{"id":479101,"date":"2026-06-06T09:25:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T09:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/479101\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T09:25:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T09:25:09","slug":"monk-fruit-sweetner-which-is-the-healthiest-sweetener-sugar-jaggery-honey-or-monk-fruit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/479101\/","title":{"rendered":"Monk Fruit Sweetner: Which is the healthiest sweetener: Sugar, jaggery, honey, or monk fruit? |"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/sugar.jpg\" alt=\"Sugar, honey, or monk fruit: Which sweetener is healthiest, doctor reveals\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/> If you walk into any grocery store today, you\u2019ll likely feel overwhelmed by the number of sweeteners available. From traditional sugar to trendy monk fruit, the aisle is filled with options. And it\u2019s perfectly normal to feel confused. You see \u2018natural\u2019 sugars like jaggery and wonder if you should be buying them. Or you may stick with regular sugar; after all, it\u2019s been a kitchen staple for decades. Perhaps low-GI sugar could help? So, what about stevia or monk fruit sweetener? But do they really live up to the hype? Which sweetener is actually best for your health?Dr Rohini Somnath Patil, an MBBS doctor, clinical nutritionist, and health educator, breaks down the differences and explains what you should really be choosing.<\/p>\n<p>Sugar<\/p>\n<p>Table sugar is one of the most widely used sweeteners across the world. It is used in everyday beverages like tea and coffee, as well as in desserts and baked goods; it forms the backbone of countless recipes. \u201cRegular sugar has a glycaemic index of 65 and spikes blood sugar fast, with zero nutrients,\u201d Dr Patil says in a video shared on Instagram. She places sugar in fourth place among the five sweeteners.<\/p>\n<p>Jaggery<\/p>\n<p>Jaggery, a concentrated product derived from cane juice or palm sap, is often assumed to be a healthy option; however, the nutritionist disagrees. According to Dr Patil, jaggery is even worse than sugar. Despite being marketed as a healthier \u2018traditional\u2019 option, she places jaggery at the bottom, ranking it fifth. \u201cThe worst is jaggery. It is marketed as healthy, but its glycaemic index is 70\u201390, which is actually higher than sugar. It has trace minerals but spikes blood sugar just as fast. Stop believing jaggery is better than sugar; it is actually worse.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Honey<\/p>\n<p>Honey, a natural sweetener made by bees from the nectar of flowers, is the least processed sweetener on this list. It is marginally better than sugar and jaggery but still has an impact on blood sugar. \u201cHoney has a glycaemic index of 50\u201358, which is slightly better, and has antioxidants, but still raises blood sugar,\u201d Dr Patil said. So honey shouldn\u2019t be considered a free pass for unlimited consumption.<\/p>\n<p>Stevia<\/p>\n<p>Stevia is a natural sugar substitute extracted from the leaves of the Stevia rebaudiana plant, native to South America. The doctor places stevia at number two. \u201cStevia has a glycaemic index of zero, with no calories. Research shows it does not raise blood glucose at all,\u201d the doctor said. Stevia, however, can leave a bitter aftertaste that some people find objectionable.<\/p>\n<p>Monk fruit sweetener<\/p>\n<p>Monk fruit sweeteners are making headlines of late, and for all the right reasons. This sweetener is a natural sugar alternative derived from the Southeast Asian monk fruit. \u201cMonk fruit also has a glycaemic index of zero, with no calories and no bitter aftertaste,\u201d the doctor said, ranking it number one. \u201cAt number one, the healthiest is monk fruit.\u201dSwapping your sweetener is really about making informed choices to protect your health. Monk fruit and stevia allow you to enjoy sweetness without the blood sugar rollercoaster.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you walk into any grocery store today, you\u2019ll likely feel overwhelmed by the number of sweeteners available.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":479102,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,222185,85,46,222188,65670,543,222187,222186],"class_list":["post-479101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition","tag-health","tag-healthiest-sweetener","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-jaggery-myths","tag-monk-fruit-benefits","tag-nutrition","tag-stevia-vs-sugar","tag-sugar-alternatives"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=479101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/479102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=479101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=479101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}