Mind Your Festive Sugar Intake: Why Swapping Sweeteners Is Not Enough

Indian kitchens are filling up with traditional festive sweets like laddus, payasam, halwa, and burfis as the festive season begins. Many people are replacing refined sugar with jaggery or trying artificial sweeteners like stevia, monk fruit, sucralose, saccharin, and aspartame to cut down on sugar. However, health experts point out that not every sugar alternative is nutritionally equal, and natural options do not automatically mean low-sugar. The WHO advises that free sugars should make up less than 10 percent of daily energy intake, with a further drop to below 5 percent offering extra health benefits. For a person eating 2,000 calories daily, 5 percent is about 20 to 25 grams, or 4 to 5 teaspoons. Jaggery is often seen as a healthier choice because it undergoes less refining and keeps some minerals, but it is still a concentrated source of sugar. Similarly, monk fruit extract gets its sweetness from compounds called mogrosides and can be 100 to 250 times sweeter than sugar, with the US FDA recognizing it as safe. Artificial sweeteners provide intense sweetness with few or no calories, but the WHO advises against relying on them for long-term weight control because they do not show clear long-term benefits in reducing body fat. Changing the sweetener does not change the overall nutritional quality of the food. A jaggery laddu remains sweet, and a sugar-free dessert can still be packed with calories from ghee, nuts, or cream. Experts advise practicing portion control, enjoying sweets mindfully, and focusing on total daily sugar consumption instead of looking for a sweetener that permits unlimited eating.