What is the best protein powder with stevia or monk fruit?

Looking for the best protein powder with stevia or monk fruit? Discover how to safely meet your protein needs with natural sweeteners.

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Protein powder with stevia or monk fruit

What is stevia?

Stevia is a zero calorie sweetener extracted from the stevia rebaudiana plant. 

What is monk fruit? 

Monk fruit, also known as lo han guo, is a small, melon-like round fruit native to Southeast Asia. Monk fruit sweetener is created by removing the seeds and skin, crushing the fruit, and collecting the juice, which is dried into a fine powder.

Why use stevia and monk fruit? 

Stevia and monk fruit have no known side effects. They also have minimal impacts on blood glucose (sugar) and insulin levels, making them a great option for people with diabetes and/or weight loss goals. 

Other sugar substitutes have serious drawbacks.

Artificial sweeteners like sucralose, for example, are associated with higher risk of glucose intolerance, which is a precursor for pre-diabetes and diabetes. They also increase cravings toward sugary and sweet foods, leading to binging and feelings of withdrawal..

Stevia vs monk fruit

The one advantage stevia has over monk fruit is cost. Stevia is far less expensive, which explains why it is more often used to sweeten protein powders.

Monk fruit, although it is more expensive, has several distinct advantages over stevia.

For starters, monk fruit does not activate bitter taste receptors like stevia.

Many people do not care for protein powders with stevia because they have a bitter (or metallic) aftertaste.

Monk fruit is also a far more natural sugar substitute than stevia. There are no chemicals or solvents involved in the making of monk fruit sweetener.

Making stevia, on the contrary, often requires the use of chemicals like ethanol and methyl alcohol.

This, some argue, makes it barely more natural than the artificial sweeteners that it seeks to replace.

It is worth noting that sugar alcohols like erythritol are sometimes added to sweeteners like stevia or monk fruit extract to provide a sugar-like experience without the added calories.

I mention this because sugar alcohols are not always required to be listed on the Nutrition Facts label. This means that your protein powder could contain erythritol, and you would never know it.

This is why I recommend that you always check with the company to see if it uses any undeclared ingredients.

What is the best protein powder with stevia or monk fruit?

Our monk fruit sweetened protein powder is made with a short list of simple ingredients. Our vanilla protein powder, for instance, is made with egg whites, coconut, vanilla, and pure monk fruit. 

Our Ingredients

egg whites

coconut

vanilla

monk fruit

NOT Our Ingredients

• acacia gum

• acesulfame potassium

• artificial flavors

• carrageenan

• erythritol

• guar gum

• inulin

• maltodextrin

• 'natural' flavors

• silica

• soy lecithin

• sucralose

• xanthan gum

• xylitol

Many protein supplements are made with ingredients that can cause painful side effects and long term health problems. Among these ingredients are food additives, dairy-based proteins, and protein concentrates and isolates.

No food additives

Regularly eating emulsifiers, thickeners, sugar substitutes, and other additives can not only upset your stomach, but also alter the composition of your gut microbiome – the collection of microorganisms living in your gut. This can lead to gut dysbiosis, which contributes to wide range of chronic diseases, including obesity and type 1 diabetes.

Here is a list of the most common food additives in protein supplements:

• acacia fiber
• acacia gum
• acesulfame potassium
• artificial flavors
• ascorbic acid
• aspartame
• calcium carbonate
• carrageenan
• cellulose gum
• dextrin
• dicalcium phosphate
• dipotassium phosphate
• erythritol
• gellan gum
• guar gum
• gum arabic
• inulin
• locust bean gum
• maltitol
• maltodextrin
• mono- and diglycerides
• ‘natural’ flavors
• rice bran extract
• rice dextrin
• rice hulls
• rosemary extract
• silica
• silicon dioxide
• sodium alginate
• soluble corn fiber
• sorbitol
• soy lecithin
• sucralose
• sunflower lecithin
• tocopherols
• tricalcium phosphate
• xanthan gum
• xylitol
• zinc oxide

No dairy-based proteins

Dairy-based proteins like whey and casein, although not an issue for everyone, can cause side effects like bloating and diarrhea. This is in part because they contain lactose, a sugar most adults cannot fully digest.

NO protein concentrates and isolates

Most protein supplements are made from protein concentrates and isolates, which have been mechanically and or chemically stripped of everything but the protein, including the enzymes, fiber, and other natural digestive aids that help you break them down. As a result, they can cause digestive issues and possibly even disruptions to your gut microbiome. 

Finding a protein supplement free from food additives, dairy-based proteins, and protein concentrates and isolates is hard.

In fact, 99% of protein supplements contain one or more of these problematic ingredients. This is why we created drink wholesome. Order samples to see if it is right for you.