In this day and age, almost everything we eat or any food we see contains at least a small amount of sugar. And as someone who is allergic to sugar, I have noticed that when one is trying to find food without sugar it is very difficult, if not impossible. This has forced me to find some alternatives to sugar I could use in daily life, for baking or simply just to put in my coffee in the morning. These alternatives can help you lead a healthier life so here are some of the best ones!
Why Should You Find Alternatives to Sugar
I’m sure you’ve heard many times that sugar is bad for you and probably know some reasons why. But there are many reasons why having too much sugar in your diet will negatively impact your life. Such as:
Heart Disease - high sugar diets can cause many risk factors to heart disease. For example, high blood sugar levels, high blood pressure, or inflammation. Particularly, the sugar found in energy drinks has been linked to arteries getting clogged, which is the cause of heart attacks.
Type 2 Diabetes - Type 2 diabetes is characterised by an insensitivity to the hormone insulin, whose job is to regulate blood sugar levels by breaking down glucose. Having too much sugar will overwhelm the insulin and cause it to grow desensitised to sugar incredibly quickly, leading to high blood sugar and risk of type 2 diabetes.
Cancer - A study in over 430,000 people found that added sugar consumption was positively associated with an increased risk of esophageal cancer, pleural cancer, and cancer of the small intestine.
The Alternatives
So now that we’ve determined why you should limit your sugar consumption, what can you replace sugar with?
Erythritol - This is a well-known sugar substitute and the best out of them. I mainly use it for baking as it has no aftertaste and gives a nice texture to cakes. It contains fewer calories than other sweeteners like it and does not cause a spike in blood sugar, indicating that it does not desensitise insulin, making it a safe alternative to avoid diabetes or for those who already have it.
Xylitol - Xylitol contains 40% fewer calories than normal sugar and does not spike blood sugar or desensitise insulin, making it safer for diabetics or a good way to avoid getting diabetes. Furthermore, it improves dental health, which is a weird but not unpleasant side effect. It can cause an unusual after-taste in some recipes but is generally a good replacement.
Stevia - This one is less helpful, sometimes giving a weird aftertaste if used for baking. However, it does contain much fewer calories than sugar, making it generally safer to consume, but one should still be careful as it may cause some health downsides such as indigestion if eaten in too large quantities. Finally, it cannot be used in the same quantities as sugar when baking, generally, in a recipe, the only ⅓ of the necessary sugar should be used if replacing it with stevia.
Although it might be difficult to completely cut out sugar from your diet due to most snacks or other foods containing it, even reducing your intake can drastically improve your health so giving these substitutes a try might help better your life even if you don’t think they’ll be as good as sugar.
-Vittoria Sacchi Lodispoto
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