"Sugar" has become a really complicated issue. Sugar is in everything, under many hidden names, and there are so many sugar substitutes that have found their way into our diets!
First of all, I would like to point out that natural sugar, such as fructose, which is found in fruits, is a good sugar, (when eating the fruit.) We need sugar in our blood (glucose) to help our blood get where it needs to go.
On the other hand, added sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and many other sugars that are found in almost everything, are really not good for us. Having too much sugar does the same thing to the body that too much fat does: leads to obesity, heart disease, and of course, diabetes. It creates problems in the liver and disrupts the natural cycle of our systems, causing us to have highs and lows. And most commonly known, it can contribute to children having "ADD" and ADHD.
The problem is, while many of us have started to avoid sugar, we have turned to substitutes that can actually be worse then the sugar itself!
Sugar substitutes such as Splenda are made from chemicals. Splenda has chlorine in it. The reason why these sweeteners are zero calories is because they are not foods so they aren't digested. At the same time, the chemicals in the sweeteners can enter our blood stream and cause harm. On top of that, these chemicals actually dehydrate us, making us hungry and crave sugar!
No need to worry though. There are lots of natural, healthy alternatives!
For example, you can try raw, unfiltered, creamed, spreadable honey! I'm not a big fan of honey, and even I love this!
You can try Xylitol, which is a sugar alcohol made from birch tree bark.
Mashed bananas are always a super sweet alternative, if you're a banana person.
These are just a few examples of different things you can try!
(Agave nectar has become quite popular and also controversial. Since it has been so commercialized, the brown, clear-ish stuff you are buying in bottles is almost all fructose. It's like using corn syrup as a sweetener. If you were to come across a cactus where the agave comes from and squeezed some nectar out of it's leaves, you would be getting the real stuff!)
Hope this was helpful!
Have a great day, and go and try something new!
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