Stevia vs Acesulfame Potassium – Which is Healthier?

Our Verdict

When comparing stevia to acesulfame potassium, we picked the stevia.

Why?

You may be wondering: is acesulfame potassium a good source of potassium?

And the answer is: no, it is not. Obviously, it does contain potassium, but let’s do some math here:

• Acesulfame potassium is 200x sweeter than sugar
• Therefore replacing a 15g teaspoon of sugar = 75mg acesulfame potassium
• Acesulfame potassium’s full name is “potassium 6-methyl-2,2-dioxo-2H-1,2λ6,3-oxathiazin-4-olate”
• That’s just one potassium atom in there with a lot of other stuff
• Acesulfame potassium has a molar mass of 201.042 g/mol
• Potassium itself has a molar mass of 39.098 g/mol
• Therefore acesulfame potassium is 100(39.098/201.042) = 19.45% potassium by mass
• So that 75mg of acesulfame potassium contains just under 15mg of potassium, which is less than 0.5% of your recommended daily amount of potassium. Please consider eating a fruit instead.

So, that’s that, and the rest of the nutritional values of both sweeteners are just a lot of zeros.

What puts stevia ahead? Simply, based on studies available so far, moderate consumption of stevia improves gut microdiversity, whereas acesulfame potassium harms gut microdiversity:

• The Effects of Stevia Consumption on Gut Bacteria: Friend or Foe?
• The Artificial Sweetener Acesulfame Potassium Affects the Gut Microbiome

Want to give stevia a try?

Here’s an example product on Amazon

Enjoy!