Giving up sugar is one of the hardest parts of the keto diet for a lot of beginners, and even seasoned low carb veterans will admit that sugary cravings are one thing that doesn’t really go away.

But that doesn’t mean that we just have to live a life without sweets.

There are dozens of sugar alternatives and substitute sweeteners available, most of which are perfectly keto-friendly, that you can use to keto-ify any recipes that you may have been missing.

In this article, I’ll be reviewing Allulose, explaining just how keto-friendly it is, and comparing it to other types of alternative sweeteners.

What Is Allulose

Allulose is characterized as a monosaccharaide, which is a rare form of sugar. As a natural substance, it occurs in nature, usually in dried fruits such as figs, raisins, and jackfruit, but really only in trace amounts. When made for human consumption, it is usually processed into an extract, so that it can be used as a substitute for sugar.

Compared to sugar, allulose is roughly 70% as sweet, but has approximately 90% fewer calories, and a much lower glycmeic index value. Typically, it’s found in a lot of pre-packaged goods, and isn’t as widely sold for individual use such as other alternative sweeteners like stevia and erythritol, but that trend is starting to slowly change as more people are turning away from sugar, and as mass production of allulose is becoming cheaper at scale.

Along with it being a low calorie and low glycemic sugar alternative, allulose has also been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for safe consumption in the United States. It has essentially no known side effects, but a few benefits and drawbacks that I’ll get into later in this article.

For those following the keto diet, alternative sweeteners can be a great way to get rid of those sugary cravings without risking your state of ketosis, but not all of them are inherently keto-friendly. I noticed a lot of products claimed to have low sugar, but still had allulose, so I did some research to see if they were okay for the keto diet.

Is Allulose Keto-Friendly?

Based on its low carbohydrate count and low glycemic index, allulose is definitely okay to eat on the keto diet.

Each gram of allulose only contains between 0.2 and 0.4 grams of carbohydrates, making it fairly keto-friendly, but it still shouldn’t be consumed in large quantities for things like baking.

When it comes to high doses, I’m still more partial to zero carb sugar alternatives like erythritol and stevia, just to be safe.

While it still has some carbs, it’s low calorie count and low glycemic index still make it very appealing for keto dieters, and it has a few other benefits as well. I’ll get into those next.

Benefits of Allulose

• May help control blood sugar

Allulose is both a great tool for keto dieters and those who struggle with diabetes, because it has properties that have been linked to supporting blood sugar level control. In various human and animal studies, scientists found that subjects who were consuming allulose also exhibited lowered blood sugar levels and increased insulin sensitivity.

Another study set out to observe blood glucose levels in humans right after finishing a meal. It found that the group that ate allulose with their meal ended up having significantly lower blood sugar levels both at the 30 and 60 minute marks after completing the meal compared to the control group.

• Can protect against fatty liver

Recent studies done on mice showed that allulose might actually be able to help protect against the build up and storage of fat particularly within the liver.

The condition being observed, known medically as hepatic steatosis is believed to have a strong correlation with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. In a group of mice who were given allulose instead of sugar or fructose, they saw a resulting 38% decrease in fat build up in the liver. These same mice also experienced overall weight loss, as well as reduced blood sugar levels throughout the course of the experiment.

• Contributes to decreasing body fat tissue

Research performed on obese rats also discovered that allulose was able to promote the reduction of belly, or visceral fat. In this study, rats that were obese were fed a normal or high fat diet that came with supplements of either allulose, sucralose, or erythritol for a period of eight weeks.

While both allulose and erythritol saw positive benefits, allulose saw the largest difference in belly fat reduction out of all of the test groups. While it’s effects on weight loss haven’t been observed scientifically in humans yet, it is a generally recommended practice to cut out sugar wherever possible to reduce belly fat, and allulose makes a great alternative this way.

• Helps to control hunger

Allulose is able to promote the feeling of satiety (reduced hunger) by stimulating the body’s production of key hormones that signal to the brain to stop eating when we’re full.

These hormones include GLP-1 – its receptors are located in the brain stem, hypothalamus, and parietal cortex, all parts of the brain that are involved with hunger in one way or another. Over long periods of time, consumption of allulose has resulted in smaller appetites, as a result of this increased hormone production.

• May improve dental health

Using allulose in place of sugar, like other types of alternative sweeteners, can result in a much more improved state of dental health. Sugar is a naturally corrosive compound when it comes to our teeth and gums, whereas allulose has know negative effects. Because of this, by replacing sugar with allulose wherever possible, you’ll be much more likely to see sustained healing and overall improvements of issues with oral health.

This effect is primarily because the enzymes in our saliva cannot break down allulose like they can with sugar, so the bad bacteria in our mouths are unable to feed off bacteria, diminishing them in size and abundance.

Dangers of Allulose

• Little nutritional value

This tends to be an issue for a few different types of alternative sweeteners. Similarly to sugar, allulose really doesn’t offer a whole lot of nutritional value, so your body is in a lot of ways better off without it.

However that’s not why we’re usually eating allulose, when looking for a sugar replacement, we’re looking for a way to get the satisfaction from ’empty carbs’ without eating any net carbs, and by that logic, allulose still gets the job done.

If you’re looking for more nutritionally enriching sweetener options, going with options like Monk Fruit Extract might be more up your alley.

• May promote gas and bloating

This is one unfortunate side effect for most non-sugar sweeteners, however in the lab this hasn’t really been observed when it comes to allulose. Nevertheless, I myself and many others I know have all reported feeling some unwanted gassiness, nausea, and mild indigestion after ingesting a little too much allulose. The best way to avoid this is to just reign in the portion you’re using it.

Because allulose isn’t as sweet as sugar, some people tend to overuse it, which is why options like stevia might be more beneficial for amping up that sweet flavor when you’re baking and cooking.

• Not enough science is available

This one’s probably the biggest drawback of Allulose, and it isn’t really a drawback at all. Part of the reason that there are virtually know official side effects of allulose is simply because the science just isn’t there yet.

There needs to be more studies in both animals and humans before we can get an accurate read on how this alternative sweetener works in our systems in the long term. That doesn’t mean allulose should be feared, because it’s still been approved for consumption by the FDA, but know that not all side potential effects have been figured out yet.

Allulose vs Other Sweeteners

• Monk Fruit

Monk fruit is probably my favorite out of all available keto sweeteners. Not only is it keto-friendly, but it’s also roughly 100 to 250 times sweeter than sugar. This way, a little goes a much longer way compared to something like allulose. Furthermore, it’s zero carb, so you can use as much of it as you need for certain recipes that call for a lot of sweetness.

Another benefit is that there are relatively no known side effects of using monk fruit extract, and it has a lot of great anti-inflammatory properties that work well when combined with a ketogenic diet.

• Stevia

Stevia leaf extract is one of the most popular keto-friendly substitutes, because it’s cheap to make, and is widely marketed as a natural, low carb sweetener.

Stevia does have some digestion related side effects, similar to other keto-friendly sweeteners out there, so it’s best to use with caution, but generally stevia is graciously accepted by the keto community, and is one of the most common sweeteners that I’ve seen when looking into low carb baked good recipes.

Stevia is also heat stable, which makes it great for drinks like coffee and tea, and can come in liquid extract form as well for any smoothies or shakes.

• Maltitol

Maltitol is definitely one sweetener to be avoided when following the keto diet. While it may have a slightly lower glycemic index value than sugar, it’s still derived from malt starch, and is technically classified as a carbohydrate – so using it in your keto cooking will skyrocket your net carb counts before you know it.

While it does have some other benefits like being low in calories and having no adverse effects on dental health, there are still a ton of other great keto-friendly options with similar benefits that don’t ultimately risk you getting knocked out of your state of ketosis.

• Aspartame

Aspartame is another one of those common types of sweeteners that is generally found in pre-packaged goods, especially diet sodas like Coke Zero.

While it doesn’t contribute to carb counts, it does have some of the more negative side effects out of all of these alternative sweeteners. The biggest side effects of aspartame include seizures, depression, headaches, dizziness, and weight gain, making it one that I’d definitely advise to try and limit while following the keto diet. Like most of these sweeteners, aspartame is perfectly fine in moderation, but if you’re planning on baking something that requires a large amount of sweetener, I’d go for xylitol, erythritol, or stevia over aspartame.

• Erythritol

Erythritol is a very popular keto-friendly sugar alcohol. Erythritol is different from other types of sugar alcohols because it is natural, and has a much lower glycemic index value. It is also contains far fewer calories that other sweetener alternatives, which makes it a more effective sugar replacement for those who are trying to watch their calorie intake as well as their sugar intake for weight loss.

• Sucralose

Sucralose, commonly referred to as Splenda, is also pretty common when it comes to sugar alternatives, but it isn’t the best option for ketosis.

Sucralose on its own has zero calories and zero glycemic index, but when sold as a powder (splenda packets) or mixed into prepackaged foods, it tends to be mixed with other sweeteners that can really add to your overall carb counts and even still spike your blood sugar.

• Xylitol

Xylitol is another great sugar alcohol that a lot of keto dieters use. Xylitol is fine on the keto diet in moderation, but I’d honestly recommend erythritol over xylitol when it comes to frequent use.

It doesn’t have as many benefits as other sugar alcohols, and does come with some side effects like gastrointestinal problems, and slowing of the weight loss process.

• Maltodextrin

While maltodextrin is better than sugar, I wouldn’t say it’s particularly keto-friendly. It’s perfectly fine to eat in moderation, as it can be hard to avoid with a lot of sugar-free products containing maltodextrin. Nevertheless, it’s important to know that it also has a high sugar content and high glycemic index value, meaning it can easily contribute to net carbs and pretty quickly raise your blood sugar levels.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, allulose is a perfectly keto-friendly option when it comes to alternative sweeteners, but there are lots of other substitutes out there that are even better, and unfortunately ones that are much worse.

Understanding how each of these alternatives work, despite their carbohydrate counts, will help you manage your ketosis more effectively, and will better prepare you for reading those ingredients lists and knowing exactly what to keep an eye out for.

Do you have any favorite keto-friendly recipes with allulose? Drop a comment below!