How to Find the Best Low Sugar Protein Powder

📌 Overview and Key Takeaways

This is a Dietitian’s guide on how to find the best low sugar protein powder.

Discover how to supplement your protein intake without Added Sugars.

Last Updated
Jan 19, 2026

Author and Medical Reviewer

Written by Jack, Founder

Jack is the Founder of Drink Wholesome.

Medically reviewed by Brittany, MS, RD and Jenn, PA-C

Kayla is a Registered Dietitian with a MS in Nutrition.

Jennifer is a Physician Assistant with a BA in Nutritional Sciences.

Low Sugar Protein Powder

What Is Low Sugar Protein Powder?

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a food labeled as “sugar-free” must contain less than 0.5 grams of Total Sugars per serving.

And a food labeled as “reduced sugar” must contain at least 25% less sugar per serving than the regular version of the product.

The term “low-sugar” is not defined by the FDA, meaning food and supplement manufacturers cannot legally make “low sugar” or “reduced sugar” nutrient content claims (NCCs) on their packaging.

This includes NCCs that imply low sugar like “lightly sweetened” and “slightly sweet.”

Manufacturers who make claims like these could be accused of false advertising.

Kellogg, for example, recently settled a class action lawsuit over the use of the claim “lightly sweetened” on some of their cereals.

Plaintiffs argued Kellogg implied its cereals were low in sugar, when they actually contained as much as 40% Added Sugars.

It is thus up to you to decide if a protein powder qualifies as low sugar or not.

Start by looking at the Nutrition (Supplement) Facts panel.

In 2016, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) revised the Nutrition Facts label to include both “Total Sugars” and “Added Sugars.”

Added Sugars are sugars introduced to food during processing, and total Sugars are Added Sugars plus naturally occurring sugars like those in fruits.

The 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that no more than 10 percent of your daily calories come from Added Sugars.

If you consume a 2,000 calorie daily diet, this amounts to no more than 200 calories or 50 grams of Added Sugars per day.

For reference, there are 39 grams of Added Sugars in a 12 oz can of Coca‑Cola.

The FDA does not give us any guidance when it comes to low sugar, so if you must eat a low sugar diet, you have to look elsewhere for answers.

Fortunately, regulations in the European Union (EU) can help.

According to the EU Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, a claim that a food is low in sugars may only be made when the food contains no more than 5 grams of sugars per 100 grams for solids.

This means that protein powder with a serving size of 30 grams can contain at most 1.5 grams of sugar per serving and be considered low sugar in the EU.

Not all sugars are bad for you, however.

The naturally occurring sugars in dairy, fruits, and vegetables, for example, are a type of energy-rich carbohydrate that fuels your body.

Naturally occurring sugars are also accompanied by fiber, vitamins, and minerals, all of which contribute to overall health.

So, limiting your Total Sugars intake to 5 grams per 100 grams of food is probably not good for you.

In fact, research shows that the risks of low sugar diets may far outweigh the benefits (Front Nutr, 2021).

Moreover, most protein powders with less than 1.5 grams of Total Sugars per serving contain artificial sweeteners.

Although a pinch of artificial sweetener provides sweetness without calories and sugar, it has serious drawbacks.

Did you know artificial sweeteners can cause cravings toward sugary foods (Yale J Biol Med, 2010), increase the risk of glucose intolerance (Nature, 2014), and alter the composition of the gut microbiome (Adv Nutr, 2019)?

At the end of the day, you are probably better off just eating sugar.

What Is the Best Low Sugar Protein Powder?

Today, the average protein powder contains less than 3 grams of sugar per serving and 0 grams of Added Sugars.

I would therefore consider most protein powders to be low in sugar.

Just because a protein powder is low in sugar does not mean it is good for you, however.

As you just learned, many low sugar protein powders contain problematic artificial sweeteners like sucralose.

And those that do not either contain sugar alcohols or natural sugar substitutes like stevia and monk fruit.

Sugar alcohols, although certainly better for you than artificial sweeteners, are notorious for causing digestive issues like bloating and diarrhea.

Moreover, stevia, once the poster child of sugar substitutes, is also falling from grace because of its bitter aftertaste.

Unlike sugar, stevia activates bitter taste receptors in addition to sweet taste receptors (Genes Nutr, 2014).

This leaves us with monk fruit, also known as luo han guo, which is a melon-like fruit native to Southeast Asia.

Unlike stevia, monk fruit does not have an unpleasant aftertaste, and has been safely used in Asian cuisine for centuries with no known side effects, even when consumed in large quantities.

Moreover, small randomized trials have shown that monk fruit sweetener does not negatively impact blood sugar or insulin levels (Eur J Clin Nutr, 2017).

So, if you are trying to avoid Added Sugars, and do not care for the bitter aftertaste of stevia, give monk fruit a try.

It is over 200 times sweeter than sugar, but sugar-free thanks to compounds called mogrosides.

Order Samples to see for yourself.

Sources

1. Frontiers in Nutrition (Front Nutr). Ketogenic Diets and Chronic Disease: Weighing the Benefits Against the Risks. 2021.
2. The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine (Yale J Biol Med). Gain weight by “going diet?” Artificial sweeteners and the neurobiology of sugar cravings: Neuroscience 2010. 2010.
3. Nature (Nature). Artificial sweeteners induce glucose intolerance by altering the gut microbiota. 2014.
4. Advances in Nutrition (Adv Nutr). Effects of Sweeteners on the Gut Microbiota: A Review of Experimental Studies and Clinical Trials. 2019.
5. Genes & Nutrition (Genes Nutr). Genetic signature of differential sensitivity to stevioside in the Italian population. 2014.
6. European journal of clinical nutrition (Eur J Clin Nutr). Effects of non-nutritive (artificial vs natural) sweeteners on 24-h glucose profiles. 2017.

Editorial Guidelines

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This article was written by a Registered Dietitian and reviewed by a Physician Assistant. We rely on peer-reviewed research and trusted medical sources, and regularly update our content to ensure accuracy and clarity.