If you love the taste of a sweet tea or you long to make your own homemade cookies, but would prefer to do so without the extra calories that sugar is known for, you need to learn about some of the zero or very low-calorie sweeteners you can use in your favorite foods or drinks. For example, stevia tastes sweeter than sugar and actually has been associated with several health benefits, while xylitol is a sugar alcohol that is almost as sweet as sugar and is good for your teeth. In addition, Yacon syrup is a lesser-known, low-calorie sweetener that is cultivated from the Yacon roots in South America and has a unique flavor. If you would like to eliminate sugar from your diet, but you can never see yourself giving up all sweets, the information shared below will be quite useful.
Considering Stevia
Stevia has become increasingly popular in recent years. That may be because it is many times sweeter than sugar, but will not contribute to weight gain or high blood glucose levels as sugar does. Originating in South and North America, it offers some other benefits that many people are not familiar with, such as its unique ability to reduce stress on the cardiovascular system. In addition, stevia has been associated with weight loss since it can replace sugar in popular desserts, thus allowing its users to consume fewer calories.
Opting For Xylitol
Xylitol has been recommended by many dentists recently, due to its ability to eliminate or minimize the bacteria in the mouth that is primarily responsible for plaque. Since it reduces plaque, which is known to contribute to gum disease and chronic inflammation of the gums, it actually benefits your oral health immensely. Its mere presence can starve that bacteria to death, since it feeds off of sugar and cannot do so from xylitol. Since it's almost as sweet as sugar, but has only 60% of the calories, its use has allowed some people to lose weight without making any other major dietary changes.
Choosing Yacon Syrup
If you have never heard of Yacon syrup or are just vaguely familiar with it, there is good reason for that. As one of the newer low-calorie sweeteners, it has been used as a tool for weight loss, treating constipation and reducing blood sugar levels for inhabitants of Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil for a long time, but it was not embraced by the United States until the last few years. Its taste has been frequently compared to molasses and it's derived from deep within the Yacon root.
In conclusion, sugar is used in a wide variety of food and beverage, but its presence in those items has often been associated with a myriad of health concerns, including diabetes and obesity. Therefore, if you're interested in substituting healthier sweeteners with fewer calories for real sugar, it's a good idea to consider the choices described above. For more information, contact a company like Monin.
