12 Healthy Ways to Sweeten Your Coffee Without Sugar (Updated 2020) (2023)

FAQs

What can I use to sweeten coffee instead of sugar? ›

Skip the sugar and creamer and satisfy your sweet tooth with fresh raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, or blackberries instead. The naturally sweet fruit juice complements the taste of the coffee. Berry juice works best with filtered coffees—especially South American coffees.

Erythritol Taste

Most people find that erythritol has a very similar taste to sugar and find the two indistinguishable. It even caramelizes like sugar.

You can use most sugar substitutes if you have diabetes, including: Saccharin (Sweet'N Low) Aspartame (NutraSweet) Acesulfame potassium (Sunett)

Both cinnamon and coffee are packed with antioxidants, vitamins and nutrients. According to Jamie Degagne, a registered dietitian nutritionist for the Sharp Rees-Stealy Center for Health Management, adding just one teaspoon of cinnamon a day to your morning java can do more than improve its taste.

1. Caffè Americano. This simple coffee staple is made by topping espresso with hot water, resulting in a warm, soothing drink that's sugar-free and high in caffeine. One grande Caffè Americano contains just 15 calories, 2 grams of carbs, and 0 grams of sugar.

The first cup of spicy coffee is a memory that will stick with you because of its fantastic flavor and wellness benefits. All you need is your beans and a few delicious and healthy spices, like cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, ginger & cacao, and you're set!

Rosenblum recommends eating a breakfast of calcium-rich foods (like yogurt, almonds, spinach, kale or chia seeds), which help neutralize both the acidity of the coffee and your stomach acid.

What to mix with coffee to make it taste better? ›

Vanilla Extract

Try vanilla extract or vanilla bean for a hit of flavor. Add a few drops of pure extract to your pot of coffee or add a vanilla bean to your coffee grounds to infuse before you brew. #SpoonTip: The longer you leave the vanilla bean in the coffee grounds, the better it will taste.

3. Cinnamon: Cinnamon sticks or powdered cinnamon add warm, spicy notes to a cup of coffee, reducing bitterness and making it taste sweeter without adding any sugar. 4. Cocoa powder: A small amount of unsweetened cocoa powder can make a cup of coffee taste milder and richer, like a sugar-free mocha.

Unlike sugar and artificial sweeteners, both of which offer little in terms of nutrition, honey provides some vitamins, minerals, and other health-boosting compounds that may give your coffee a slight nutritional boost ( 1 ).

In the battle of the non-dairy creamers, the liquid version is the clear winner. Trans fats are the worst kind of fat because they increase the risk of heart disease the most. We should avoid all trans fat as much as possible.

However, for an ingredient that can sweeten your favorite drinks, half-and-half may be the healthier option. It's not only lower in calories than coffee creamer but also less processed, contains healthier fats, and less likely to contain additives and extra sugar.

Silk Original Dairy-Free Soy Creamer

It's vegan and non-GMO, but it does contain added cane sugar, corn oil and thickeners, which is why it lands lower down on our list. Even so, the nutrition numbers aren't as bad as you'd expect: 20 calories, 1.5 grams of fat and two grams of carbs per tablespoon.

You can use dates, fruit purées, yacon syrup, honey, and maple syrup as alternatives to sugar. Although these sweeteners may offer limited health benefits compared with refined sweeteners, any sweetener should be used sparingly.

Xylitol looks like sugar, tastes like sugar, and responds like sugar in baking. Among the sugar substitutes, xylitol is my favorite. Though it was not as sweet as the cake sweetened with sugar, the xylitol cake's texture was tender and cake-like and the flavor was pure.

What is the safest sweetener for diabetics? ›

In general, there is no reason not to choose one of the natural sweeteners that don't affect blood sugar – Stevia, monk fruit, or allulose. They are all great for people with diabetes and you can choose whichever one you think tastes the best.

Drink it black

The healthiest way to drink coffee is plain with nothing added — also known as drinking it black. Dr. Hashmi explains, “Ideally, you shouldn't put sugar in your coffee.

What are the 3 steps to make coffee taste better? The 3 most important steps to making great coffee is quality coffee beans, soft water, and a good burr grinder. The rest is just practice and technique. In this article, we'll explain everything you need to know.

A study published online April 22, 2020, by the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology found that filtering coffee (for example, with a paper filter) — not just boiling ground coffee beans and drinking the water — was better for health, particularly for older people.

Reduce Risk of Heart Disease

Cinnamon, in turn, has been shown to reduce total cholesterol levels. Since high cholesterol is linked to an increased risk of developing heart disease, the cholesterol-reducing effects of both honey and cinnamon together may reduce your risk of developing heart disease.

What are the benefits? "Adding cinnamon to your water is not only hydrating and delicious, it can also supply an array of health benefits, such as: delivering antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer properties, supporting heart health, lowering cholesterol, and potentially aiding in weight loss," says Poon.

"Honey's advantages over sugar include a slightly lower glycemic index (i.e. it doesn't affect your blood-sugar levels as much)," Dr. Dixon says. "It also contains more vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, such as calcium, potassium, vitamin C, zinc, phenolic acids, and flavonoids."

Is it healthier than sugar? Stevia has fewer calories than sugar and may play a role in weight management by helping you eat fewer calories. Because it's free of calories and carbs, it's a great sugar alternative for people on low-calorie or low-carb diets.

Can diabetics drink coffee without sugar? ›

If you already have diabetes, however, the impact of caffeine on insulin action may be associated with higher or lower blood sugar levels. For some people with diabetes, about 200 milligrams of caffeine — or the equivalent of one to two 8-ounce (240-milliliter) cups of plain, brewed coffee — may cause this effect.

Rosemary brings a delicate, gentle, earthy spice to your coffee. It also is packed with antioxidants and inflammatory properties. We recommend adding rosemary to a coffee with natural earth or spice tones, such as Indonesians.

Spices. Adding a pinch of spices to your coffee grounds can take a pot of coffee from bland to share-worthy. Choose from flavor-enhancing options like cinnamon, nutmeg, lavender, cardamom, and more. Trying a variety of spices can help you get creative with your next morning cup of coffee.

Indeed, according to experts, drinking coffee on an empty stomach right after waking up can interfere with your cortisol levels and actually leave you feeling even more tired later on in the day.

Water. My favorite morning beverage is always water, first and foremost. Your body is deprived of water when you sleep, so it is best to rehydrate with water first thing before anything else. I then follow with coffee or a homemade matcha tea latte for a caffeinated boost.

The benefits of water are well known, but experts say reaching for H2O before your morning cup of coffee could jumpstart your system just when you need it most. After going several hours without a sip, a serving of water first thing can hydrate the body while aiding digestion and metabolism.

That said, the small amounts of honey typically added to hot coffee are unlikely to offer significant benefits. Unlike sugar and artificial sweeteners, honey contains nutrients and other healthy compounds. However, the small amount of honey typically added to hot coffee will only provide minimal health benefits.

Go ahead, sweeten your morning cup of brew. With or without a little sugar, coffee is associated with a longer life, according to a study published online May 31, 2022, by Annals of Internal Medicine.

If you're only concerned with health, honey is the better coffee sweetener. Its sugars are easier to process, and it provides you with other important nutrients.

Is coconut sugar healthier than normal sugar? ›

Coconut sugar has the same number of calories as other sugar, refined or not. But all of these products contain free sugars – the kind we eat too much of on average in the UK. Coconut sugar has the same number of calories as other sugar, refined or not.

Adding maple syrup to your coffee will give it a unique flavor and sweetness that will leave you wanting more. Not only is maple syrup an excellent way to add flavor and sweetness to your coffee, but maple syrup is good for you with naturally occurring minerals and antioxidants.

Honey Health Benefits

"Honey's advantages over sugar include a slightly lower glycemic index (i.e. it doesn't affect your blood-sugar levels as much)," Dr. Dixon says. "It also contains more vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, such as calcium, potassium, vitamin C, zinc, phenolic acids, and flavonoids."

Drink it black

The healthiest way to drink coffee is plain with nothing added — also known as drinking it black. Dr. Hashmi explains, “Ideally, you shouldn't put sugar in your coffee.

Black coffee is the powerhouse of antioxidants. Black coffee contains Vitamin B2, B3, B5, Manganese, potassium and magnesium. Having black coffee without sugar keeps your mind and body young. Black coffee also helps in preventing Parkinson's disease by boosting the dopamine levels in the body.

Just add 1-2 teaspoons to your cup and you're good to go. If your coffee is too hot, it might reduce the nutritional value of the honey, so it's best to let your coffee cool down a bit before adding your honey.

If you enjoy a little sweetness in your morning brew and you're trying to steer clear of refined sugars, honey is a great option. Not only does it add sweetness, but you're getting additional vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants too! Just be sure to pair the right honey with the right coffee for the best flavor.

Honey, when mixed with hot water, can become toxic

Turns out, honey should never be warmed, cooked, or heated under any condition. A study published in the journal AYU found that at a temperature of 140 degrees, honey turns toxic. When you mix honey in hot milk or water, it turns hot and turns toxic.

Stevia, monk fruit, certain sugar alcohols, and allulose are much lower in calories than table sugar and do not significantly affect blood sugar levels, making them a smart alternative to refined sugar.

Talking about sugar being good for health, then natural sugar or stevia is the best. They have many health benefits to offer apart from weight loss. It has all the essential nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that are essential for your body. While stevia is also known to be the best sugar for weight loss.