Monk Fruit vs Stevia: What’s the Difference?

When searching for natural sweeteners that are sugar-free, you might be wondering about the difference between monk fruit vs stevia (two of the most popular options). While there are other sugar-free sweeteners, these are typically artificially made and potentially dangerous – some can cause unwanted bloating, digestive problems, or inflammation. 

Monk fruit and stevia are a great way to add a sweet taste to your meals or drinks without overloading on added calories, sugar, and carbohydrates. When comparing stevia vs monk fruit, there are some pros and cons to be aware of. Keep reading to learn all about these!

Monk Fruit vs Stevia

What is Monk Fruit?

Monk fruit is more properly known as Luo Han Guo—a plant from the Cucurbitaceae family. Physically, it’s a smallish, green gourd that resembles some sort of melon.

Monk fruit grows naturally in China and certain parts of Thailand. Originally, Buddhist monks in the 13th century began harvesting and eating the fruit, which is how it became known as “monk” fruit. 

Monk fruit eventually made its way to the United States in the early 20th century, courtesy of the National Geographic Society. Nowadays, it's usually sold in dried form because it spoils quickly and does not taste good when fresh.

Monk fruit is unique because it's incredibly sweet, but it contains no sugar. The sweetness of the fruit comes from antioxidants known as mogrosides, which are metabolized differently than natural sugars. 

Antioxidants are extracts from natural plants that help our body fight free radicals; they’re responsible for giving monk fruit its sweet taste with zero sugar. 

What is Stevia?

Stevia is a sweet-tasting plant extract from the Stevia rebaudiana plant, native to Brazil and Paraguay. Humans have used stevia to sweeten food and drinks since the 16th century, and it's now also grown in China and Japan.

In terms of taste, stevia is 200-300 times sweeter than regular table sugar. 

Stevia’s advantage over regular table sugar or artificial sweeteners are similar to the advantages of monk fruit – zero calories, zero carbs, zero sugars. 

Benefits of Stevia vs Monk Fruit

Stevia

• Lowers risk of obesity & diabetes
• Contains many antioxidant compounds, including kaempferol, which can greatly reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer. 
• May help manage cholesterol 
• Helps satisfy and keeps you full longer 
• May benefit gut flora

 

Monk Fruit 

• Lowers risk of obesity & diabetes
• Promotes anti-inflammation
• Reduces allergies
• Reduces damage from free radicals

 

Regardless, all these benefits are just a bonus to the fact that they contain no sugar and don’t raise your blood sugar!   

 

Stevia vs Monk Fruit: Side Effects

The Cons of Stevia

Although stevia isn’t currently approved by the FDA, it has shown no dangerous side effects (aside from some small rare things like gas, nausea, or bloating). In some cases, stevia can cause allergic reactions when the stevia extract itself is not entirely pure and is mixed with someone you’re allergic to. 

Some people also notice an unpleasant aftertaste with stevia, but this usually only occurs if you have added too much. Trust us, we know. When formulating the perfect recipe for our plant-based protein powders, we learned how to strike the right balance. During one trial, we were a bit too heavy-handed with the stevia in our Strawberry flavor … we learned our lesson.

If you need more information about vegan protein alternatives please visit our blog.

The Cons of Monk Fruit

Does monk fruit have any side effects? Short answer: no. 

It’s generally a safe fruit to eat for adults, children and even pregnant or nursing women. The FDA approved monk fruit in 2010, but the fruit can still cause some digestive issues if you eat too much of it. Some rare (but possible) side effects include:

• Headaches 
• Nausea
• Upset stomach
• Bloating

Again, these side effects are very rare. 

The only other con is that some people notice an unpleasant aftertaste, but this usually only occurs if you have added too much of the sweetener. 

Is Stevia or Monk Fruit Better For You?

Monk fruit and stevia are both no calorie sweeteners. They have zero impact on your blood sugar levels, and they possess similar health benefits. 

When choosing between monk fruit and stevia, you should also think about whether you’re allergic to any members of the gourd family of fruits. If so, monk fruit might not be for you. 

Make sure you’re choosing pure stevia or pure monk fruit (but, pure monk fruit is harder to come by). It’s easy to buy products at grocery stores that have added chemicals or sugars in them that could cause allergies or other side effects. At 22 Days Nutrition, we only source pure, organic stevia to sweeten our plant-based protein powders. With only eight ingredients (max), everything we put into our products is intentionally clean and beneficial to your body. 

In addition, look for products you enjoy that are sweetened with stevia and monk fruit and try them out! Both sweeteners are growing in popularity, meaning new products are created frequently.

You can find plenty of alternatives to your favorite products (such as our stevia-sweetened protein powder, sodas, energy drinks, protein bars, ice cream, etc.) 

Fortunately, cooking or baking with stevia or monk fruit is easy. Both are heat-stable, which means that you can use them in recipes with heat up to 400˚. That said, some recipes might taste strange with stevia or monk fruit, so try substituting just a quarter amount of the sugar called for in the recipe, then go from here. Enjoy experimenting!

Bottom Line – Monk Fruit vs Stevia

Monk fruit and Stevia both have tons of health benefits. Plus, while many artificial sweeteners wreak havoc on our gut health, monk fruit and stevia aren’t artificial (meaning they don’t usually cause these issues). These natural plants have the sweet taste of artificial sweeteners without the harmful effects on our gut.

Also, when comparing monk fruit vs stevia, a big subject of discussion is the aftertaste. Some people experience a bitter aftertaste they can't stand, but this typically signals that you've added too much of the sweetener (which can be easy to do since it is much sweeter than regular sugar). We taste-tested all four of our flavors extensively, and we finally hit the perfect balance of sweetness without the aftertaste. This means you can actually taste the cacao in our Chocolate, get a burst of nutty goodness with our Peanut Butter, feel the freshness of the Strawberry, and recognize the subtle aromatic taste in our Vanilla. 

Try all four of our organic plant-based protein powders with our Plant-Power Set.