The rumors you’ve heard about sugar is real. Scientific studies have linked sugar to increased cases of obesity, heart disease, cancer, and impaired brain function. It’s safe to say that it’s nowhere near healthy, but it’s something most of us can’t live without. The moment we start to think about our favorite drink or dessert without sugar, some of us would scream our head off. (Am I right?)
To make things worse, consuming too much sugar is not only bad for our health, but it also saps our energy instead of boosting it. Basically, bad carbohydrates that are nutrient-poor use vitamins and mineral reserves to metabolize them without bringing any benefits whatsoever. Then, your body is depleted with nutrient stores, specifically Vitamin B and minerals, leaving you feeling tired. Whoever said that sweets or sugar, in general, is addicting, he/she is not lying. It is a cycle of eating sugar, only to crave more and more of it.
There are a lot of healthier alternatives to sugar out there, but it doesn’t mean that it’s 100% good. Upon doing my research, the things I will be listing below still contains sugar. However, it’s less in fructose and sucrose content and contains other minerals and nutrients. Maybe in the long run, once you’ve gotten used to the natural taste of food, you can start omitting these alternatives too.
Maple Syrup
If you love pancakes, then this is your best friend. Maple syrup is harvested from Maple trees, which is then boiled down and filtered. It’s made up of 70% sucrose, with a low fructose level and has been found to contain antioxidants.
Honey
It’s flower nectar collected by bees and is naturally broken down into simple sugars, then stored in honeycombs. However, it’s good to know that natural (small batch, raw, organic) honey is rich in nutrients while commercial honey isn’t too different from sugar. In order to get the health benefits of honey, it needs to be raw, and organic.
Molasses
These are byproducts of the sugar-cane refining process. It is rich in all the nutrients extracted from sugar, which is iron, copper, magnesium, zinc, calcium, and potassium. It is the most recommended source of iron for vegans.
Thank you for these list of alternatives. I’m a sugar lover but I’m trying to transition to healthier options.
I love using honey as an alternative. It tastes nice especially with tea and a couple of recipes for cooking.
Sugar is often dubbed as poison.
I’ve been laying off on sugar for a few months now and I’ve lost weight. Not just sugar but sweets overall. No cakes or anything.
I have been doing this too for about 5 months already and not only did I lose weight, my skin seems to look better.
I was honestly really surprised about the significant benefits of removing sugar in your diet. If you want something sweet, just go for fruits. It has sugar, yes, but not the manufactured kind.
There are a lot of good things that can happen in your body without sugar. You’ll thank yourself from removing it overall.
These alternatives are sweet and I’m sure it can still satisfy your sugar cravings. It’s not all that bad I swear.
Making the switch may seem unsatisfying at first but it’s worth it. If you want to be healthier, you have to make sacrifices.
Highly addictive, horribly debilitating, unfortunately pervasive, and freaking delicious. If I had to point to ONE culprit to our country’s expanding waistlines and rapidly deteriorating health, it would be sugar. The amount of havoc sugar and sugar substitutes have wreaked on our nation is horribly depressing. Stop consuming sugar if you want to live longer! As we have grown as a country (in more ways than one), sugar has continued to play an increasingly more prominent role in our food. It’s not just sugary foods like candy and cookies either, but sugar has made its way into practically EVERYTHING we eat. Unfortunately, it’s not just sugar that’s killing us, but scientifically manufactured “sugar” as well.
I totally agree with you. It’s so addictive!
Personally, I think sugar is way worse than those who fear ‘carbs’…