Best and worst sugar substitutes

Sugar has earned a bad reputation for being bad for your heart, your brain and your waistline. Because of this, there have been many attempts to market sugar substitutes. Some are useful, but some are even worse than the original problem.

Here the common ones and how they rank.

Worse than sugar:

• High Fructose Corn Syrup: man made sugar that is used because it is cheap to produce. Affects your liver and fat storage negatively.

• Aspartame: Has some negative effects on brain and organ function. Effects can be reduced by eating protein with the meal.

About the same as sugar:

• Honey - More micronutrients than sugar if in its unprocessed form. Here are some tips to be able to tell the difference. Other than that, in processed form, its the same as sugar.

• Brown Sugar - Just a color difference.

• Agave Syrup - Has more calories than sugar, but is also sweeter. So you just end up using less. Basically the same as sugar.

Better than sugar:

• Some sugar alcohols - e.g. xylitol. Lower calories than sugar. Has some anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal effects. However beware that many other sugar alcohols can cause digesting disturbance i.e bloating, flatulence, and loose stools.

• Stevia - this is a herb-based sugar substitute, and my current favourite sugar substitute.

NOTE: For some people who are very overweight, or have a history of diabetes or other blood sugar related problems, even the taste of sugar can trigger the fat-storing and blood sugar-raising mechanism in your body. That means that even if you use a zero calorie sugar substitute, you can get the "bad" effect of sugar.

If you fall into that category, its best to go off sugars in a more dramatic fashion, in conjunction with a strength training program to help you manage blood sugar and lose some body-fat before re-introducing sugar or sugar substitutes into your diet.

Coach Jonathan Wong has a Doctorate of Science in Holistic Medicine, and is the author of "The Happy Body - Getting to the root of YOUR fitness, health and productivity". He is also the Founder and CEO of Genesis Gym Singapore, which aims to provide the best personal training and fitness services in Singapore.