This page welcomes nutrition and food questions and provides responses from our collaborators, Cooperative Extension Specialists Dr. Cassandra Nguyen and Dr. Jennifer Smilowitz from the NEXUS Center, Department of Nutrition at the University of California Davis.
Cassandra J. Nguyen, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of
Cooperative Extension
University of California Davis
Jennifer T. Smilowitz, Ph,D.
Assistant Professor of
Cooperative Extension
University of California Davis
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Read responses from our collaborators, Drs. Nguyen and Smilowitz
Is Monk fruit a better alternative sweetener?
By Dr. Jennifer Smilowitz, Cooperative Extension Specialist
Monk fruit (also known as luo han guo) is a popular non-nutritive sweetener (NNS), meaning it provides little to no calories. It's made from the extract of the monk fruit and contains compounds called mogrosides, which are responsible for its sweetness—about 100 to 250 times sweeter than sugar. Mogrosides have antioxidant properties and do not spike glucose or insulin levels. Thus, monk fruit has been promoted as a natural sweetener for people who would like to manage blood sugar or avoid using artificial sweeteners.
While it is generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by the FDA, there are potential drawbacks to using it.
- First, commercially sold monk fruit products are often blended with other sweeteners such as erythritol, dextrose, or allulose to reduce intensity and to bulk them up. These other sweeteners may have undesirable effects such as digestive intolerance (bloat, gas, diarrhea) or other health effects. For example, erythritol consumption was recently reported across different study designs to increase cardiometabolic risk.
- Second, while consumption of NNS has been shown to reduce body weight in the short-term in certain subgroups of the population, a systematic review and meta-analysis suggests that use of NSS does not confer any long-term benefit in reducing body fat in adults and children. Results suggest there may be detrimental effects such as increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and mortality in adults, but these data are inconclusive.
- Finally, there is only a paucity of research on the long-term health effects of monk fruit sweetener consumption in humans.
Taken together, like all sweeteners, NNS should be used in moderation.
What is the difference between Celtic salt, Himalayan salt, and table salt? Is one better than the other?
By Dr. Jennifer Smilowitz, Cooperative Extension Specialist
The difference between all three is based on how they are processed, where they are harvested and their mineral composition.
- Table salt is mined from salt deposits in the earth, which were often formed by ancient bodies of water;
- Celtic salt is sea salt harvested from saltwater lakes or the sea through evaporation; and
- Himalayan salt is harvested from the Himalayas in South Asia.
The latter two are less processed than the former and may have slightly more minerals and are moister than table salt but table salt is fortified with iodine while the other two are not. They usually are larger in size than table salt and have a distinctive taste due to the different mineral content. They are also more expensive than table salt. There is no data on any health outcomes related to using the different salt types but I will caution that if people use the Celtic and Himalayan salts, they should know the lack of iodine fortification would require them to take this essential nutrient as a supplement.