Why Stevia & Monk Fruit?

Why not sugar? 

By far the most common sweetener used in food and beverages is table sugar, also known as sucrose. It is cheap and provides not just sweetness, but all important structure and texture to baked goods, making it very difficult to replace whilst maintaining the tastiness of sweet treats! However, sugar does have many well studied health detriments, which is the main reason we have decided to fully omit the addition of sugar to any of our products. If you'd like to read extensively on some of the health effects of sugar, such as tooth decay and obesity, you may click here! All sources are cited and linked at the end of that page. 

Stevia & Monk Fruit: Our Preferred Sweeteners

We decided on stevia & monk fruit after much deliberation due to their safety record, plant origins and encouraging research into potential health benefits. Both have been used as traditional natural sweeteners for centuries — stevia by the Guaraní people of South America, and monk fruit(luo han guo) has appeared in Chinese records dating as far back as the 13th century.[1][2] 

Artificial Sweeteners 

The big 3 artificial sweeteners in the game are aspartame, sucralose & acesulfame k.[3] Despite some public controversy, most research to date supports their safety when consumed within their respective established limits. With that being said, these ingredients have only been in widespread use for the past couple decades, meaning long-term effects are still being studied. 

For our products, we’ve chosen not to utilise artificial sweeteners not necessarily because they are “bad,” but because we believe that our natural sweeteners strike the best balance between tradition, research, and potential benefits. It’s part of our commitment to simple, thoughtful ingredients. 

Sugar Alcohols & Rare Sugars 

Amongst the most common sugar replacements in baking would be erythritol, a sugar alcohol, and allulose, a "rare" sugar. While they are generally safe for consumption, they both have studied adverse health effects that we try to avoid. Erythritol is very common due to its ability to brown & crystallize, mimicking sugar's behaviour in baked goods. However, recent studies have shown that elevated serum erythritol could cause an increased blood clotting effect as well as an increased incidence of cardiovascular disease in humans.[4][5] In a study funded by the National Institutes of Health(NIH), consumption of erythritol was found to elevate blood clot formation which in turn could increase the risk of heart attack or stroke.[5][6] Allulose, on the other hand, has a reputation of causing digestive distress in a significant portion of the human population - including ourselves, unfortunately. There have been several studies showing symptoms such as abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhoea, bloating & flatulence, at both moderate and high dosages. [7][8] 

Whilst consumption of both allulose and erythritol are probably fine at lower doses, we prefer to err on the side of caution. Thus, until more long term studies are completed on the safety of both substances, we will not be using them in our product range. 

Questions, concerns or wanting to discuss more? 

Feel free to drop us an email to discuss related topics! We are always keen to share with & learn from anyone willing. 

zeros.malaysia@gmail.com

References

1. International Stevia Council. History of Stevia [Internet]. [place unknown]: International Stevia Council; [cited 2025 May 11]. Available from: https://internationalsteviacouncil.org/about-stevia/history-of-stevia/ 

2. Dharmananda S. Luo han guo: sweet fruit used as sugar substitute and medicinal herb [Internet]. Portland (OR): Institute for Traditional Medicine; 2004 [cited 2025 May 12]. Available from: http://www.itmonline.org/arts/luohanguo.htm

3. Mira Daher, Carla Fahd, Afif Abdel Nour, Yonna Sacre. Trends and amounts of consumption of low-calorie sweeteners: A cross-sectional study. Clinical Nutrition ESPEN, Volume 48, 2022, Pages 427-433, ISSN 2405-4577. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnesp.2022.01.006 Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405457722000092

4. Lim, Jungeun & Hong, Hyokyoung & Huang, Jiaqi & Stolzenberg-Solomon, Rachael & Mondul, Alison & Weinstein, Stephanie & Albanes, Demetrius. (2024). Serum Erythritol and Risk of Overall and Cause-Specific Mortality in a Cohort of Men. Nutrients. 16. 10.3390/nu16183099. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/384403095_Serum_Erythritol_and_Risk_of_Overall_and_Cause-Specific_Mortality_in_a_Cohort_of_Men

5. Witkowski M, Nemet I, Alamri H, Wilcox J, Gupta N, Nimer N, Haghikia A, Li XS, Wu Y, Saha PP, Demuth I, König M, Steinhagen-Thiessen E, Cajka T, Fiehn O, Landmesser U, Tang WHW, Hazen SL. The artificial sweetener erythritol and cardiovascular event risk. Nat Med. 2023 Mar;29(3):710-718. doi: 10.1038/s41591-023-02223-9. Epub 2023 Feb 27. PMID: 36849732; PMCID: PMC10334259.

6. NIH Research Matters. (2023, March 14). Erythritol and cardiovascular events. National Institutes of Health. Retrieved May 25, 2025, from https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/erythritol-cardiovascular-events

7. Teysseire, F., Bordier, V., Budzinska, A., Weltens, N., Rehfeld, J. F., Holst, J. J., Hartmann, B., Beglinger, C., Van Oudenhove, L., Wölnerhanssen, B. K., & Meyer‑Gerspach, A. C. (2022). The role of D‑allulose and erythritol on the activity of the gut sweet taste receptor and gastrointestinal satiation hormone release in humans: A randomized, controlled trial. Journal of Nutrition, 152(5), 1228–1238. https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/nxac026. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022316622006162#note4

8. Han, Youngji & Choi, Bo & Kim, So & Kim, Seong-Bo & Kim, Yang & Kwon, Eun-Young & Choi, Myung-Sook. (2018). Gastrointestinal Tolerance of D-Allulose in Healthy and Young Adults. A Non-Randomized Controlled Trial. Nutrients. 10. 2010. 10.3390/nu10122010. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329795019_Gastrointestinal_Tolerance_of_D-Allulose_in_Healthy_and_Young_Adults_A_Non-Randomized_Controlled_Trial