The sweet alternative to sugar

Even though the human body is not dependent on sugar, most of us eat a lot of it. Too much. On average, we consume more than twice the maximum amount recommended by experts every day. Metaphorically speaking, we consume 30 sugar cubes a day, but should not eat more than twelve.

A basic distinction can be made between obvious sources of sugar - for example the spoonful of sugar in coffee or tea - and hidden sources. For example, you wouldn't expect to find sugar in pickles or ready-made pizzas.

We consume more than twice the recommended maximum amount of sugar every day.

However, these are among the products to which sweeteners are added as flavour enhancers. The fight against overweight and obesity has not just been going on since yesterday. One opponent that needs to be fought is sugar. The food industry has long since adapted to this battle and brought sweet alternatives onto the market. Slogans such as «sweetened only with fruit sweetener» or «naturally sweetened» promise healthy enjoyment.

Natural alternatives to beet sugar

But are these products really healthier? The sugar alternatives all have one thing in common: they are advertised as being natural. However, it is questionable how much nature is actually in the end product. In addition, household sugar is also obtained from a natural product, namely sugar beet. However, this fact is never mentioned in the adverts. The four most common natural alternatives to beet sugar:

Fruit syrups

If you want to do without white sugar, you can use thick juices. These are boiled down fruits, a type of syrup, which are used to sweeten various dishes. These syrups are associated with being very natural, as they are made from fruit. However, syrups contain a similar number of calories to sugar and have a high fructose content, which has a negative effect on fat metabolism and can cause digestive problems if consumed in large quantities.

Honey

There is hardly a sweetener where opinions differ so widely. Honey is considered by many to be the ideal sweetener. In addition to its high sweetening power, honey is said to have various positive effects on health. The fact is that honey also provides a similar number of calories to sugar and also attacks the teeth. The health benefits are debatable. In addition, valuable ingredients are lost when conventional honey is processed.

Coconut blossom sugar

Coconut blossom sugar is obtained from the flower nectar of coconut palms. Coconut blossom sugar is similar in sweetness to industrial sugar, but raises blood sugar levels to a lesser extent. Coconut blossom sugar has slightly fewer calories, but the negative effect on teeth is comparable.

Stevia is about 300 times sweeter than sugar, has no calories and does not attack the teeth.

Stevia

Stevia is also associated with a great deal of naturalness, as it is obtained from the stevia plant. The stevia extracts authorised in Switzerland can only be obtained through a very complex process. However, the resulting extract is no longer found in nature. Stevia is around 300 times sweeter than sugar, has no calories and does not attack teeth. As the flavour of stevia is quite special, it is used sparingly in many products or supplemented with another sweetener.

Also use alternatives to sugar carefully

In addition to these alternatives, there are numerous other sweeteners that have become indispensable on food shelves. However, it is advisable to use these with caution. If you bake and cook yourself, you have better control over the dosage. It is therefore advisable to only use ready-made products in exceptional cases.