Substitute sugar can occur in many forms, but not all of them are better for you. Some choose honey or honey crystals, which contains just the same amount of sucrose as ordinary table sugar. Some choose brands like Equal, Sweet n Low, Splenda, but all of these are heavily processed chemicals and safety issues have been raised about them. There is also Stevia, but most of these products leave a bitter after taste in your mouth. If you want a sugar substitute that has no known side effects, and tastes exactly like sugar, then the best option is Erythritol.
Erythritol may sound like a chemical, but it’s made naturally from fruits and is a natural sugar alcohol. (and no it’s not a sugar or an alcohol – it won’t get you drunk). Most of the other sugar alcohols like Sorbital or Xylitol are not easily absorbed by the body, so it gives you a laxative effect and makes you feel bloated. Erythritol gets absorbed by your smaller intestine, so you won’t suffer from the same effect. The best part about this sugar substitute is that it’s not just low GI (glycemic index), but it’s ZERO GI, which is great for diabetics.
The only negative about Erythritol is that it has about 70% sweetness of table sugar. So if you use 1 teaspoon of normal sugar in your tea or coffee, you’ll need to use about 1.5 teaspoons instead. The cost of this sweetener per weight is also more expensive than table sugar, but it still cheap enough to be used all the time to substitute your table sugar.