Healthy Sugar Substitute: Are you craving a sweet dish before your next meal? Before you start preparing your favorite dessert, make sure you carefully consider the sweetening ingredient you plan on using in the dish. We rely a lot on refined sugar or corn syrup for our daily needs. We love to add it to our sweetened beverages, sweet snacks, desserts, or sugary cereals. Although the result is a delicious meal, consuming these sweeteners can lead to health issues such as diabetes.
To evade these issues, the key is to opt for a healthy sugar substitute.
But, what are those? How can you pick the right one for your health needs?
Let us narrow down the right sugar substitutes, especially those harmful to people with diabetes.
Top choices for healthy sugar substitutes
1. Stevia:
Among the popular natural sweeteners is Stevia. This sweetener is derived from Stevia rebaudiana’s leaves, an American shrub. This natural and healthy sweetener is extracted from two compounds under the glycosides umbrella. These compounds are:
The good thing about stevia-based sweeteners is that they don’t contain calories. Moreover, this healthy sugar substitute is about 450X sweeter compared to sugar. However, you might notice that the taste is slightly different from sugar, but the difference is almost negligible.
Research and studies conducted over the years indicate that replacing regular sugar with a healthy sugar substitute for diabetes can help reduce weight gain & blood sugar issues. Stevia is generally considered safe for regular use. However, it also has some tendency to affect your gut bacteria. This hasn’t yet been proven and requires more research for confirmation.
2. Sugar Alcohols:
Also termed polyols, they are carbohydrates found naturally in vegetables and fruits. Popularly used as a healthy sugar substitute, polyols include maltitol, erythritol, and xylitol. Unlike regular sugar, these sugar alcohols do not ruin your teeth’s condition. Additionally, they also contain very less calories. This makes sugar alcohols the perfect choice for diabetic people. The only drawback is that they might cause digestive issues when consumed in large quantities. It’s also strongly recommended to keep it out of reach from your pet dog. It’s highly toxic for them.
3. Allulose
Also popularly known as D-allulose, this sugar substitute for diabetes is a natural monosaccharide from fruits. The level of sweetness is very close to the regular sugar that we use. The best part is that you get to experience regular sugar at a very low calorific value. It offers merely 0.2 calories per gram. Studies have revealed that it apparently brings down the insulin and sugar levels in your body.
Like sugar alcohols, allulose might also cause difficulties when consumed in huge amounts. You might face symptoms of diarrhoea, abdominal pain, and bloating. So, the best way to use it is by fixing a dose that doesn’t exceed 0.19 grams per one pound of your body weight.
4. Dates
Derived from the palm tree, dates are dried fruits that offer a variety of health benefits apart from just being a natural sweetener. It possesses certain health benefits like no other natural sweetener or refined sugar. This dried fruit is an incredible source of potassium, carotenoid, vitamin B6, polyphenol antioxidants, manganese, and fibre. This is the perfect replacement for refined sugar in your sweet dishes. This healthy sugar substitute can be blended with milk to make lip-smacking smoothies and shakes.
It doesn’t threaten your blood sugar levels regardless of containing high sugar and calories. Several studies and research back this. An experiment was conducted among 100 diabetic people. One group was made to eat three dates per day, while the other ate none. A signification decrease in bad cholesterol was observed in the former group. However, the blood sugar indicator remained unaffected.
5. Yacon syrup
Yacon syrup comes from a native South American plant called yacon. Its consistency is quite thick and has a dark colour and sweet taste. It comes infused with a natural sugar molecule called fructooligosaccharides, which our body can’t easily digest. Since they can’t be digested, the yacon syrup contains fewer calories. It contains almost one-third calories of the regular sugar that we use.
When we talk about its sweetening capability, it’s less than the regular refined sugar. So, while preparing any sweet dish, you will have to use this syrup in a larger quantity.
Conclusion
All diabetic people can relish sweet dishes if made using a healthy sugar substitute for diabetes. Cut back your calorie and sugar intake by replacing refined sugar with the aforementioned substitutes. Your diet needs to be modified to lead a healthy life ahead. And this only can be done through checks and balances of your sugar intake level.
If you plan to switch your regular diet completely, your pantry needs to be packed with healthy substitutes. If that’s the case, you should definitely check out Right Food Only. Replace your regular refined sugar with a healthy sugar substitute by shopping from us. Our naturally sourced products offer several health benefits. And the best part is, we deliver across UK, EU and US. Order authentic and naturally extracted products from the comfort of your home. For further queries, you can contact us via mail at rightfoodonly@gmail.com or Whatsapp us at +1-7866579215.
