Sweeteners and FODMAPs: 33 foods rated

Agave syrup is the highest-fructose sweetener in common use - often 70 to 90 percent. Its selling point is a low glycaemic index, and that is the same fact stated approvingly: it is low-glycaemic BECAUSE it is fructose rather than glucose. On this axis that is the problem, not the feature.

• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

This is fructose itself, and it is the worst case by construction: taken alone there is no glucose to carry it across the gut wall. Glucose co-transport is what rescues fructose in a balanced food, and pure fructose has none of it.

• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

High-fructose corn syrup is less of a problem here than its name and reputation suggest. The common grades are 42 or 55 percent fructose, which is close to the half-and-half of sucrose - so most of the fructose has glucose to travel with. Agave, at 80 percent, is the worse sweetener despite the better image.

• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

Honey is fructose-dominant because the bees invert the nectar's sucrose and the balance settles on the fructose side. Being natural changes nothing about how the gut transports it - a teaspoon is around the threshold, and that is a small teaspoon.

• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

Isomalt is the polyol of hard sweets and lozenges, chosen because it resists heat without browning and does not draw moisture. It is absorbed less than maltitol, so more of it ferments - the trade-off for a mint that keeps its shape.

• Lenhart A. & Chey W.D., Adv Nutr 8 (2017) 587-596, systematic review of the effects of polyols
• Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annexes II and V, the authorised additives and their conditions of use

Lactitol is made from lactose, and it is prescribed as a laxative in its own right - which tells you plainly what a food-sized dose does. It is the one polyol whose medical use and food use are the same mechanism at two different doses.

• Lenhart A. & Chey W.D., Adv Nutr 8 (2017) 587-596, systematic review of the effects of polyols
• Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annexes II and V, the authorised additives and their conditions of use

Maltitol is the polyol chosen to replace sugar in sugar-free chocolate, because it melts and tastes close to sucrose. About half of it is absorbed and half reaches the colon - which is why a sugar-free bar has a reputation the manufacturers would rather it did not.

• Lenhart A. & Chey W.D., Adv Nutr 8 (2017) 587-596, systematic review of the effects of polyols
• Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annexes II and V, the authorised additives and their conditions of use

Sorbitol is the P of the acronym and the one the family is named after. It occurs naturally in stone fruit - pear, plum, apricot - which is why those fruits are high even when their fructose is balanced. As an additive it carries a legal warning above ten percent, which tells you what dose is at stake.

• Lenhart A. & Chey W.D., Adv Nutr 8 (2017) 587-596, systematic review of the effects of polyols
• Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annexes II and V, the authorised additives and their conditions of use

Xylitol is a polyol - a sugar alcohol - and a poorly absorbed FODMAP that ferments in the gut, commonly causing bloating and a laxative effect. Even the small amounts used in sugar-free products can be high in FODMAPs.

Brown rice syrup is made by breaking rice starch down enzymatically, which yields glucose and maltose and no fructose at all. It is the sweetener that avoids both this axis and the fructose one, and the reason it is recommended on low-FODMAP lists. The grain behind it measured 0 g of fructan a portion, alone among the 55 grain products surveyed - though a syrup is an enzymatic digest of that grain and was not itself measured.

• Biesiekierski J et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 24 (2011) 154-176, fructans and galacto-oligosaccharides per portion as eaten
• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

Invert sugar is sucrose already split into equal glucose and fructose - and equal is the word that matters. The glucose carries the fructose across, so no excess builds up. It is the clearest illustration that this axis counts the RATIO and not the amount.

• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

Mannitol is the polyol of mushrooms, cauliflower and celery rather than of sweets - which is why those three vegetables are on this axis at all. It is absorbed slightly better than sorbitol, which is the whole reason it sits a level below it.

• Lenhart A. & Chey W.D., Adv Nutr 8 (2017) 587-596, systematic review of the effects of polyols
• Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annexes II and V, the authorised additives and their conditions of use

Molasses is what remains when sucrose is crystallised out, so it is enriched in everything that was not sucrose - free fructose included. Its strong flavour keeps the portion small, which is the only thing holding it at moderate.

• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

Acesulfame K is not a sugar and not a polyol, so it belongs to none of the five FODMAP families. It is used in milligrams. The thing to check in a sugar-free product is not this but the bulking agent beside it: sorbitol, maltitol and xylitol are the P of the acronym, and they are what usually causes the trouble.

• Lenhart A. & Chey W.D., Adv Nutr 8 (2017) 587-596, systematic review of the effects of polyols
• Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annexes II and V, the authorised additives and their conditions of use

Advantame is not a sugar and not a polyol, so it belongs to none of the five FODMAP families. It is used in milligrams. The thing to check in a sugar-free product is not this but the bulking agent beside it: sorbitol, maltitol and xylitol are the P of the acronym, and they are what usually causes the trouble.

Alitame is not a sugar and not a polyol, so it belongs to none of the five FODMAP families. It is used in milligrams. The thing to check in a sugar-free product is not this but the bulking agent beside it: sorbitol, maltitol and xylitol are the P of the acronym, and they are what usually causes the trouble.

Aspartame is not a sugar and not a polyol, so it belongs to none of the five FODMAP families. It is used in milligrams. The thing to check in a sugar-free product is not this but the bulking agent beside it: sorbitol, maltitol and xylitol are the P of the acronym, and they are what usually causes the trouble.

• Lenhart A. & Chey W.D., Adv Nutr 8 (2017) 587-596, systematic review of the effects of polyols
• Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annexes II and V, the authorised additives and their conditions of use

Aspartame-acesulfame salt is not a sugar and not a polyol, so it belongs to none of the five FODMAP families. It is used in milligrams. The thing to check in a sugar-free product is not this but the bulking agent beside it: sorbitol, maltitol and xylitol are the P of the acronym, and they are what usually causes the trouble.

• Lenhart A. & Chey W.D., Adv Nutr 8 (2017) 587-596, systematic review of the effects of polyols
• Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annexes II and V, the authorised additives and their conditions of use

Coconut sugar is mostly sucrose, and sucrose splits into one glucose and one fructose in equal parts - so the glucose carries the fructose across and no excess is left to ferment. Table sugar answers the same way. It is fructose IN EXCESS of glucose that this axis counts, not fructose as such.

• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

Cyclamate is not a sugar and not a polyol, so it belongs to none of the five FODMAP families. It is used in milligrams. The thing to check in a sugar-free product is not this but the bulking agent beside it: sorbitol, maltitol and xylitol are the P of the acronym, and they are what usually causes the trouble.

• Lenhart A. & Chey W.D., Adv Nutr 8 (2017) 587-596, systematic review of the effects of polyols
• Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annexes II and V, the authorised additives and their conditions of use

Dextrose is glucose, and glucose is the one sugar this axis never counts. It is absorbed actively and completely in the small intestine whatever the dose - no transporter to saturate, no enzyme that might be missing, nothing left to ferment. It even helps: glucose carries fructose across the gut wall with it.

Erythritol is the polyol that breaks the rule. Sorbitol, mannitol, maltitol and xylitol are all high here because they are poorly absorbed and ferment; erythritol is about ninety percent absorbed in the small intestine and leaves in the urine. Very little reaches the bacteria, which is why it is the sugar alcohol most people tolerate.

• Lenhart A. & Chey W.D., Adv Nutr 8 (2017) 587-596, systematic review of the effects of polyols
• Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annexes II and V, the authorised additives and their conditions of use

Glucose syrup is glucose, and glucose is the one sugar this axis never counts. It is absorbed actively and completely in the small intestine whatever the dose - no transporter to saturate, no enzyme that might be missing, nothing left to ferment. It even helps: glucose carries fructose across the gut wall with it.

• Gibson P.R. & Shepherd S.J., J Gastroenterol Hepatol 25 (2010) 252-258, the framework this axis rests on
• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

Neohesperidine DC is not a sugar and not a polyol, so it belongs to none of the five FODMAP families. It is used in milligrams. The thing to check in a sugar-free product is not this but the bulking agent beside it: sorbitol, maltitol and xylitol are the P of the acronym, and they are what usually causes the trouble.

• Lenhart A. & Chey W.D., Adv Nutr 8 (2017) 587-596, systematic review of the effects of polyols
• Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annexes II and V, the authorised additives and their conditions of use

Neotame is not a sugar and not a polyol, so it belongs to none of the five FODMAP families. It is used in milligrams. The thing to check in a sugar-free product is not this but the bulking agent beside it: sorbitol, maltitol and xylitol are the P of the acronym, and they are what usually causes the trouble.

• Lenhart A. & Chey W.D., Adv Nutr 8 (2017) 587-596, systematic review of the effects of polyols
• Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annexes II and V, the authorised additives and their conditions of use

Saccharin is not a sugar and not a polyol, so it belongs to none of the five FODMAP families. It is used in milligrams. The thing to check in a sugar-free product is not this but the bulking agent beside it: sorbitol, maltitol and xylitol are the P of the acronym, and they are what usually causes the trouble.

• Lenhart A. & Chey W.D., Adv Nutr 8 (2017) 587-596, systematic review of the effects of polyols
• Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annexes II and V, the authorised additives and their conditions of use

Stevia is not a sugar and not a polyol, so it belongs to none of the five FODMAP families. It is used in milligrams. The thing to check in a sugar-free product is not this but the bulking agent beside it: sorbitol, maltitol and xylitol are the P of the acronym, and they are what usually causes the trouble.

• Gibson P.R. & Shepherd S.J., J Gastroenterol Hepatol 25 (2010) 252-258, the framework this axis rests on

Sucralose is not a sugar and not a polyol, so it belongs to none of the five FODMAP families. It is used in milligrams. The thing to check in a sugar-free product is not this but the bulking agent beside it: sorbitol, maltitol and xylitol are the P of the acronym, and they are what usually causes the trouble.

• Lenhart A. & Chey W.D., Adv Nutr 8 (2017) 587-596, systematic review of the effects of polyols
• Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annexes II and V, the authorised additives and their conditions of use