What IS the Healthy Substitute for Sugar?

Barbs2222 wrote: »

GoPerfectHealth wrote: »

After doing some reading recently I discovered that there are artificial sweeteners, and there are also sweeteners that fall into the category of sugar alcohols.

One sugar alcohol that I use is Erythritol. It tastes good, has zero calories and does not raise blood sugar levels. It also has antioxidants. If you are looking for a good substitute for sugar (but not low calorie), date sugar is an excellent one. It is simply ground up dates which have a lot of health benefits. My husband has date sugar and honey on his oatmeal every morning.

Here is some information on erythritol: http://nutritionfacts.org/video/erythritol-may-be-a-sweet-antioxidant

Here is another video that ranks the various sweeteners by their health benefits. http://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-healthiest-sweetener

FYI - I just have to add that the source of the videos (NutritionFacts.Org) - seems to promote vegetarianism.

Date sugar? Wow, that's great! I've never heard of it. I've never seen it in the store either so I'll have to look harder. My husband will absolutely love it. Thanks for sharing

You can get it at health food stores and also on Amazon. I made pumpkin muffins with it once. They were delicious!

Splends i only use 3 aday on my 3 cup coffee

Sweet 'n Low in tea, Splenda on grapefruit, sugar on everything else. Stay at your calorie goal barring any medical condition. I also do not believe the scare tactics about reasonable consumption of artificial sweeteners. They are among the most studied substances on the planet.

Xylitol has been the closest I've found to tasting like sugar and it's heat stable so you can bake with it. I've also made powdered sugar out of it to make frosting. It's good for your teeth too, something about not feeding and reducing the growth of harmful mouth bacteria. Just be extra careful if you have pets that they don't steal any of the treats you make with it/put it in cause it's more toxic to them than chocolate is. I've also read it can cause excess gas in some people but it's never bothered me.

Erythritol is good too, though definitely has a different taste than real sugar. I don't get much of an aftertaste with it though. This is what Sobe uses in their Lifewater 0's that you find at convenience stores. Love those drinks.

Stevia is okay. It can taste bitter if you use too much and has a more pronounced aftertaste, but I sometimes use Truvia packets and it's a mix of stevia and erythritol so any aftertaste is minimized. I actually prefer this to sweeten my tea than regular sugar. It's got a.. cleaner taste? I dunno, I'm just used to it.

Mommiana wrote: »

Suggestions please...artificial sweeteners aren't good for you; sugar isn't either...what does one use for sweetener in tea, coffee, or in baking? Thanks!

I'll tell you a secret: tea and coffee taste great without any sweeteners. Actually sugar and other sweeteners "kill" the taste of your drink. If you cut them out completely, you will start to appreciate good quality teas and coffees and enjoy your Darjeeling or your Earl Grey much better. You may want to start by gradually reducing the amount until you can cut it out altogether.

Artificial sweeteners and natural one are ok if you don't over do it. The thing is too much fructose can be harmful. However, putting a spoon or too in your coffee or tea is no big deal.

I personally use sucralose in my hot beverages and honey in my yogurt/marinades, because they taste better than say stevia and aspartame.

herrspoons wrote: »

judiness101 wrote: »

Artificial sweeteners and natural one are ok if you don't over do it. The thing is too much fructose can be harmful. However, putting a spoon or too in your coffee or tea is no big deal.

I personally use sucralose in my hot beverages and honey in my yogurt/marinades, because they taste better than say stevia and aspartame.

Too much of anything is bad. Fructose is no better or worse than anything else.

There is no need for tautology here, since we are discussing sugar. For a lot of people it's easier to over do it on sugar than on proteins, since it's often absorb as liquid calories. If you eat a lot of process food, there is added sugar in everything. It does add up.

I'm not trying to do fear mongering here, but there are serious link with excess fructose and diseases like fatty liver and type 2 diabetes. But of course you have to over do it. I'm not sure we are allowed to post link here. But there is an interesting article called "How bad is fructose" in the American journal of clinical nutrition.

avvgromano wrote: »

I'll tell you a secret: tea and coffee taste great without any sweeteners.

Agree! I've always preferred coffee without sugar, but one of my friends recently reduced (by half a tsp a week) from coffee with 3 sugars to none. Although she has started buying 'posher' coffees now - so maybe an impact on the wallet!

Really depends on your goals. I use maple syrup we tap on my farm, or local honey whenever I can. When baking, I use regular sugar. Just in moderation:)