Sugar alternatives

crystalp1980

What are the best sugar alternatives out there??

nutmegoreo

Personally, I prefer sugar. I don't like the aftertaste of any of the alternatives that I've tried.

I'm not sure what you are asking regarding "best." Are you wondering about flavour?

Alluminati

No or low calorie =Sweet n Low, Splenda, Equal
Calorie= honey, maple syrup, agave

crystalp1980

By best I mean no yucky aftertaste or one that has the least. I prefer sugar as well but I want to cut down on my sugar intake.

Sued0nim

Well there is sugar...as in fructose, glucose, lactose etc which covers the sweetness in everything like granulated sugar, honey, fruit, raisins milk etc

To put in perspective
10g sugar (white granulated) is 38 calories
10g of honey is 30 calories

Meh, s'nothing

Then there is aspartame and saccharine and their like which are not sugar

nvmomketo

Liquid stevia. No calories. Just don't add too much or it gets a bitter after taste for some.

I find 1 dropper full is about 1/4-1/3 cup sugar or 1-2 drops is about a teaspoon of sugar.

Any crystal/solid sweeteners will have calories. A buling agent is needed. Things like splenda and sweet n'low use dextrose or dextrin which is basically sugar. As a diabetic, those will affect my blood glucose.

Sugar alcohols work for some. Xylitol is low calorie and does not affect my BG, although it can affect my bathroom habits. Erythritol affects my BG.

nutmegoreo

crystalp1980 wrote: »

By best I mean no yucky aftertaste or one that has the least. I prefer sugar as well but I want to cut down on my sugar intake.

If you are logging here, take a look at where you are getting the most sugar and use that information to make changes. I like using unsweetened applesauce on my oatmeal to sweeten it a bit. Of course there is sugar in the applesauce, but I know that I would add a lot more calories worth of sugar if I were to sweeten it with brown sugar. I use peanut butter and jam on pancakes. I learned to drink my tea without any cream or sugar. This smaller changes worked well, and I don't rely on artificial sweeteners. Not that there is anything wrong with sugar or sweeteners.

fr33sia12

crystalp1980 wrote: »

What are the best sugar alternatives out there??

Depends what you mean. Do you mean sugar you add to tea/coffee, or to baking, or porridge?

DresdenSinn

I use a product called "Monk Fruit in the Raw" (available on Amazon)

kimberlyblindsey

Stevia

kiariv

If you must continue with sugar, please use pure cane sugar, demerara, turbinado. Coconut sugar is also a good one. For a sugar substitute pure stevia is the best imo.

Shug_E

Stevie or honey. Honey has a caloric intake but a lot of health benefits

brower47

I use either Sweet and Low or Splenda to lightly sweeten my tea. Sometimes I add a little honey if I'm going for that flavor. The best way to find out what is best for you would be to try them and find out. What I like is not going to be what the next person likes.

fitgoals23

Splenda is my go-to for coffee and tea. Honey is also nice on/in certain things.

Sued0nim

kiariv wrote: »

If you must continue with sugar, please use pure cane sugar, demerara, turbinado. Coconut sugar is also a good one. For a sugar substitute pure stevia is the best imo.

Why @kiariv ?

What difference does it make?

cross2bear

Its Splenda for me,
In coffee or tea

geneticsteacher

I use sugar, but also honey, maple syrup, aspartame, saccharin - really anything except sugar alcohols, which have a horrible effect on my digestive system.

Caitlinbc

I use honey, splenda and maple syrup to sweeten things.

NaturalNancy

Honey mmmm

tludvik

SWERVE!!!! When a recipe calls for granulated sugar, this is the best. NO aftertaste. I use it sparingly, though, since I'm minimizing all sugar intake.

lemurcat12

fr33sia12 wrote: »

crystalp1980 wrote: »

What are the best sugar alternatives out there??

Depends what you mean. Do you mean sugar you add to tea/coffee, or to baking, or porridge?

This is really the question.

I almost never use sugar at home. Basically, when I bake -- and then I don't use substitutes -- and a bit in rhubarb, although I've mostly learned to replace that by also using cherries or some other sweeter fruit. I use berries in oatmeal, drink coffee black. I've used honey in some savory dishes, but not as a replacement for table sugar.

If I liked sweetened hot beverages, I'd figure out the calories and either keep the sugar (it shouldn't be that many calories), replace with honey if I liked the taste better (calories would be the same), or if for some reason I used a whole lot I'd try cutting back or artificial sugars. I'm not against artificial sugars -- I prefer diet soda to regular (which I find undrinkable) and enjoy a vanilla protein powder with stevia on occasion -- but just wouldn't mess around with my baked goods, since it's not like I eat them that often, and can't really think of any other major use of sugar.

kiariv

Sued0nim wrote: »

kiariv wrote: »

If you must continue with sugar, please use pure cane sugar, demerara, turbinado. Coconut sugar is also a good one. For a sugar substitute pure stevia is the best imo.

Why @kiariv ?

What difference does it make?

Those sugars have a much different response in your body than genetically modified beet sugar.

RainaProske

I use the sweetener, xylitol. It seems expensive to me, so I often use it, then add a package or two of Splenda.

PellerinSarah

I prefer honey and stevia as sugar alternative.

amusedmonkey

I've tried them all. Stevia has the worst aftertaste to me, and some sort of vague bitterness. Xylitol is too "cool" as in, it feels like you are adding mints to your food interfering with the flavor. Sweet N' Low tastes chemical. Splenda is acceptable, but monk fruit's aftertaste is not bad at all, it's kind of "fruity". Aspartame is the best to me, only because I like diet soda so I'm used to it.

I still use sugar in most applications, but tend to do splenda in some things because, although not as good as some other choices, it's the most available sweetener in my local shop and one of the cheapest. I would have gone with monk fruit otherwise, but it's too expensive in comparison with limited availability which makes it not worth it for the purpose.

Other sweeteners like honey and dates have calories so I don't make effort to substitute them for sugar unless they work better taste-wise in particular recipes.

xvolution

I use splenda since it's a derivative of sugar and tastes roughly the same [it's sucralose, which the body can't easily metabolize so most of it passes through the body].