What is used to make the chocolate naturally contains sugar.

The sweeteners can cause digestive issues if you get on a binge.

It can affect your digestion. My mother had some nasty side effects from the Russel Stovers.

Sweetened with Malitol......you will be VERY sorry if you eat too much....even a little is going to create some rumbly tumbly.

I learned the hard way....that was a long night I regreted

Can raise your sugar. Eat the real stuff but less and count the carbs.

And I mean ZERO.

What effect it does have can (emphasis on can) be indirect. A high fat meal can slow down digestion and make insulin not work as well; however, notice the use of "high fat." That's because it takes a quite high-fat meal to slow down your digestion to that point: Fried chicken with french fries, and a buttery roll on the side fat levels. That's what it takes. But a standard balanced meal? Nope. The fat content of a (not-fried) meat and veg type meal isn't bad for you.

If fat were bad for you, the French would be the unhealthiest people in the world, given how they eat much larger quantities of butter, cheese and cream than, well, anyone in the world. And yet only the Japanese have lower obesity, diabetes and heart disease rates than the French. So fat isn't the problem.

That would be sugar.

Or at least wishing you'd stayed home close to your own bathroom after eating.

It won't go right through you, unlike maltitol or sorbitol. That's what sweetens keto desserts, along with stevia; erythritol provides the bulk.

and other sugar alcohols.

Stevia (pure) in every study conducted to date is safe. Erythritol like the other sugar alcohols can cause GI upset (albeit less so than maltitol), including diarrhea, though dose and effects vary by individual. But like maltitol and sorbitol, erythritol is not digested, but fermented by gut bacteria, so those with a certain "uniquely-normal" individual flora are more susceptible to GI upset. While generally considered safe when evaluated by FDA, emerging studies are questioning it as well as most other artificial sweeteners. Personally, I avoid it because I closely follow the epidemiologic and clinical literature and I suspect ongoing studies may change our assessment. I only use pure Stevia. The only reason Erythritol was added to stevia was to allow for trademarking as a commercial product. Boy, did we fall for it. Inulin (a naturally occurring fiber source can be added to prevent clumping without adulterating. But even FDA considers added erythritol to be an additive/adulterant, albeit safe (for now). On the rare occasion, I will ingest something with sugar alcohols (rarely) it is one serving only. Others may fare better (be less susceptible to side effects) but I don't need them that much. Certainly not a good choice for the family car road trip if you follow my drift...


The WHO is not including diabetics in their current oppositional guidelines re: artificial sweeteners, but I consider that a "placeholder" pending the result of ongoing studies in multiple countries. The future may change that assessment:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/15/well/eat/sweeteners-weight-loss-who.html

Some early studies have indicated that stevia could have a negative effect on male fertility:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9274198/

More research needs to be done to see how it affects humans, but i'd exercise caution if I were trying to start a family.

Of course, if you're not wanting kids (or not anymore), well...bonus?

and as we saw with prior overreactions to saccharine, cyclamates-- may have little bearing in humans.

Many innocuous ingredients (to humans, primates, and larger mammals) can have adverse effects in rodents--especially those specifically bred to be sensitive to tumor formation and other chronic conditions for research. Their purpose is solely for hypothesis generation to be taken for further human study once a plausible biologic pathway has been established in related studies. Unfortunately, the media picks up on these animal studies and sensationalizes them.

Check the packages carefully for what the sweetener is. I know for a fact that both Hershey's and Russell Stover use malitol, a common sugar-free sweetener in processed chocolates and candies. It's also a known cause of explosive diarrhea. I won't even touch the stuff, but maybe you can handle it.

Most of the other sugar-free sweets use asparatame. A few use Splenda. If you're really--really--lucky, you can find chocolate sweetened with less harmful sweetners. Swerve makes chocolate bake mixes, sweetened with erythritol. I think they have a chocolate cake, brownies, and some cookies. They're gluten-free, too, although they use almond flour. So beware if you have a nut allergy.

A brand that has stevia-sweetened chocolate is Lily's. It's not all that great of chocolate, but if you're desperate, I suppose it would do. Don't laugh, but Lakanto has monkfruit-sweetened dark chocolate chips, like what go into cookies. I eat them out of the bag like candy when I'm desperate for chocolate candy, LOL.

I've found some vegan (non-dairy) ice creams that use stevia, monkfruit or allulose. So Delicious has a chocolate variety that uses monkfruit with eryhtritol. It's pretty good. Amazon and Whole Foods also carry similar desserts. Also, check your local supermarket as well. Many of the bigger chain stores out there are coming up with their own vegan sugar free "ice creams." My stepsister swears by Higher Harvest from HEB. If I lived in Texas, I'd try them, too, because they're vegan and sweetened with monkfruit, so they're only 10 or so carbs. Per pint, not serving.

I'm also lucky that, although it's a "normal" sweetener, agave tends to agree with my blood sugar, and I'm not alone in that. Many diabetics process it quite well. Maybe you're one of the lucky ones, too. Nadamoo is the brand to look for if you're interested in agave-sweetened vegan yum. Their ice cream is just like the real thing, and the taste is OMG out of this world good. The chocolate is especially decadent.

Beyond that, you can get "creative" with Truwhip. It's basically a keto Cool Whip sweetened with monkfruit and allulose, one of the new sweeteners out there. Anyway, to turn that into a chocolate yum-fest, just add some cocoa powder, vanilla and liquid stevia or monkfruit to taste. I've also added a bit of espresso powder and vegan cream cheese (VIOLIFE FTW!) to give it some oomph. A whirl in the Cuisinart will get it all mixed up just right. If you get the right balance of ingredients, it turns out like chocolate mousse.

… sugar alcohols. They will not spike your blood sugar ad mich as sugar.

Erythritol is better blood sugar-wise, but I don‘t know any chocolates that use it.

Some folks do experience digestive discomfort with sugar alcohols, though….