Eat natural and healthy Sweeteners
Jars with sweet fruit jelly image by conger design
Beware of High Fructose Corn Syrup
The problem with high fructose corn syrup is that as it is cheap it is used in about everything we eat. You will find it in sodas and sweet drinks, candy, and sweetened yogurt, salad dressing, and many more products that are manmade. Some scientists even catalog it as being worse than normal sugar.
On top of it comes that nowadays scientists warn that sugar is more addictive than cocaine. No wonder that Type 2 diabetes, high levels of triglycerides, and heart disease, to just name a few of modern life ailments, are on the rise.
Sugar and high fructose corn syrup are bad for us as they contain high levels of fructose.
The body needs Glucose; all the cells in our body use it. But Fructose has to be converted to fat, and it is processed in the liver. Now if we eat too much, then we get fatter plus health problems are on their way.
Fructose will make your body resistant to the effect of insulin, and it has been linked to a higher risk of inflammation and cancer. Some tips to avoid eating too much sugar is to eat natural foods, no sodas or juices, packaged food, or fast foods. It is not a bad idea to read the labels, you might be surprised what one may find.
There are healthy alternatives to sugar and high fructose corn syrup.
Stevia, Dates, Honey, Maple Syrup, Coconut sugar.
Let’s take a closer look at each of these healthy sugar substitutes.
Stevia leaves image by 13082
The different types of Stevia
Stevia has 0 calories, and it is all-natural as it is made from the leaves of a South American plant. It is much sweeter than normal sugar, so you need very little of it. There is one problem as not all Stevia is created the same and some can even present health problems.
The less manipulated the leaves are, the better. They are crumbled and then ground into powder, very sweet so be careful and don’t over-sweet your coffee.
There are also Stevia extracts on the market. The problem here is that some companies take the sweet Rebaudioside out of the Stevia. By doing that, it has no health benefits anymore.
There is also a really bad type of Stevia on the market, which is highly processed in a 42 step process. Some chemicals used in this process are highly toxic and can even cause cancer.
Natural raw honey image by Lolame
A gift from Nature, Honey
Raw Honey is another excellent alternative to unhealthy white sugar.
It depends on where the bees live as the plants and herbs they collect the pollen from giving a specific taste to the honey. Honey is a natural product and chock full of good things like enzymes, minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants.
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Do not be fooled into buying processed honey as that type is about totally stripped of all its health benefits. It has hardly any Bee pollen which is so good for our immune system.
Probably the best thing you can do is go to your local market where they sell GMO-free organically grown products. Beehives put upon those lands will have the best chance of providing the bees with near-ideal conditions to be able to produce this great natural product.
Know everything about honey
The author of this book, Mr. Nathaniel Altman, has made a collection of interesting facts on honey. You will read about the history of honey and how it was used in ancient Egypt, Chinese medicine, Indian Ayurveda, and Mayan shamanism.
The book, Honey Prescriptions, explores the broad spectrum of medicinal uses of honey and how these remedies can be used safely at home as well as by licensed health practitioners. This is a very practical and extensive book with lots of tips for your daily life.
You will also find the latest scientific and medical evidence of the healing properties of honey. Not to forget who makes the honey. The bees and their sacred role from ancient times to nowadays, where sadly they are in decline because of our mismanagement of nature.
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Some more Healthy Choices
Some other good options are Dates, great in homemade bread, cakes, and cookies. I would like to add a little warning. Do not eat too many dates as they hold a lot of calories.
Coconut sugar and Maple syrup are 2 other options that you can choose for sweetening up your life in a healthy way. One does not have to renounce the sweet pleasures in life, but one should take care to eat the healthier ones.
As an afterthought
Luckily nature provides us with healthy alternatives to sugar. It is a good idea to check on the foods you eat and discover where the hidden sugars are. Foods made in a factory are normally chock full of hidden sugars. Try to eliminate them from your diet and soon you will see positive results.
I have made a special page for you. It is a collection of things I like and you might find interesting. Please have a look at Recommendations to see if you find something good.
Source: NaturalHealth365
Photo Source: Pixabay
The following post does include sugar. You should not eat it with spoonfuls. Still, for breakfast, it is a delight. Have a look at how I make my organic orange marmalade. It is really worth your effort. The recipe is included, and I hope it will be a success.
Comments
Teresa
It is a stark reality when “sugar is more addictive than cocaine”, especially where children are concerned. I think it’s truly shocking when you realise what is in our foods these days. It’s incredibly important to educate ourselves and read the labels carefully as certain ingredients can be disguised under a different name.
These are great alternatives to processed sugar.
Taetske
Good Morning Teresa,
Thank you for reading my post on Healthy Sweeteners. When you come to think of it that in old times people would hardly ever eat sugar, it was more like on special occasions. Nowadays you will find sugar everywhere especially in man-made foods. We are lucky that nature offers such good alternatives which do not harm us but still gives us the pleasure of a sweet treat . I hope you will visit again.
Regards, Taetske
Nkhosingiphile
Natural health sweeteners are all we need this days, people are more addicted to sugar like you have just said, sugar is not good for our health but we are always going for it, and for the processed honey i did not know that it is stripped off its health, i dont like honey with pollen but now that you have mentioned that it is good for the immune system i will try to eat it with the honey.
Taetske
Good Morning Nkhosingiphile,
Thank you for visiting my website and leaving a comment. I hope you downloaded your free PDF?
When you buy honey it is very important to get the raw honey as otherwise you will be only getting the sweet taste but not all the health benefits. The closer we eat to nature the better our health will be.
Regards, Taetske
Dale
As a type 2 diabetic I am always having to watch what I eat and whats added into the foods.
My biggest shocker when I was diagnosed was how much sugar was in fruit juices. I always thought they were healthy for a person. It just proves that a person has to read labels.
I will admit Stevia is my go to for coffee and tea but you are right when you say to only use a fraction.
This was a great awareness article that everyone should read,
Taetske
Good Morning Dale,
I can imagine you were shocked finding out how much sugar there is in bought fruit juices. Often they even add extra sugar to it. Everything which is man-made one has to be careful with and you are right one has to read labels.
That is why I like natural things where you do not need to read labels. Try making your own juice at home. Take some carrots, celery, cucumber, green pepper, tomato, add some parsley and for the taste a whole apple. You wash the apple well, just as the rest. You can also mix a beetroot, very good for your blood.
Get yourself a good juice book, you might very well become addicted to making it yourself.
Thank you for your comment, I hope to see you again.
Regards, Taetske
p.s. Have a look at the free PDFs, you might well find a good juice book there to download.
Barry
Hello Taetske. I hope you are having a good time with the season. Merry Christmas to you in advance.
Thank you for sharing this health helping information. I found this article to be educative too. So Fructose is disastrous to our health. Among the healthy alternatives to sugar, I know of honey only. Stevia seems so interesting (sweet leaf).
Taetske
Good Morning Barry,
Thank you for your comment on my post. I hope you have downloaded your free PDF?
You are the first one to send me Christmas wishes, thank you that is very kind of you. My best wishes for you and your family come your way.
Honey is a health bomb but of course has calories. Stevia has no calories so would be a perfect substitute.
Regards, Taetske
Dennis
Wow, I always knew that high fructose corn syrup was in a lot of our foods today and is bad for you but some of the replacements you list are things I would have not thought of. I have been diagnosed as pre-diabetic so I have been watching my sugar lately. I have tried products like Splenda, and Sweet & Low. I did not see you mention anything about Splenda or Sweet & Low. Are they no good either? I have thought about Stevia but never knew there were different types. Thank you for the heads up. I never thought of replacing sugar with honey. I have never even heard of Coconut Sugar. You have certainly gave me some options to think about. Thank you!!!…Dennis
Taetske
Good evening Dennis,
Thank you for your visit to my website and leaving a comment. I hope you downloaded your free PDF?
The problem these days is that we tend to eat too many man-made foods. Bad fats, loads of sugar, GMO, it is all in there and that is why our health gets worse. No natural things, no fiber, that is why our digestive system goes funny which will cause serious problems on the long run.
You asked about Splenda, well, I am sending you a link to Dr. Mercola. https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2018/09/05/artificial-sweetener-splenda.aspx I would get rid of all these unnatural sweeteners better turn to nature if you need to sweeten up your life.
Regards, Taetske
Dhayours
A lot of people are really addicted to sugar infact the man-made foods we have now is mostly made of sugar and this tends to have a lot of effects on the body. I must commend you for taking your time to share this review because you must have done a lot of research, what still gives me concern is that people tends to consume less sugar in olden days yet they look healthy but it’s so alarming that some can’t live without sugar.
Taetske
Good Morning Dhayours,
Nice to hear you found my post interesting. Man-made sugar is a plague in our modern time. It makes people addictive, fatter and in the long run ruins their health.
As always nature provides healthy alternatives. Personally, I eat a good type of Stevia and also some honey.
Thank you for your comment. I hope you downloaded your free PDF?
Regards, Taetske
MahbubA2
Hi Taetske,
Thank You very much for sharing such an informative article with all the necessary information about “You can make the choice and eat natural and healthy sweeteners”
Really this is an amazing article. I like the article very much. I have learned something new from this article. I was little familiar with fructose but it was surprising to learn that fructose is a disaster for our health and it is used in about everything we eat.
So we all should be aware of high fructose corn syrup. I hadn’t heard before about stevia but after reading this article its seems to be very interesting. It is a natural sugar and it is much sweeter than normal sugar and also it has no calories which has impressed me the most. I think this is a great substitute. Raw honey is another amazing alternative to unhealthy white sugar. You highlighted the article so nicely with so many healthy sugars which are very good for our health.
I am going to share this article with my friends and relatives so that they can be benefited from this. I will look forward to your more educative article like this.
Taetske
Good Morning Mahbub,
Thank you for visiting my website and leaving a comment. I hope you downloaded your free PDF?
Nature has so many healthy things for us including different types of sugars that we really do not need to try and imitate producing bad products. I normally use the good type of Stevia for my coffee and teas and for my kefir and Greek yogurt I take a spoonful of honey.
Regards, Taetske
Horatius
This post was very informative. I have always thought of sugar as a type of drug, frankly. After all, what is a drug if not something that you don’t need but keep seeking? I also like your advice about honey. I have always found it very tasty and it’s good to know that it’s way healthier than raw sugar. Thanks for posting this!
Taetske
Good Morning Orazio,
Thank you for stopping by and for leaving a comment. I hope you have downloaded your free PDF? Tulip widget.
Sugar definitely is a type of drug with a really bad result for your health. Most people like sweet things and that is why it is important to know about the differences that exist.
Regards, Taetske
Prithvi Raj
Hello, I enjoy a lot while reading your guide on good and healthy sweeteners. My grandfather have type 2 diabetic. I want to know best sugar free sweetener for him. I recently know that stevia is the best one for him. I also noticed that it is very much sweeter than sugar. Thanks for sharing such useful information for better health. I hope everyone will go with these sweeteners.
Taetske
Good Morning Prithvi,
The environment we live in and the food we eat have a massive influence on our health. Having bad habits during many years will cause problems when one gets older.
Thank you for leaving a comment on my post. I hope you downloaded your free PDF? Tulip widget.
Regards, Taetske
Rolex4real
Hello Taetske! Thank you very for sharing this information with me, I’m sure it will be helpful for anyone who comes across it. I’ve told my cousin about the effect of taking too much of fructose corn syrup. This post which I will send to her now will help explain better to her.
Thanks!
Taetske
Good Morning Rolex,
Thank you for your visit and for your comment. I hope you have downloaded your free PDF? Tulip widget.
Sadly our modern lifestyle has deteriorated our health. We too often eat man-made foods and that is why we get all these illnesses. I hope your cousin will listen and with a few changes in her diet will live a happy long life.
Regards, Taetske
Philebur
Hello there thanks for this review. It was really of great value i must commend. Well no doubt too much intake of fructose and white sugar is not healthy for our body especially for adults. I think these are really good alternatives for white sugar and for me, honey is my top choice because it has several benefits to the body.
Taetske
Good Morning Philebur,
Honey is also one of my favorites. Here in the village in the south of Spain we are able to buy very good quality honey. It is a family member from the lady in the leather shop. He has his beehives in the hills where there are many wildflowers and no pesticides.
Thank you for your comment. I hope you downloaded your free PDF? Tulip widget.
Regards, Taetske
Chimmhogevagreenesnr
Hi there! I must commend your effort in putting these post together to help people health wise. For me, I have always preferred the honey to the normal white sugar even in making my snacks because of the natural taste and because my doctor recommended it.
Thanks for sharing, I’ve learnt a lot.
Taetske
Good Morning Chimmog,
Thank you for stopping by and for leaving a comment. I hope you downloaded your free PDF? Tulip widget.
Honey is a very good choice as it holds many health benefits. Sadly, nowadays many supermarkets sell adulterated honey so you have to be sure that the one you buy is raw honey. I prefer to buy it directly from a beehive owner.
Regards, Taetske
Candy Benn
Hello, thank you for this post. I like your stress on eating natural foods for your health. It’s interesting to see how much more people are talking about eating natural and how much this is good for your body. I do remember looking at Dr. Oz show one day and he said that we ought to eat foods that our grandparents would recognize. I like that simple concept.
Overtime foods have changed but what is right for our bodies hasn’t changed at all. It has always been natural foods that are healthy foods.
Candy Benn
Taetske
Good Morning Candy,
We have turned away from nature and look what has happened. Modern life related ailments are popping up like mushrooms. We are full of toxins, drink polluted water and breathe bad air. We eat food that was sprayed with pesticides and the list goes on. I do not understand why humans want to improve on nature. Nature provides for our need and keeping our immune system healthy with the right kinds of food we can live till a ripe old age without being sick.
Thank you for stopping by and for your comment. I hope you downloaded your free PDF? Tulip widget.
Regards, Taetske