If you have a sweet tooth and can’t live without sweets, then you must read this article for some healthy alternatives for sugar. This topic is crucial, especially in today’s time, because there are several sugar alternatives out there. The artificial sweeteners that are severely unhealthy for you are assumed to have zero calories or no sugar. Here is a list of 5 sugar alternatives that we would like to introduce as they all benefit in your health, they are natural and works much better for you compared to sugar.
There are a few things that should be considered when people look for what sugar alternative or sweetener is the healthiest.
How much is the food processed?
This question crosses our mind when we buy any healthy food. The experts say that the least processed it is better because when the food is taken from its original state, you don’t want the process to strip all its nutrients and benefits for our health. It adds way more foreign substance to your body in addition to the added chemical toxins.
The amount of Glycemic Index
Glycemic Index shows how long it takes for the added sugar to increase your blood sugar level. We would need food who’s added sugar cannot raise our blood sugar level at once. No one would want to have a sudden rise in blood sugar because of that’s when it gets more damaging and a risk to your body. When you are buying something sweet, the glycemic index is what you will pay attention to as it matters more than the sugar content. If the glycemic index is high, then the food is going to be a significant risk on your body.
We all know that sugar is not that good for our health. There’s a vast difference between the natural sugar that is obtained from fruits and vegetables and the artificial sugar which is also known as cane sugar. Fruits are said to be the most essential and detoxing food on the planet in addition to vegetables. The sugar in them is not at all harmful, but according to the doctors, they should be consumed in a limited amount. Artificial sugar that comes from packaged sweets and chocolates are the ones from which you should restrict yourself. The following alternatives should be considered taking everything under the account.
Monk Fruit
Monk Fruit is something that most people are not aware of being an alternative. Monk fruit is in a powder form that originates from Southeast Asia and is obtained from real fruit. The makers bring the fruit to the factory, remove all the seeds from the fruit and squeeze all the juice out of it. From the liquid that is squeezed out is presented as a sweetener for us. The sweetener that is provided has zero calories which means no sugar and its a very natural alternative. This food is being used more and more these days because when you compare it to something sweet and low or equal that are highly processed chemical sweeteners, these are proven natural and healthy. The sweetness in this is twice as sugar, and the range is too high. It’s said to be a hundred or two hundred times sweeter than sugar, so its recommended to use just a little because even a small amount gets too sweet compared to the real sugar. When it comes to brand, make sure that from whatever platform you are ordering this from first confirm that it is raw. Make sure that they have natural organic ingredients and not adding any chemical to it. You can look at the back and check the ingredients before buying it manually. The glycemic index for monk fruit is zero because there’s no sugar at all.
Stevia
This alternative comes in a liquid form as well as powder form and is obtained from North and South America from the stevia plant. There are many types of stevia; ideally, you get full green leaf stevia, and another type is just basically based on ground as part of the plant is extracted. As it was mentioned earlier that monk fruit is 200 times sweeter than the actual sugar, this is a little subjective and depends on the different tastes that people have. This alternative has a much stronger flavour than the monk fruit and little complicated because it has a strong bitter taste that is confusing to the taste buds. The only thing that counts as an advantage for this alternative is when you mix it with some food it combines with the taste and becomes delicious. The taste is something that you acquire at a slow pace. When you get used to the taste, you will like it and also the food that you will this into. In my opinion, the liquid form of stevia is better than the powder one because you can quickly drop it in on your food and you will have a dessert ready. Stevia is said to be very natural and safe. If you have diabetes or blood sugar issues or you are looking forward to losing your weight, then this is a tremendous no-carbohydrate solution. The glycemic index for stevia is zero because there’s no sugar in this either just like monk fruit.
Raw Honey
When you are buying honey, you need to make sure that it’s raw and even ideally be from a local source. One of the reasons its so beneficial is that honey is not just a sugar its a food. Honey doesn’t only contain sugar, but it also contains amino acids. It includes specific types of electrolytes, antioxidants and antimicrobial compounds that can support your body and helps to maintain your health. Usually, sweeteners are not supposed to be used too much, for honey you can use 1 or 2 tablespoons every day, and you are going to be healthy and fit in your future life. Honey also helps in immunity and especially for the crisis that is going around us, have a tablespoon of honey every day, and you will be ready to fight anything. A few other benefits of honey is that it helps reduce allergy symptoms. The reason it does this is that it contains local pollen, and this is why you should buy raw honey that is not processed. Researchers say that 80% of the honey in the supermarkets does not contain any pollen, so make sure to look for the raw honey and use it as natural medicine. The glycemic index for honey varies from time to time because the composition of honey is not exact, but one study stated that it’s 61.
Dates
There are many fruits that can be used as an alternative like, dry fruits, raisins or apricots, but the great thing about dates is they are very high in fibre and potassium in addition to other vitamins and minerals. It has been proven by the researchers that dates have the highest nutrient value compared to the other alternatives for sugar. When we look up in terms of phytochemicals that heals our body, then honey has the highest nutrient value, but in terms of essential vitamins and minerals in addition to fibre content, then dates have the highest nutrient value that is good for our body. The fibre content in dates is said to slow down the sugar absorption that means dates are not sugar, but they are food that contains sugar besides fibre, antioxidants and minerals like potassium that helps you slowly absorb sugar and regulate sugar within your body. The potassium in the dates helps in removing the toxins from our body and also in balancing electrolytes in the body, which is beneficial for athletes and active people. The varieties of dates tested had a glycemic index of 46 to 55 for the concrete subjects and 43 to 53 for the sort two diabetic issues, making them low glycemic index nourishments.
Maple Syrup
Maple syrup is said to be a healthy sugar alternative as it is lower in calories and lower in sugar plus it also contains some beneficial minerals like calcium, zinc and manganese. There’s have been some research into other antioxidant nutrients in maple syrup. These antioxidants aren’t essential for life, but it can reduce oxidative stress in the body.
Chemical analysis has shown that maple syrup has several different antioxidant nutrients, and test-tube studies have shown that maple syrup can reduce the reactions that lead to oxidative stress. As the researches have mostly been performed in test tubes, we don’t have many ideas about how well humans can absorb these beneficial nutrients and where they would go in the body. Science suggests that there could be marginal to non-existent benefits of maple syrup at healthy levels of added sugar consumption.
Although maple syrup contains some beneficial nutrients, this doesn’t wholly balance the sugar content. If you like the taste of the maple syrup, then you should use it on special occasions but never go overboard with it. The foods with a glycemic index lower than 55 get digested slowly releasing amounts of sugar in our blood at a slow pace. Glycemic index for maple syrup is 54.
