Sugar Alternatives

Stevia is a natural sweetener with NO calories

Sugar
Sugar is ingrained in western societies. We love it and can't get enough of it. But what does sugar do for us? It greatly increases the calories or kilojoules we consume while giving no benefit to our body. It does not supply vitamins or minerals or fibre in our diet. It is no benefit except to out taste buds.

Honey
Up until the 1600s the only sweetener people had was honey. Honey is made by bees. They visit the flowers in the gardens, fields and forests collecting the pollen from them. This they take back to their hives and make it into honey. So bees and beehives were treasured.

When America was found and colonized, the free labour of the slaves was used to grow sugarcane. So sugar began to replace the use of honey. By the 1800s this was easier to get and became a part of the diet. Now sugar is in many foods in all sorts of forms.

Aspartame
People started to realise that an excess of sugar was increasing their weight and in the 1900s alternatives were sought. Aspartame was added to 'diet' drinks and foods.

Today the evidence against aspartame is growing. Studies have found that aspartame also increases weight, decreases insulin sensitivity in diabetics, and affects our brain. It has been linked to all sorts of health problems including

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Brain tumors
Multiple sclerosis
Epilepsy

Chronic fatigue syndrome
Parkinson’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease

Lymphoma
Fibromyalgia
Diabetes

   See here for more info.    So why add aspartame to your diet?

Saccharin is another artificial sweetener with a bad profile.

Stevia
Stevia is a herb that has a strong sweetening effect. It is a herb found in South America and is 100% natural, 300 times sweeter than sugar and has NO CALORIES. Also Stevia does NOT cause an increase in blood sugar levels. 

Stevia has been used as a sweetener in Paraguay and other South American countries for over 1,500 years. In Japan, 40% of the sweetener market is estimated to be stevia-base. The Japanese have been conducting extensive research on stevia since the 1970s and have found it to be completely safe.

Fructose
Fructose is the natural sweetener in fruit. It is added to many foods as a sweetener. However many people have an intolerance to this carbohydrate and are unable to digest it. It can cause symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Diet
If we have a balanced diet and can eliminate food intolerances, we lose the craving for sugar or sweetener in our diet. Having enough proper carbohydrates can get rid of the craving for sugar.

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