I tried… different sweeteners
Why sweeteners?
Let me start by saying desserts are my weakness. I love all kinds of sweets and I am sure that’s the case for many others as well. No wonder when scientists were looking for the most addictive substances, sugar was in the top with cocaine. Now although we all love sugar, we know it’s not great for you, if you didn’t let me be the one to tell you, a high sugar intake can cause a lot of problems, here’s the list. Okay, so we know sugar is bad, do we just quit sweets? This is where sweeteners come in handy, they’re meant to add back some sweetness to your life while not killing you(kidding, not really). Before we dive into the options, just a disclaimer, I don’t mean to promote the mentality that you should never touch sugar ever again, but these recommendations are more for a daily alternative for regular sugar. Having gotten that out of the way, let’s dive into what options we have.
What are my options?
Speaking of options, there are some traditional options like honey, and given the advances in food technologies, some advanced options like erythritol. These also differ based on their source, some are derived from natural sources like stevia which is a plant so it’s seen plenty of sunlight and on the other hand some artificial options like sucralose which never really left a lab. Finally, some of these options are great to add sweetness but can’t be used for cooking or baking, and others are ideal for a 1:1 substitute for cane sugar. Lot’s to cover, let’s dive in starting with the worst.
Sucralose
Sucralose is a widely used chemical-based sugar alternative. It’s used to sweeten almost everything from your diet coke to protein bars or supplements. Since it was made in a lab they designed it in such a way that it tricks your brain to think you’re eating something sweet while having little to no effect on your blood sugar. Sucralose is sweeter than sugar(like they outdid themselves here) and you only need a small amount. In my opinion, yes, it does the job in terms of sweetness but also has a touch of fakeness, like it will make your coffee taste sweet but with a hint of chemical flavor. It was all good up till here, but there are studies that hint at the fact that sucralose has ill effects on your gut health. Now, these claims haven’t been proved yet but since this hasn’t been around for a long time we don’t really know a lot here. When it comes to me, I prefer to avoid chemical substances and would much rather prefer something natural. So I’d say you can skip this one directly, either way, chances are this is sneaking in your diet anyway due to its widespread use.
Honey
Moving from the artificial stuff to the natural, and it can’t get any more natural than honey. Honey is known to have health benefits like being rich in anti-oxidants so it’s automatically better than table sugar which has no health benefits. It tastes great too, adding honey to your cereal makes it taste better not just sweeter. However, I personally had to add a little more than a tablespoon for it to make a difference. Here’s where it gets a little complicated, although honey is better than sugar because it’s natural, it’s still high in sugar. So don’t go overboard with the proportions here. Here’s where something like sucralose or stevia do a better job as you only require a pinch. Another thing to watch out here is that like everything we also have a lot of processed honey which is equivalent to sugar, so I’d recommend getting the “raw” honey.
Maple syrup
Like honey, maple syrup is another natural alternative that is rich in antioxidants and minerals. I found this to be the best tasting alternative, as it adds the maple flavor which adds another depth in flavor. Although like sugar this won’t blow up your blood sugar through the roof, it still is high in natural sugars, so you can’t go overboard here too. Honestly, a tablespoon does the trick here so you don’t really need a lot.
Agave nectar
So to be honest, I had no idea what agave is but I always saw this pop-up along with the last two, and I decided to give it a try. In terms of sweetness this did a good job, it has a sharp sweetness to it so you won't miss sugar here. However, agave nectar although low on the GI index which means it won’t spike your blood sugar, it’s high in fructose which as it says right here isn’t the best for you for the long term. Knowing this, I’d opt for maple syrup over this or the better options yet to come.
Stevia
Sure the last few options are good, but they don’t go with everything. Like maple syrup or honey aren't the first preference to sweeten something like a coffee. Here’s where the next few options do better job for a one-to-one substitute for traditional sugar. Stevia is a natural sweetener derived from a specific plant, which already makes it better than artificial ones. It’s also way sweeter than actual sugar, so a small amount goes a long way. You can get it as the stevia leaf directly or an extract, the latter is just more convenient and I’d recommend it. I use the stevia leaf extract from “In the raw” which comes in small packets and is super convenient but any good brand should work. Now here’s where the road gets a little bumpy, stevia does sweeten your food, but it does add a little funky flavor. If this bothers you, keep reading, however for me when you add it with other things, this is not that prominent and if you can get past this, I’d recommend trying out stevia.
Coconut sugar
Coconut palm sugar is derived from the sap of the coconut tree. This is like a lesser evil version of regular sugar, it does spike your blood sugar but lesser. It's not a zero calorie sweetener, it has considerable amounts of calories but lesser than regular. This also has a considerable amount of fructose which recalling from agave isn't the best for you. What does work here though is the taste and the sweetness. I found the taste to resemble brown sugar or jaggery, this adds a little caramel touch which I'm a fan of. Also, this was able to sweeten things really well like you won't miss the sugar.
Monk fruit
If you just love traditional sugar and don’t want to try an alternative, firstly I’m not sure why you clicked but now that you did, you won’t be disappointed. Monk fruit extract derived from the monk fruit is a relatively new comer to the sweetener game. Like stevia, this has zero calories, it's like 250 times sweeter than sugar and doesn't spike your blood sugar, that's a check, check and a check. Unlike stevia, this didn't have any funky after taste. To me, this came the closest to sugar in terms of taste and even looks. Apparently, it also had a cooling effect in your mouth which wasn't that prominent for me. Being a newcomer this wasn't that common as opposed to the other options. The one I tried was from lakanto, this was a blend of monk fruit with "Erythritol" which is the most benign sugar alcohol, one that can actually be recommended.
My experience
Pros: It gets you the sweetness without the bad stuff, which for someone who loves sweets but still wants to put their health first it's a great option to have. Especially how companies are using these to develop products like sugar-free ice-cream, desserts and more(an example coming soon in the next post). Another plus is you won’t feel like you’re dieting because when done right sweeteners can fill in the gap in your diet bringing sweetness back to your life by satisfying your cravings.
Cons: The clear one being the artificial stuff which may not be the best for your body and in some cases does more harm than sugar itself. Also for some of these if you go in expecting a sugar-like sweetness you may be a little upset due to the variations. Depending on the sweetener, some may be more expensive than sugar but in this case, I'd recommend spending extra since these small changes usually go a long way in terms of your health and saving you a lot more in the long run. You may also want to steer away from the higher calorie or high fructose options, I'd recommend picking one depending on your goal or use case.
Verdict
If you’re someone who’s getting started on their weight loss journey, sugar is something that you should be cutting down or cutting out to start with but if you have a sweet tooth like me this is a problem. Here’s where these options available to us today come in handy, you don’t have to sacrifice sweets, just have to choose wisely. For this reason, I highly recommend giving the good ones here a try.
Thanks for stopping by. Let me know your thoughts and what other categories would you like me to talk about. Have a great day!