What is Monk Fruit?
Monk fruit, native to Southern China, has been used in ancient medicine as a cold remedy and digestive aid. Also known as the Swingle Fruit, it provides a boost of sweetness that is zero-calorie and is considered to be anywhere from 100-250x sweeter than regular sugar. With this in mind, you only have to add a very small amount of it to produce the same level of sweetness as sugar.
This was one of the main reasons that we decided to use Monk Fruit in our protein as opposed to sugar or other natural and/or artificial sweeteners. Adding .05g of Monk Fruit per serving allows us to reduce sugar while giving you the same great taste.
Sugar is sucrose, which is a naturally occurring disaccharide found in natural products such as fruits, vegetables and nuts. When we consume sugar, our body breaks it down into fructose and glucose. From here, we use the amount that we need and store the rest for future use.
Monk Fruit, on the other hand, does not raise blood glucose. Our gut microbes and colon use the natural compounds in Monk Fruit called mogrosides and excrete whatever we don't use up.
None of our products use Erythritol *
Sources: Kris Sollid, RD "What is Monkfruit?"
Monk Fruit Recognition
Monk fruit, scientifically known as Siraitia grosvenorii, has gained significant international recognition as a natural sweetener. This fruit, native to Southeast Asia, contains compounds called mogrosides, which are intensely sweet but have zero calories.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States has recognized monk fruit as a Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) ingredient, allowing its use in food and beverages. Furthermore, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has approved monk fruit extract as a food additive with the designation E959, expanding its recognition across Europe.
(Source: "Regulatory Pathways for Approval of High-Intensity Sweeteners" - Trends in Food Science & Technology, 2021).