Sugar is a sneaky little bugger that companies for years have been sneaking into their products. The famous one that always comes to mind for me is ketchup. Yes, ketchup is made with sugar. How ridiculous is that? Keeping sugar out of our diet is extremely important for us mentally, physically, and spiritually. If you are feeling a little down and tired, it’s important to figure out where the cause is coming from. A lot of the time the culprit is sugar –high amounts of fructose can have a bad effect on the way our bodies function. This is where alternatives for sugar can be a great way to substitute sugar in some of your favorite snacks or desserts.
5 Sugar Alternatives
Dates
This sugar replacement is probably best to keep on reserve for baked goods. We don’t think you will want to add any dates to your hot cup of coffee anytime soon. Dates are nature’s candy. We particularly enjoy them in a smoothie after a tough workout. Bonus – it has half of the glycemic index as white sugar.
Monk Fruit
This one is still a bit new and more research needs to be done on it but from what we can tell, it has zero calories and zero impact on your health. Monk fruit can be up to 250 times sweeter-tasting than sugar, but still rich in antioxidants.
Honey
We’d like to go even further and say, raw honey. Honey is so good for you because it is packed with iron, zinc, and antioxidants. Another bonus – it has a pretty low glycemic index. Try some honey drizzled on your protein pancakes next go around.
Coconut Sugar
Coconut sugar has a much lower glycemic index than sugar. Coconut sugar actually does come from coconuts. It comes from the sap that blooms on a coconut. It has many naturally-occurring minerals and antioxidants and it scores much lower on the glycemic index than sugar. We recommend this one in small doses though due to it having the same amount of fructose as sugar.
Maple Syrup
But like the good kind. We are talking the rich, dark grade B maple syrup. It is packed with zinc and potassium and can pretty much sweeten anything, yes even that hot cup of coffee we talked about earlier.
