Who doesn't like a sweet? Of course there will be a percentage of people for whom sweet foods do not attract their attention and always prefer salty options, but in general, it is very easy for a sweet food to make us feel wonderful sensations on the palate.
And that is exactly the problem we face today, since the industry decided to add sugar or sugar substitutes to all the products they manufacture.
We find ourselves with a society that is constantly looking for very palatable foods, and if they eat products naturally, they say they do not enjoy their flavor so intensely or they do not appreciate any flavor at all.
Our palate is overly stimulated and this has very negative effects on our health, both physical and mental. Today we know that sugar is not recommended, that it even accelerates the aging of our cells, that we should look more at product labels to avoid buying camouflaged sugar and that the more sugar ingested in the day, the greater anxiety we present and greater need to continue increasing these intakes in the long term. This causes us to enter a loop that many people do not know how to get out of.
In consultations, it is very common to hear phrases like: “if I don't eat something sweet after eating, I feel like I'm not satisfied”, “I'm always more sweet than salty and it's hard for me to say no”, “if I don't have a sweet breakfast , I feel low in spirit", "if I open a “I eat the whole package of cookies without realizing it.”
In this article we are going to tell you what options we find in the sugar supermarket and what other substitutes we can buy.
Natural sweeteners
White sugar and brown sugar:
We talk about both in the same section, because although many people believe that brown sugar is healthier because it is “different”, the reality is that they behave practically the same. They provide about 4 kcal per gram, and do not have nutritional density.
They contain negligible amounts of vitamins and minerals. The difference between white and brown sugar is that brown sugar has molasses, which gives it its brown color.
Honey:
It comes from bees and contains great properties. It is antioxidant and antimicrobial, which is why many people say they notice improvement when drinking a hot infusion with honey when they are sick. Always try to buy it from local stores, without any other added ingredients. Regarding its use, take it naturally and do not subject it to high cooking temperatures, since it loses properties and there are even recent studies that indicate that its compounds are transformed and can become carcinogenic.
Stevia:
It comes from a plant in Latin America. Its consumption is high because it does not provide calories and is a good option when we try to reduce our sugar intake. It can help reduce appetite, as it greatly controls blood glucose spikes.
As with everything, we do not recommend overdoing it, but perhaps it is one of the natural sweeteners that we most recommend when a person needs to sweeten their coffee. That it comes from a plant does not mean that it cannot have side effects, in fact, on the packaging of chewing gum sweetened with stevia or chocolate with stevia, in small print we see a message such as "an abuse of “This food can cause a laxative effect.” This is because taking stevia repeatedly can cause long-term gastrointestinal discomfort. Control its use.
Xylitol and Erythritol:
These are polyalcohols, naturally present in plants. Although they are low in calories, they do provide something, and they are the ones that cause the most problems with assimilation for people who easily suffer from gas, diarrhea...
In the case of erythritol, we confirm that it provides 0 calories, and that it is usually digested much better. It is the most used in ketogenic diets.
They are two options that you can use to make homemade pastries, knowing that abuse can be harmful, but using it occasionally is not bad. There are no contraindications when cooking it at high temperatures, such as a cake. Currently it is easy to find it in supermarkets, and its price usually ranges from €8-€12 for a 500 gr package.
Fresh fruit:
There are many recipes where they use fruit as a sweetener. It is a great option and the most recommended.
You can use banana (the riper it is, the sweeter flavor it will have), carrot, apple, pear, sweet potato... The texture of the preparations is moister, but for this you will have to play more with the quantities of the rest of the ingredients.
Dried fruit:
We can sweeten our recipes with coconut grated, dates, dried figs, raisins, dried apricots... Of course they are ingredients that will provide us with calories, but their nutritional density is greater and that is the interesting thing, that we eat to nourish ourselves. In cases of diabetes, type II diabetes or some pathology, we must take into account that dried fruit can also affect blood glucose levels, but it is a very good option to use in our preparations.
Agave syrup:
It is fructose, and although they disguise it as something healthy, we should not abuse it, since a high intake increases the level of triglycerides. It is easy to go over the recommended amount, due to the way it is added to preparations, which is usually on top of pancakes, or in oat porridge.
Specifically, nothing happens when consuming it, but it is very palatable and easy to get hooked on its flavor.
Artificial sweeteners
These are sweeteners that have been created in laboratories. Although they are within the classification of low-calorie sweeteners, we should not get confused and think that it is very healthy to ingest them daily. Normally they are the ones that alter the intestinal microbiota the most, and can deregulate the metabolism, the level of satiety... We will tell you what they are:
Saccharin:
It may appear as E-954, perhaps the sweetener that appears to have the greatest bitter taste. Quite a controversy regarding its safety. If you are one of those who use it daily, we recommend that you vary it with other options that we propose in this article. The WHO recommends a daily intake of a maximum of 5 mg per kg of weight. That is, if you weigh 73 kg, your recommendation would be about 5 saccharin tablets a day maximum.
Sucralose:
Also with a sweetness very similar to sugar, which means that the consumer continues to need its use to enjoy the food. It is not recommended to take it daily, since it is also found in many products that we have on hand in the supermarket. It is easy to exceed the recommended daily intake in one day.
The easiest place to find it is in drinks. carbonated drinks, ice cream... There is also a lot of controversy regarding its danger, but it has been shown that it is one of the artificial sweeteners that remains in the body for the shortest time, and is also insoluble in fats.
Aspartame:
It is a sweetener with a flavor very similar to sugar, but low in calories. It is widely used in beverages, industrial juices, chewing gum, jams, and industrial pastries. Therefore, it is easy to go beyond the recommended safe daily intake, since it is among the ingredients of many products. It is an artificial sweetener that we may soon see on lists of additives prohibited for human consumption.
With all this information that we have offered you, we want you to be able to consciously choose what type of sweetener is best for you depending on the context. Of course, you are not going to alter your metabolism or harm your health by using refined sugar at specific times in your life. Also remember that the palate is educated, and that with a gradual process you can completely eliminate sugar from your diet. And most importantly, you will begin to enjoy the authentic flavors that each food provides. A new world opens before you.
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