If you’re like most people, you like a little bit of sweetness in your life. The problem with this is that many people are finding that their sugar intake levels are higher than what they would like.
Whether you’re looking to lose weight, maintain a healthier diet, looking for more natural alternatives, or the numerous other reasons there are to cut out or reduce your sugar intake, the following are a few sugar substitutes, you may want to take a look into.
Agave Nectar
Agave nectar has become increasingly popular over the last few years. While we wouldn’t identify this sugar alternative as being “healthy” it is going to be better than your run-of-the-mill refined white sugar.
Agave nectar can go great as a healthier syrup substitute or even a sugar substitute in coffee or teas.
While the flavor will not be for everything, those who like agave nectar, really like it.
Coconut Sugar
Coconut sugar is derived from coconuts. It’s considered a healthier sugar option, as it’s perceived as being incredibly sweet while containing fewer carbs than traditional sugars. It’s also a more complex sugar and thus takes longer for your body to break down, which helps keep your blood sugar levels from spiking.
A nice advantage of coconut sugar is that many people can’t tell the difference in baked goods when coconut sugar is substituted.
Honey
Honey has been used for centuries as a natural sweetener. Honey is probably one of the healthiest natural sweeteners due to the nature of it being a more complex carb. Your body is going to take longer to process the sugar, thus not causing your blood sugar levels to spike.
It’s also been known to have multiple other natural benefits like:
- Helping with weight loss
- Naturally boosting energy
- Improving muscular performance
- Being rich in vitamins and minerals
- Containing antiseptic and antioxidant properties
- Improving sleep
Honey is likely to be a more noticeable substitute, however. When baking or using honey instead of a traditional sugar, you are going to be much more likely to notice quite a bit of difference in the taste between the two.
Stevia Extracts
Stevia is a sugar substitute excreted from the leaves of the species of plants known as the Stevia rebaudiana. This plant is native to Brazil and Paraguay.
Stevia can be a very divisive subject for many people as it seems to be divided down the middle of who loves and who hates Stevia.
It seems that many people’s pallets perceive the taste of Stevia differently. Some people’s taste buds perceive Stevia as being very sweet, while others perceive it as being extremely bitter. This perception different causes the love/hate relationship with Stevia.
Depending on your perception of Stevia will depend on how much of a difference you’ll notice substituting it out for traditional sugars.
Ratio Differences
One thing to note when substituting out sugars with other more natural sweeteners is that each substituted ingredient will have a different ratio that will need to be used to achieve the same level of sweetness.
You can typically search online for what the best ratio is to determine how much you will need to use.
