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You may know that getting too much sugar isn’t good for you, and that there are health concerns about using artificial sweeteners, such as aspartame. But we all want something sweet on occasion. Honey, maple syrup and agave are often touted as natural, better-for-you options. If you switch from sugar to one of these, are you doing your health a favor?
We won’t sugarcoat the truth: “They’re just sugar in liquid form,” says Wesley McWhorter, director of lifestyle medicine for Suvida Healthcare in Houston. In fact, honey, maple syrup and agave have slightly more calories than granulated sugar, a teaspoon of which has 16 calories and 4 grams of sugars. You should minimize their intake as with all added sugars — the types that are added to food. The American Heart Association recommends that women get no more than 25 grams of added sugars a day and men no more than 36 grams.
Honey and maple syrup do have nutrients, while white sugar has almost none. That gives them a slight edge, but you’d have to consume more than what’s desirable to get any real nutrition from them. The true advantage may simply be the flavor that some of these sweeteners bring to the table. “Their unique tastes can enhance specific recipes,” McWhorter says. In some cases, that means you can use less to flavor your food.
Here’s what’s in your natural sweeteners.
Honey
21 calories, 5 grams of sugars per teaspoon
Honey contains antioxidants, but the amount and kinds of those compounds differ depending on the type of honey (such as acacia, buckwheat or clover).
You may have heard that eating local honey can help relieve seasonal allergies, but there’s no evidence for this, says Stephen Kimura, an allergist in Pensacola, Fla. The types of pollen people tend to be allergic to aren’t the same pollens that wind up in honey, he says. You may not be imagining things if a bit of honey soothes you when you’re feeling unwell, though. It can soothe coughing and other upper respiratory symptoms, a 2020 review of 14 studies published in the journal BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine found.
Best uses: Honey’s fruit or floral flavors complement baked goods. It’s sweeter than sugar, so use less — about one-half to two-thirds of a cup for every cup of sugar. You may also need to cut back on other liquids because the honey itself adds moisture.
Maple syrup
17 calories, 4 grams of sugars per teaspoon
Like honey, maple syrup contains disease-fighting compounds. In a Canadian study, researchers analyzed maple syrup and found 23 antioxidants, and they think there are many more beyond those they were able to identify. But be sure to use pure maple syrup. Pancake syrup (a.k.a. table syrup) is essentially flavored corn syrup or high-fructose corn syrup and has no antioxidants.
Best uses: Whisk it with grainy mustard to use as a topping for salmon. Or add olive oil and apple cider vinegar to transform the maple/mustard mixture into a delicious salad dressing.
Agave
21 calories, 5 grams of sugars per teaspoon
Agave has gained attention for having a very low glycemic index (lower than sugar, honey or maple syrup), meaning it has less of an impact on blood sugar. But it’s high in a type of sugar called fructose. “Excessive fructose intake has been linked to liver issues like increased fat storage and insulin resistance,” McWhorter says. The effects are greater when a lot of fructose is eaten in a short period of time. (This isn’t a concern when it comes to fructose found in whole fruits. They’re a much less concentrated source of the sugar.) You can slow fructose absorption by eating agave-sweetened foods with fiber, fat and protein, such as whole grains or nuts.
Best uses: Agave adds sweetness but not much flavor. Its honey-like consistency, however, makes it a good option for stirring into drinks because it easily dissolves in cold or hot liquid.
What about stevia?
Some people consider the no-calorie sweetener stevia to be “natural” because it comes from a plant. The Food and Drug Administration doesn’t allow the leaves themselves to be used in food. Instead, its sweet-tasting compounds — called steviol glycosides — are extracted from the plant leaves and purified. This can be done with water or alcohol, but sometimes the extracts are modified with enzymes, and that makes stevia a highly processed product.
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