5 Reasons Allulose Should Be Your Go-To Low-Calorie Sweetener

If you’re like most people, you’re probably trying to do what’s best for you and your family by cutting out sugar and high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) from your diet. Eating and drinking too much refined sugar contributes to many harmful health conditions and is not a friend to a healthy body weight.

If you’re trying to find the best sugar substitute that can still add a touch of sweetness—without undermining your health goals—you’ll want to learn more about allulose.

A high-sugar diet isn’t good for the brain, either, making it harder to think and maintain a good mood. Sugar contributes to the breakdown of teeth, too.^1-6 It can also deplete vitamin C levels.⁷ This is worrisome, given that Americans eat an average of 69.8 pounds of refined sugar (sucrose) per capita annually, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).⁸

Another more concerning culprit is HFCS, which is consumed to the tune of 39.5 pounds per person, each year.⁸ HFCS is a sweetener made from corn starch that has been processed to convert some of its glucose into fructose, making it sweeter than regular corn syrup. Like sucrose, it contains nearly equal amounts of the simple sugars, glucose and fructose.⁹

Diets high in HFCS are known to get in the way of a healthy weight and healthy blood sugar.⁹ Yet, HFCS intake in the United States increased dramatically from the 1970s to 2000s thanks to people eating a lot of processed food. Scientists have suggested that HFCS is partly to blame for why so many people have become overweight during that same time period.¹⁰

Because sugar and HFCS are not the healthiest choices, many people opt for sugar substitutes. However, choosing between the large array of sugar-free, low-calorie sweeteners can be overwhelming: Splenda (sucralose), NutraSweet (aspartame), xylitol, stevia, and monk fruit (to name just a few). Parents have to make the sugar-free sweetener choice for children, too, making the selection even more important for young developing bodies.

In this blog post, we’re going to make the choice easier for you. We’re going to share five reasons why you just might want to make allulose your new low-calorie sweetener of choice—and why DaVinci® Laboratories has chosen allulose as our starring low-calorie sweetener. You might have heard of allulose, but wondered, “is allulose healthy?”

What Is Allulose?

Allulose is a sugar-free sweetener and sugar substitute that is found in small doses in wheat, fruits such as raisins, kiwis, and figs, and other sweet foods such as molasses, brown sugar, and maple syrup.

Naturally sourced from non-GMO corn, allulose is a healthy alternative to sugar. It follows the same absorption, distribution, and excretion routes as fructose, but unlike fructose, the human body does not break down or metabolize allulose, since it is a non-digestible carbohydrate.* This leads to an almost complete excretion in the urine of the absorbed dose resulting in a very low caloric response.* It’s a sweetener that the body doesn’t treat as a sweetener. Win-win!

Allulose tastes great and may offer beneficial, health-promoting.* Ketogenic baking recipes have used allulose as a replacement for sugar for nearly ten years. It’s 70% as sweet as sucrose (table sugar) but has less than 10% of sucrose’s caloric value and has not been found to cause a blood-sugar rise.* It has a glycemic index of 0, which is a scale telling how quickly a food raises blood sugar after eating. It’s keto-friendly, vegetarian, and may act as a prebiotic.*¹¹

See our top five reasons why allulose is the best sugar substitute for health-conscious adults and kids.

1. Allulose Helps to Keep You Slim

Trying to stay lean and slender? Allulose may be able to help you with that goal, as it triggers the release of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1).*¹²

You might have heard about GLP-1 because supporting healthy levels of this intestinal hormone is a popular weight management strategy.* Increasing the production of the intestinal hormone GLP-1 supports a healthy body weight by managing appetite.*

2. Supports Healthy Blood Sugar Levels*

Another way in which allulose can help to maintain a healthy weight is by supporting healthy blood sugar metabolism.* Meals that contain allulose can help to support both blood sugar and insulin.*^13,14 Research has shown that the more allulose is added to the meal (to reasonable levels) the lower the post-meal glucose and insulin response.*

Allulose supports those people who have metabolic imbalances as well as those who don’t.*¹⁵ Not only does allulose clear the body without spiking blood sugar, it works double time to blunt the effects of high-sugar foods on blood glucose.*

3. Low-Calorie and Tastes Great

As a nearly zero-calorie sweetener (0.4 calories per gram), allulose is a good choice if you’re on a weight management program. It has demonstrated impressive supportive results in this area.

In one study, following the ingestion of allulose, body fat percentage and body fat mass significantly declined.*¹⁶ The group given the higher dose of allulose had a significant decrease in not only body mass index, but also total abdominal and subcutaneous (beneath the skin) fat areas, as measured by CT scans.*

4. Unique Advantages over Erythritol and Xylitol

What about the other low-calorie sweeteners in your cupboard? Erythritol and xylitol are low-calorie sugar alcohols. Erythritol is a naturally occurring sugar found in a variety of fruits such as melons, pears, and grapes. About 60% to 80% as sweet as sucrose, erythritol has a mild cooling effect in the mouth. It also contains even fewer calories than allulose.

Like allulose, erythritol increases the secretion of GLP-1, as well as other hormones linked to a feeling of fullness to the brain after eating.¹² Furthermore, it suppresses ghrelin, the hormone primarily responsible for appetite stimulation. Lower ghrelin levels can support feelings of fullness and reduce food intake.

Xylitol, also known as wood sugar, birch sugar, and meso-xylitol, is produced in small amounts by the human body. Although it is found in fruits, vegetables, algae, and mushrooms, the levels are too low for commercial extraction, and it is commonly commercially produced from birch bark and corn cobs. Xylitol is used in many foods and pharmaceutical products in addition to sugar-free candies and chewing gums. It is as sweet as sucrose. It has a glycemic index of 13 and contains 2.4 kcal/gram, more than both allulose and erythritol.

The biggest disadvantage of sugar alcohols such as xylitol and erythritol is that they can cause bloating, gas, and diarrhea. In some cases, when patients are constipated, the laxative effect of sugar alcohols may be an advantage, but for most people that is not the case. The GI effects of sugar alcohols usually occur at high doses (>20 grams of xylitol) but some individuals are especially sensitive and laxative effects can occur at lower doses. Allulose’s GI effects don’t occur until over 30–35 grams, making it more suitable for people sensitive to the sugar alcohols.*¹⁵

5. It’s a Safe Sugar Substitute for Most

Is allulose a safe sugar substitute? The FDA considers allulose to be GRAS (generally recognized as safe) with a GRAS level for soft candies of 25 grams per day. The FDA concluded that allulose intake of less than 0.5 to 0.6 grams/kg body weight/day is safe. A study of dosages up to 15 grams per day showed no adverse effects and most importantly, the participants had improved fatty liver scores.*¹⁷ Another study found that there were no gastrointestinal effects at 35 grams per day.*¹⁵

The tolerable dose of allulose is estimated to be 30 to 35 grams for a 132-pound person taken as a single dose. Amounts above that dosage can result in gastrointestinal discomfort including gas, bloating, stomach upset, or diarrhea. Symptoms resolve when reducing the dosage below 30 grams per day. Likewise, in children, allulose was found to be safe.

Allulose as the Best Choice for Gummy Vitamins

There’s a lot of research demonstrating allulose health benefits. That’s why DaVinci® Laboratories decided to use this sugar-free sweetener in its new line of gummies, starting with ADK Gummies for adults and Little DaVinci® Triple Boost ADK Gummies for kids ages 4–17. This new gummy vitamin is everything you’d want in a premium gummy and contains three important nutrients: vitamins A, D, and K, critical for the health of bones, teeth, and the heart, as well as supporting immunity.* It’s formulated with superior forms of these nutrients, such as vitamin K2 as menaquinone (MK-7) and vitamin D3 instead of D2.

ADK Gummies have all of the high-quality ingredients you want, without the unnecessary ingredients, fillers, and dyes that you don’t. The allulose in ADK Gummies is sourced from non-GMO corn and has a pleasant pineapple flavor. ADK Gummies have no preservatives or dyes. It’s a sugar-free, gluten-free, and soy-free gummy vitamin. ADK Gummies are stored in an opaque bottle, which ensures that the ingredients stated on the label will still be there when you need them, even if the bottle stays on your shelf for a while.

ADK Gummies are third-party tested for microbes, soy, and gluten as well as the active ingredients to meet the label claim. This ensures proper potency, so you can trust that you’re nourished with the amount of ingredients stated on the label. ADK Gummies are also tested for heavy metals and genetically modified ingredients initially when released to market, and then retested whenever any formulation change occurs.

The bottom line? ADK Gummies are the best gummy vitamins you’ll find for yourself or your family.

Learn why sucralose is not the healthiest sugar-free sweetener and more in our whitepaper: “Gummy Vitamins: How to Choose the Best Gummy Vitamins.”

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