What's Up with Monk Fruit and the Whole Food Sweetener Trend?

According to a recent issue of the Exploding Topics newsletter (forwarded to me by a listener), “whole food sweetener” is a hugely trending topic right now. As the editors put it:

Health-conscious consumers want to sweeten their food with substances that are natural and 'whole food.'

They go on to explain that whole food sweeteners include things like maple syrup, sweet potato puree, as well as plant-based, noncaloric sweeteners made from stevia and monk fruit.

What's better about whole foods sweeteners?

The concept of whole foods sweetener seems to be based on the notion that we’re better off eating whole and minimally processed foods. That’s something I can certainly get behind. As a general rule, whole foods tend to be more nutrient-dense and less energy-dense than more, highly-processed foods. For example, a baked potato contains more nutrients and fewer calories than a bag of potato chips.

Prioritizing whole foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, meat, and fish is a great way to improve the nutritional quality of your diet.

Prioritizing whole foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, meat, and fish is a great way to improve the nutritional quality of your diet. I generally expand this category to include minimally-processed foods, like yogurt, canned beans and tomatoes, olive oil, soy sauce, peanut butter, soymilk, tofu, bread, and pasta.

How processed is too processed?

Technically, these are all processed foods. So are pasteurized milk, filtered honey, frozen strawberries, and any vegetable that's had the dirt washed off it.

In truth, most food we come into contact with lies somewhere on a processing spectrum, ranging from "just plucked off the tree" to "I can't even tell what food this used to be."  Although I think it's unrealistic—and unnecessary—to completely avoid all processed food, choosing foods that are closer to the unprocessed end of the spectrum is a great idea.

Choosing foods that are closer to the unprocessed end of the spectrum is a great idea.

As with just about anything, though, the avoidance of processed foods can be taken to extremes. For example, some in the whole food movement believe that oils should not be included in a healthy diet because they are extracted from whole foods. According to this view, avocados, and olives would acceptable, but avocado and olive oil would not. The whole food sweetener movement may be driven by similar logic.
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