I gave up sugar in my tea/coffee a year ago and I haven’t regretted it. Not having a major sweet-tooth has been an advantage.
I replaced sugar with honey. However, soon I learned that honey has about 12-17 grams carbs per teaspoon, and when you are trying to restrict carb intake that really adds up to a lot of carbs in a day. Additionally, locally available brands like Dabur are calorie dense with over 70 calories in each teaspoon. Having said that, if you can lay your hands on pure organic honey, it is not a bad idea to include honey in your daily routine. It includes vitamins, trace enzymes, amino acids, and minerals like calcium, iron, sodium chloride, magnesium, phosphate, and potassium and possesses antiseptic and antibacterial properties.
How to test for purity of honey?
The best test is to add a spoonful of honey to a bowl of water stirring it very lightly. Pure honey will settle down smoothly without dissolving soon. Impure or adulterated honey will dissolve in water easily.
Over time I switched to Sugarfree, the Sucralose based substitute of sugar that doesn’t contain the same amount of calories. Despite, being claimed as safe, artificial sweeteners do have certain side effects. Sucralose is known to decreases good bacteria by 50%, increases the pH level in the intestines, causes dehydration among other side effects. Sucralose is also associated with migraines, gastrointestinal problems, seizures, heart palpitations, respiratory problems and weight gain.
After some redimentary research, I came to know of natural sweeteners extracted from the plant stevia. Stevia sweeteners do not contribute calories or carbohydrates to the diet and do not affect blood glucose or insulin response.
I ordered Steviocal 200 gm jar from Amazon. It looks just like Sugarfree powder. It’s powered texture makes it easy to blend in almost all dishes, shakes, tea and coffee. 1 gm Stevi0cal powder is equivalent in sweetness to 2 teaspoons of sugar.
Price Rs. 307 for 200-gram jar and this jar lasts for about 2 months for me.
I strongly recommend this product for anyone looking for sugar substitutes for everyday use.
NammyFit 