Nov 05 2009
Natural Sugar Alternatives That Are Good For You
With the growing concern about diabetes and obesity, many people have been looking to sugar alternatives as one way to maintain diet while living a healthier lifestyle. Nearly everyone responds to the sweetness of sugar, but processed regular white sugar used in most of our foods is not good for you and presents a host of health risks. Even though refined sugars are not good for you, there are sugar alternatives so you can still enjoy eating.
Natural sugars are one good choice when compared with refined sugar. Natural sugars are easier to digest, and provide much needed energy. The downside is that your body will store the fat if you consume too much. Even though we are trying to avoid storing fat, in small doses natural sugar provides a good option.
Other sugar alternatives are also available. Some of these are better for your body than others. The first option is saccharine. This is found in the pink packets in restaurants around the country. This sugar alternative is much sweeter than regular sugar, so you will use less to get the comparable result as natural sugar.
The problem with these sugar alternatives is that they may not be very good for you. Some people think that they cause cancer, but this has not been proven in any scientific studies yet. More importantly, they encourage your body to want more sugar, so they do not help you to eat healthier and avoid sugar at other times. Also, since they are tricking your body into thinking it is getting sugar, it stores the empty calories as fat, so the effects are just the same.
Another problem with artificial sweeteners is that they are not very good to cook with. They are alright for sweetening your coffee or iced tea, but they get a chemically taste is you use them to bake. That is why most people have a big bag of refined white sugar in their kitchens.
But there are other natural sugar alternatives that you can use that are great for baking and all your other sweetener needs. Honey is one good choice. It is all natural and good for you in moderation, of course. It is great for baking and as an added bonus it thickens things up as well.
Honey is also great in tea or coffee and you can even get dried honey crystals that are even easier to use. These are convenient for beverages or for sprinkling on cereal. Other natural sugar alternatives include agave, which is a thick liquid derived from a plant. It is thick, but not as thick as honey. It is sweet but not overpowering and it has a wonderful flavor.
Another great choice is Agave. Also derived from a plant, it is a concentrated liquid sweetener. It usually comes in smaller bottles because it is sweet enough you only need a few drops to replace spoonfuls of sugar!
With all the natural sugar alternatives on your grocer’s aisle, make sure you do your research. With so many options, you want to find the one that is right for your heart, health and weight. Make sure that you have the best natural sugar alternatives in your pantry.
To see recipes made using a natural sugar known as organic honey crystals then visit the Mama Healthy website to get one of the latest sugar alternatives in the market today.
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