With over 65% of Americans overweight and the extreme increase in diabetes, including in children, at an all time high, curtailing the sugar intake is probably one of the most important healthkicks of all. So what’s a healthy sugar alternative?
Did you know that the average American ingests over 150 pounds of sugar annually!
Artificial sweeteners were hailed at the great solution to replace sugar, however more and more information is coming to light that these alternatives are unsafe and even worse than sugar.
So what about an all natural sweetener with no side effects except perhaps good ones, complete with potential blood sugar-lowering properties? Well, that’s stevia.
The advantages of using stevia are numerous. In its pure form, it’s non-caloric and doesn’t affect glucose levels, an advantage for diabetics as well as those suffering from candida. Also, it has no carbohydrates or fat, so it’s great for dieters, especially those watching carb intake. Unlike artificial sweeteners, high quality stevia has little aftertaste when measured properly. It has no known side effects like some chemical sweeteners and has been safely consumed around the world for decades.
Mind you, it doesn’t taste exactly like sugar. I guess that would really be too good to be true. But after using it for a while, you get used to the taste. And once you are off sugar for a while, you realize how overly sweet a lot of things are. Sugar is addictive and if you break that addiction and give stevia a little time, you will likely settle in to using it. I love it. I find things sweetened with sugar to be overly sweet. I am just as happy, if not more, drinking my iced tea sweetened with stevia rather than sweet tea. You just have to give it a little time. Trying it one time won’t do it for you and you may pass up the greatest sugar alternative of all time.
Also, PLEASE read my other post and info on this website on the sugar and sweeteners page about different brands of stevia. There are numerous brands that are clearly labeled “stevia”, but they are actually 99% sugar alcohols and less than .5 stevia.
As far as a sugar alternative, I’ve tried a ton. Stevia is my favorite. There are others and often I use a combination of stevia and other natural sweetener options. More posts to come on this.
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