). XYLITOL VS. ERYTHRITOL. Retrieved from https://foodloversmarket.co.za/xylitol-vs-erythritol/

Contact Us

  • 3701 Hastings St, Burnaby, BC V5C 2H6
  • info@sugarlike.com
  • (888)-978-8249