I have had many questions about the sweeteners I use and those I refuse to use so I have FINALLY (sorry its taken so long!) written a post for all those who have been patiently waiting to hear my thoughts on all the health "stuff" out there.
Hope you can glean something from the choices I have made in my life to benefit your own!
For those of us who have struggled with our weight on and off for most of our lives we know all to well that losing weight is never easy and always requires work. Choosing the right program that you know will help you stick with it in the long haul can be a confusing one to say the least. One thing I've learned along the way is that fad diets never work and never, ever help in keeping the weight off for good. In my own personal battles with losing weight, I used many different programs along the way. But honestly in my own humble opinion, all programs can and do work, it just depends on if you are ready and willing to do what it takes or not.
The basic theme is always the same no matter what program you choose. In order to lose weight you must eat less and expend more calories than you are currently taking in or you would have already lost the weight you wanted to lose by now.
We can choose on a daily basis certain types of foods and ingredients that either help promote our overall goals or detract from them. My experience has shown me eating foods with refined sugar and flours, as well as artificial sweeteners, have greatly contributed to binges, overeating, acne, PMS and other menstrual issues, ravenous hunger and cravings, sluggishness, and sleep problems.
I share my top 3 best sweeteners with you so that you can make informed decisions about what products you decide will either help or hinder your weight loss efforts. Some that are fairly new on the market I prefer to use the" wait and see" approach with. I am currently avoiding coconut palm sugar as I haven't read enough articles to support it as a healthy alternative personally for myself. Here's one article if you are interested in reading more about it. Is Coconut Palm Sugar A Healthy Sugar Substitute?
There's quite a bit of controversy over using agave and whether or not it is a healthy refined sugar free substitute. I've read enough articles at this point to decide that it isn't any better than using white table sugar because it is highly processed. If you are interested in reading more about it, check out, "Agave: A Triumph Over Marketing Truth" , "Is Agave Nectar A healthy Sweetener?" and "Shocking! This 'Tequila' Sweetener is Far Worse than High Fructose Corn Syrup".
This is what I have found through researching agave:
- Sap is removed from the plant itself and chemically processed at high temperatures to produce the syrup.
- Depending on how much heat is used, the syrup may be made up of 55-90% fructose. What's fructose? Essentially high fructose corn syrup! That's what anyone who is trying to lose weight should avoid at all costs!
- The higher the percentage of fructose the higher your blood sugar will spike just as it would consuming white table sugar.
- The FDA has stopped shipments of agave due to excessive pesticide residue.
Some of you have asked about brown sugar and why I don't use it as well. It is completely refined white table sugar crystals that have been added with molasses to produce the brown color. So to me it is not any better for you than white sugar.
If you are interested in why Splenda and other artificial sweeteners are not listed, you can read about it in my post, " 3 Splenda Myths Busted" to learn more.
This list is my choice of sweeteners that works for myself and my family. I am able to cook, bake and enjoy foods made with any of these sweeteners without problems. No longer having issues with cravings, ravenous hunger and other symptoms I felt were directly related to using white table sugar and flour. Except for the first sweetener listed, the other refined sugar-free sweeteners are still a form of sugar and I choose to eat foods with these ingredients in moderation. But the one exception to everything in moderation is consuming refined sugar and flour products. They just don't offer me anything positive in return so I choose to abstain and my life is better for it.
1. Sweetleaf Stevia
- Completely sugar-free plant based sweetener
- Calorie Free so it doesn't raise blood sugar
- Up to 300x sweeter than sugar so you can use much less
- 2 drops of liquid stevia = 1 teaspoon of sugar
- 1 tbsp. of liquid stevia = 1 cup of sugar
2. Raw, unfiltered honey
- natural and pure
- minimally processed and retains nutrients
3. Sucanat
- sometimes called evaporated cane juice
- contains less sucrose than white table sugar
- not commercially processed, hand-paddled to dry it
- minimally processed so less likely to spike blood sugar
- ranks as one of the highest in nutritional value because it retains vitamins and minerals found in the sugar cane plant
- 1 tsp contains 15 calories, 0 grams of fat, 0 sodium, 10mg potassium, 6mg calcium, 4 g complex carbohydrates
I choose to cook and bake with these top 3 sweeteners above.
The following sweeteners are ones I would ingest if found within processed and packaged foods but I do so very rarely. I have not cooked or baked with these sweeteners below although I am not opposed to doing so. I just really love using the top 3 I have already shared.
- date sugar, brown rice syrup, black strap molasses, barley malt and fruitsource- a natural sweetener made from kiwi fruit.
Hopefully this post will encourage you to try the sugar-free lifestyle gradually eliminating refined sugar from your life. Everyone is different and some products will not effect you as they do other people. Choosing to abstain from certain sugars has greatly helped me achieve a freedom in my life I never thought was possible before. No foods or sugars and products will ever hold me captive without the ability to say NO to them and YOU can do it too!
Have you tried to become sugar-free? Are you unable to say no to refined sugar products?
What products and ingredients effect you negatively? Are you successfully leading a sugar-free lifestyle? Please share your thoughts and comments!
PLEASE NOTE DISCLAIMER:
Brenda Bennett is not a medical professional or nutritionist. She does not have formal weight loss training. This blog is her own experience as examples and guidelines for healthy eating, exercise and weight loss strategies. Consult a medical professional before making exercise and dietary changes.
Sonya
Thanks for the info., Brenda. I went sugar-free back in October for a month. Then birthday, Thanksgiving, Holidays came and even though I didn't indulge like I normally would, I wanted to get back to it. Some friends had the same goal, so we started a 2018 Challenge. January is to be sugar-free (and my goal is to continue that for the entire year). We have a different goal each month (more water intake, eat more veggies, eat more protein--etc.), in hopes by the end of that month it will have become a habit. We are a pretty healthy group, but know we can take it up to the next level!
Glad I found your website. I'm going to post a link to it on our group FB page.
Brenda
Glad you found me!
darren
TOP 3 REFINED SUGAR-FREE SWEETENERS is the title of this blog post and it is incorrect and misleading. #1 misleading bit of information is that honey is a refined sugar-free sweetener. In fact, honey is a sugar, doesn't matter if it's raw or filtered, a spoonful of honey contains more calories than a tablespoon of sugar, and it's certainly no sugar-free substitute for sugar. Honey is sugar.
Linda McPherson
Have you used Monkfruit?
Brenda
No
Diane Sanderbeck
Hi there!
Just found you and am so happy I did! I decided to do sugar free February as I just felt the need to break my sugar addiction. Reading your article about Splenda explains why I was so addicted to sweets! I really just HAD to have sweets every day, and not sugar free ones either. Years ago I started using Splenda in my morning coffee, 2 packs to a cup. I guess that kick started my sugar cravings. I'm one week into February and have had no sugar of any kind, except what comes naturally in fruits and vegetables, and the couple of tablespoons of peanut butter I allow myself on six Triscuit crackers. I've given up kefir, yogurt and milk after learning lactose is sugar and started using unsweetened almond milk in my coffee. At the end of the month, I'll start using Stevia. I've already trashed the Splenda! Thanks so much for helping folks learn about being sugar free.
Diane Sanderbeck
Lynn Gies
I have recently been diagnosed with reactive hypoglycemia and my doctor wants me off ALL refined sugar. I have battled with my weight since high school (I'm now 58) but I've never wanted to give up the flour & sugar, but now I have to keep my carbs down and the sugar out. Do your recipes have the nutritional info on them?
Brenda
Yes nutrition info on all recipes.
R
What about monk fruit?
Jill
What do you use as a substitute for brown sugar? My son loves it on his oatmeal! I enjoy your recipes. Keep them coming 🙂
shanna
I cook/bake with fresh canadian maple syrup, dextrose and coconut sugar. I also use whole wheat flour instead of white. What's you're take?
Brenda
Maple syrup effects me greatly in that even a little effects my blood sugar and makes me spike then crash just as I would if I were to ingest white table sugar. I use coconut sugar and honey for many of my family recipes and limit my consumption of those as well. I still use whole wheat flour for my family but make more and more gluten free recipes for myself and they eat them too.
Nancy Blessing
I'm very thankful to have come across your website. You are definitely answering a lot of questions in my journey to live a healthier lifestyle. I've been using stevia for about 5 years now simply cannot handle artificial sweeteners (headaches, fatigue, etc) and have found Now Stevia to be the best for me. I have found the Now website and their products are offered at considerable savings over Sprouts and other health food stores. looking forward to trying some of your recipes. Been trying to go gluten-free too, but that has not been well received by my sons. My younger son has cerebral palsy and suffers from a lot of joint and muscle pain. I really think that this will benefit him. Thank you again and May God Bless you and your family
Brenda
Thank you Nancy!