Alternatives for Honey??

danniilj91

Hi all I’m currently using honey as a sweetener but it’s showing as my main sugar intake and I’m going over my recommended amount.

Any recommendations on what I can use that contains less sugar but is natural as I don’t want use sugars or sweeteners.

Thankyou
Dannii

Alatariel75

Well, honey is almost pure sugar, as is maple, agave syrup, rice syrup, etc. They're all sweeteners.

When I was on Whole30, we used whole dates soaked in boiled water and blended as a sweetener, still chock full of sugar but it was natural.

Lietchi

For tea, I use buddha amacha leaves to provide natural sweetness.

Alatariel75

Lietchi wrote: »

For tea, I use buddha amacha leaves to provide natural sweetness.

Oh, good point, I find liquorice root in tea is also a great sweetener.

AnnPT77

Apple juice concentrate or grape juice concentrate would be fairly natural.

A good brand of blackstrap molasses is a sugar, but at least has some very solid micronutrient content. I like it in my oatmeal. Some types can have heavy metals, though, or so I'm told.

Gradually tapering down the amount of sugar one adds to things tends to work well for some people. Eating more fruit tends to reduce cravings for more calorie-dense or sweeter sweets for some people (of which I'm one).

Honestly, sugar is pretty much sugar, whether it's refined white sugar, honey, agave, blah blah blah. It's processed in the body in pretty much the same way, whether it's in a sweetener or in a natural food. Yes, there's a different pathway for fructose than glucose, but most of the "natural" sugars - including those in whole foods - are a mix of those anyway.

Some of the sweet-tasting botanicals like stevia, monkfruit, etc., are marketed as natural, but can be quite highly processed depending on the specific form. Are those truly more natural than refined sugar?

If you're getting so much total sugar that you can't simultaneously stay within calorie goal AND get enough protein and fats, that's definitely a problem nutritionally. Ideally, there should be room in an adequate calorie budget for not just those proteins and fats, but also IMO a well-rounded variety of colorful veggies and fruits for micronutrients and fiber. If sugar prevents that, then reducing sugar is a good plan. If someone is diabetic or insulin resistant, or has a similar health concern, they may need to manage carbs carefully. In that case, sugar may also be a concern. Otherwise?

This may be considered a radical thought, but if a person is staying within reasonable overall average calories; getting enough protein; getting enough of a healthy balance of fat types; eating a very generous amount (say 400-800g minimum) of varied, colorful veggies and fruits daily; is not already diabetic, insulin resistant or anything of that sort . . . I don't see why total sugar level matters.

All through weight loss, I routinely exceeded the MFP default total sugar goal when the only added sugar I ate on a typical day was a bit of concentrated fruit juice well down the ingredient list in a single daily 30-calorie tablespoon of all-fruit spread. My overall nutrition was solid, I lost weight fine, my health markers like blood pressure and cholesterol improved pretty dramatically. I customized my diary columns to drop sugar and track fiber instead. That wasn't denial; it was a conscious decision that total sugar wasn't relevant in that context.

For myself, I've always done better working at getting needful nutrients into my eating within calories, rather than focusing on getting supposedly-bad things out. YMMV.

These days in maintenance, I still exceed the MFP default total, and I do eat a bit more added sugar, though typically well within the WHO recommended limit of 10% of calories, with rare exceptions. I actually prefer the sweeteners that are forms of sugar large numbers of humans have been eating for centuries, like maple syrup, honey, molasses and yes, refined white sugar. Health markers are still just great, weight generally stable, etc. That's just me, though.

tomcustombuilder

danniilj91 wrote: »

Hi all I’m currently using honey as a sweetener but it’s showing as my main sugar intake and I’m going over my recommended amount.

Any recommendations on what I can use that contains less sugar but is natural as I don’t want use sugars or sweeteners.

Thankyou
Dannii

I wouldn’t worry about it. Sugar is just carbs and carbs are just sugar. Fruit is sugar. This whole sugarphobia has gotten out of hand. There is this misconception that sugar is only a donut or cookie or piece of a can of Coke or other ultra processed foods and drinks.

Honey is a naturally produced sweetener. Don’t fear it…