Are “Sugar-Free” baked goods better for you than than regular full sugar versions?

The simple answer is: NO! In fact, you should be very skeptical of foods labeled as “sugar-free”. The surprising reason is that they usually contain the same amount of calories (sometimes more!) and carbohydrate as the full sugar product. They also can taste bitter and be full of sugar alcohols which wreak havoc on your digestive system causing diarrhea and gas. I believe that if you are going to eat something sinful, like a chocolate chip cookie or some chocolate, go for the good stuff and just eat less of it. It will reduce your cravings and you won’t be at risk for digestive problems compared to the “sugar-free” version.

I should mention here that I am in favor of diet sugar-free sodas made with Splenda. This is only because if you were to drink the full-sugar version, you would get 16 tablespoons of sugar and approximately 150 calories of nothing but sugar! But….studies have found that people who drink diet soda tend to eat more calories and weigh more than those who drink regular soda. In my opinion, I think this is because the diet soda drinkers try to replace foods in their diet with diet sodas and in the end it back-fires because they still crave the sugar and end up eating more than they should have due to cravings. As I said before, if you have a craving for something, satisfy your craving with a small amount of that food.

I was very surprised earlier this year as my daughter was selling girl scout cookies. This year, they added a new cookie, the Sugar-Free Chocolate Chip cookie. I have a friend who is a newly diagnosed diabetic and is trying to change his diet for the better (lower in carbohydrate and simple sugars). He wanted to support Girl Scouts and thought this particular cookie would be a good choice for him. After reviewing the label with him, I was appalled that he would actually be better off with ANY of the other Girl Scout cookies available! How ironic that the “Sugar-Free” cookies are actually higher in calories, carbohydrates and fat, yet are marketed as “better for you”.