5 Healthy Sugar Substitutes to Add Sweetness Naturally
Refined sugar is unhealthy and we know it. Yet, we use it regularly in your daily diet, whether to add it to your tea/coffee or any dessert. Well, sugar adds the sweetness to the diet and there are many dishes which are incomplete without sweetness.
However, refined sugar is not the only source to add sweetness. There are many natural sweeteners available easily at the nearest grocery market and they can be the excellent substitutes for sugar.
Best Sugar Substitutes for your Health
Believe it or not, our body requires sugar. However, we often opt for the refined sugar as it is easily available. Also, most of us are ignorant about the healthy sugar substitutes that can do the job just fine and at times even better than refined sugars.
Here are some of the natural sweeteners that we should use straight away and replace refined sugar totally from our kitchen.
Organic Honey
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Even when not used as a sugar substitute, honey is a must in your regular diet. This thick liquid extracted from the bee hive is highly nutritious. Rich in antioxidants, honey also has antibacterial properties. It aids in the digestion process as well as helps with weight loss. Regular intake of honey daily can also boost our immune system. Being too sweet and rich in natural sugar, make sure you use it moderately.
Pure Maple Syrup
Maple syrup is available at every other grocery store in the market. Well, we must differentiate the artificially colored, flavored and sweetened Maple syrup from the naturally processed one. Hence, always check the ingredients list and avoid buying the bottle with high fructose corn syrup and other artificial preservatives.
Instead, look for pure maple syrup that’s naturally extracted from the evaporated maple tree sap. Such pure form of maple syrup is rich mineral content including zinc and magnesium. Both these minerals are essential in the body to improve our immunity system and energy production.
Date Sugar
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Date sugar is basically the powdered form of dried dates. Dates, as you know, are very sweet in nature which makes them an ideal substitute for sugar in many dishes. The only flaw with the date sugar is that it doesn’t melt like the ordinary sugar and hence it can’t be used for tea or coffee. However, you can use it for baking and other purposes.
Molasses
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Molasses is produced in the form of thick syrup from sugar cane plant during the process of manufacturing refined sugar. However, molasses offers a lot of health benefits, unlike the final product. Around two tablespoons of molasses can make up to the 30% of the daily iron requirement for menopausal women. It also contains 14% of the daily copper requirement. Molasses is also the rich source of different minerals such as magnesium and calcium as well as high in Vitamin B6 and antioxidants.
Coconut Sugar
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Coconut is a very highly nutritious food and it can be used in various different ways. Whether you want to consume the nutritious coconut water or extract oil from them to be used as cooking oil, coconut offers a load of different benefits. In addition, you can also make sugar from coconut.
Coconut sugar is purely natural and highly nutritious offering a good load of antioxidants. It is also rich in iron, zinc, calcium, and potassium. A fiber called inulin present in coconut sugar slows down glucose absorption in the body. Although it is not enough sweet for coffee or tea, coconut sugar can be an ideal sweetener for baked foods.
Over to you!
Limiting the artificial sugar intake or completely eliminating the ingredient from our kitchen is essential for a healthy lifestyle. Refined sugars are empty carbs that are completely useless. In addition, these sugars also increase the levels of bad cholesterol in the body leading to heart diseases and other ailments.
Try to replace the refined sugar with the aforementioned natural and healthy sugar substitutes and take an extra leap towards healthy living.
Uttpal K
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Coconut sugar is something new! Haven’t heard about it before. Worth a try i guess!