Best sweetner & is replacing sugar bad?

hmm thats a toughy. I find sweeteners are good for weening off sugar, but IMO I don't know if I would make them a regular part of your diet. The problem I find is that they tend to simply remind me that I want something sweet with out satiating my sweet tooth. That is just my experience. Personally I think you would be better off having real sugar, honey or [real] maple syrup and just cut back.

Some people don't mind switching sugar for sweetener - but it seems to me that your cravings are still there, and your not enjoying the taste. As far as I know almost no tasty sweeteners exist - although I find splenda is the most tolerable.

I find to make long term success and good eating habits a part of my life - actually enjoying the food is key. Therefore my vote is for real sugar

I use Xylitol, it's quite a healthy substitute however, it's quite pricey.. Alternatively you could use Stevia, I personally prefer a normal sweetener over stevia, stevia is just not a preference for me

Most I've tried always have a bitter after-taste, Stevia seems to be the only one with such little of said taste that I can tolerate it easily. Sweet n low, for example, makes me feel like I'm eating sweetened rat poison because the bitter taste is so prominent.
I would love to be able to make diet-alternative things that require significant amounts of sweetness (Thai Tea, for example) without having it taste like I squirted some dish soap into it.

While cancers have been found in animals that were tested in a small sample with the artificial sweeteners, there hasn't been enough evidence to link the two. However, I find that the small case sample was enough to keep me away from those. There's really nothing wrong with raw sugar. Heck, many people where cane sugar grows, eat them by the stalk and live quite long lives. It really is all about moderation. Anything that has been refined (like granulated white sugar) will be less healthy than that in its raw state, and that included Stevia. It just depends on how much you care about that aspect of it. LOL

Aside from that, it's also been studied that those who prefer diet drinks (which all have artificial sweeteners) are more likely to gain weight because their body does not process the calories intake properly. However this was also a small study.

Another question on top of that was who funded the study? If a medical school did the research and it was funded by a company associated in anyway with those who manufacture artificial sweeteners, chances are the studies will always be considered safe or at worst "inconclusive" because people are biased and will pay for what they want to hear, not necessarily truth. Independent studies on sweeteners will be what you want to look for when making your final decision. (If it matters that much lol). Sometimes I over do it with the explanations and people don't really care for the extra info. LOL

I use stevia all the time when I want to add a little extra sweetness to things like almond milk or whatever. Over time, I've noticed I don't seem to need as much as I used to. As far as baking is concerned, I use real sugar. Too much sugar makes me feel like crap, though, so I try not to eat a ton of it.

As far as artificial sweeteners (like Splenda, etc.) go, I use them occasionally, but not often. I'm not worried too much about whether they are harmful, since I rarely consume them.