Natural sweeteners: from honey to stevia

NATURAL SWEETENERS

The cure may be even worse than the disease. Replace it sugar, with the aim of losing weight, with artificial sweeteners, pushes people to eat more. And therefore at risk of gaining more weight. This is the conclusion reached by a well-documented study by scholars at the Charles Perkins Center at the University of Sydney and published in Cell metabolismA valid alternative to artificial products to replace sugar is to focus on natural sweeteners, of which there are many.

BEST NATURAL SWEETENERS

TRUFFLE HONEY

• Honey. Delicious and with a great tradition, it is the product par excellence for replacing sugar, starting from the acacia oneIt contains sucrose, glucose, fructose, dextrose, and maltose, all of which make it a perfect natural energy booster. Perfect for sweetening drinks, it is not recommended for making desserts. dessertsIn fact, when cooked, it tends to become slightly bitter.

FRUCTOSE AND MOLASSES

• Derived from the processing of the sugar cane and beetroot, molasses is an excellent sweetener, rich in B vitamins and minerals, and contains phosphoric acid, potassium, fiber and is rich in B vitamins and minerals. Another very useful product for natural sweetening is fructose, a simple sugar found in the vast majority of fruits, in honey and also in small amounts in some vegetables. HIt has a sweetening power that is approximately one third higher than that of sucrose, meaning that less can be used to achieve the same result.

RICE MALT

• Sweet tasting, it can replace sugar in cakes, tarts, biscuits, bars, creams and puddings.

CORN MALT

• With a very delicate flavour, it is an excellent alternative to rice malt.

BARLEY MALT

• With an intense flavour, it is perfect for sweetening energy bars and mousse Prepared at home. It's best to avoid using it on biscuits, however, as it tends to burn easily.

MAPLE SYRUP

• Made from the sap extracted from the maple tree, it's another good alternative to sugar. It contains sucrose, potassium, B vitamins, and calcium. It has a very sweet flavor and is suitable for making desserts and sweetening beverages.

FRUIT CONCENTRATES

• Pear and apple based jams are excellent, while fruit concentrates are perfect for making many tasty jams.

STEVIA REBAUDIANA

• It is extracted from the leaves of Stevia Rebaudiana, a plant that grows abundantly throughout South America, parts of Asia, and even California. Indigenous communities in Brazil and South America have passed down its use, likely for centuries, as a valuable digestive aid and a healing food. It sweetens up to 270 times more than refined sugar and is calorie-free. For this reason, it is considered nature's best sweetener.

CANE SUGAR

• For those who really can't do without sugar, we suggest at least of “real” whole cane sugarTrue, because some have gone so far as to lightly roast refined sugar to give it a brownish hue that makes it look like cane sugar, or worse, to add harmful colorings. So read the label carefully.

SUGAR AND BUTTER FREE RECIPES:

• Sugar-Free Cake: An Easy-to-Make Recipe with Orange and Chocolate
• Sugar-Free Whole Wheat Cookies: The Recipe with Barley Malt
• Homemade Jam Without Added Sugar: Three Tasty Recipes