5 Healthy Alternatives To Sugar

High sugar intake has been implicated in most cases of diabetes and obesity. However, sugar has maintained its position in most homes as the common sweetener that people (adults and children alike) include in their meals and beverages. While sugar is a cheap carbohydrate, easy to access and preserve, its health hazards far outweigh its benefits. If the need to sweeten your food/beverage is the only reason why you take sugar, it would be great to consider other healthy alternatives that would serve the same purpose. Here are 5 healthy alternatives to sugar: 

Honey

Honey has been used as a sweetener and for its medicinal benefits over the years. It’s a golden brown syrup gotten from honeybees. It is easy on the digestive system as the bees secrete enzymes in their honey. These enzymes break down the sugar content of the honey partially and make it easier to digest.

Honey is a rich antioxidant, and has great antibiotic properties as well as anti-inflammatory benefits. It’s an active ingredient for suppressing cough and relieving allergies.

It is important to know that infants from 0-12 months should not take honey in any form. It’s unsafe for them and can cause infant botulism because their digestive system cannot process some of its properties.

Dates

This is one of my favourites not just because it is a dry(chewy) fruit that has a very sweet taste but because it’s like a super-powered fruit. It is so rich and nutrient-packed. It is great for both adults and babies, everybody benefits from it, including those with health challenges. Dates have high natural sugar content as well as high-calorie content (especially the dry ones) and are popular for providing energy. Adding dates to your diet would provide you with tremendous benefits you’d never have imagined. I’ll just share a few;

• Apart from being highly nutritious and possessing essential vitamins, dates are rich in carbohydrates and high fibre.
• They’re also great for weight management and blood sugar regulation. 
• Dates improve the functionality of your brain and enhance overall brain health.
• Regular consumption of dates provides your body with truckloads of  vitamin C & D work for the improvement of your skin’s elasticity which is very hard to maintain as you age.
• Dates can also aid fertility in males and enhance natural labour in pregnant women.
• Dates contain amazing properties that can help reduce the risk of cancer, help fight diabetes and also protect your kidneys. 
• They are great antioxidants and I heard they’re also used as anti-poison.

Maple Syrup

Gotten from the sap of maple trees, maple syrup is a healthy substitute for sugar as it is rich in iron, manganese, calcium, and potassium. Its benefits are quite similar to the benefits of dates. They are great for your immune system and heart health. It is also very sweet to taste so you don’t have to worry about incorporating it into your diet or your children’s diet. However, it should be properly refrigerated and kept cool once opened.

Coconut Sugar

It is also known as coconut palm sugar. As the name suggests, it is obtained from the sap of coconut palm trees. After tapping the sap of the coconut palm tree, the liquid is heated until most of the water content has dried up. The coconut sugar comes out looking brown and granulated with its particles looking slightly smaller than regular sugar granules. While coconut sugar contains empty calories, it is better to consume it in moderation because it still contains sugar.

Applesauce and other fruit purees

This is a great alternative to sugar especially when it comes to baked foods. You can easily replace sugar with fruit purees like bananas, date syrup, applesauce, etc. This way, you’ll not only be cutting out excess sugars from your diet, you’ll also be incorporating fruits into your meals and that my friends is a win-win!

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