Category: General Food Recipes

Natural Sweeteners for a Healthy Lifestyle

Some people believe that there is nothing wrong with eating or drinking something that is delicious. Just like alcohol, this should be taken moderately since too much can prove to be unhealthy.

Natural sweeteners are used on different foods and a regular favorite are pancakes served for breakfast. Maple syrup works best in the morning. This is made up of 65% sucrose which is half the amount coming from white sugar.

Another natural sweetener worth checking out is malt syrup. This is made from cereal grains and those who take this get half the amount of calories taken from using maple syrup. This makes it not that sweet prompting the user to add more for flavor.

Rice syrup is a natural sweetener that can be used for baking. This is usually substituted for honey or white sugar and is only half as sweet. The person should be careful when mixing since too much liquid could dilute the chemical rendering it useless. This will take some time to get the right formula to make the dish suitable to the persons taste.

A natural sweetener can also be achieved by mixing rice syrup with evaporated white grape juice. This is made up of 33% more carbohydrate and is yellowish white in color. This works very well in the recipe if Sucanat, a wholesome sweetener cannot do well for it.

Date sugar is another natural sweetener. This can be purchased in a natural foods store and considered to be almost a whole food. This is high in fiber, vitamins and minerals. Compared to Rice syrup, this will not dilute even when mixed with a lot of liquid.

Blackstrap Molasses is another natural sweetener worth experimenting on. This is made up of 70% sucrose that has a strong flavor but is strong on iron. This is good for those who know how to make bake a pie or a cake. People can add honey to the mix to make this taste sweet.

The most common that people know as a natural sweetener is honey. This is usually obtained bees and is sweeter than white sugar which means the person should only add a teaspoon to the food.

Natural sweeteners can serve well for those who dont it artificially produced. The person can check the products out in the supermarket then choose the best which is healthy to bring home.

Low Calorie Sweeteners for Better Health

People have become health conscious these days. This is due to the fact that there are more people who are overweight and this has affected both kids and adults.

Can this be treated? Yes but it is going to take more than a change in diet and exercise to make it work. The person can watch the food and beverage being taken in by only using artificial sweeteners that are low in calorie.

Low calorie sweeteners still give the same flavor as regular white sugar. The difference is that it only gives the person a few to zero calories per serving. This product has been called different names such as being a intense sweetener, an alternative sweetener, high potency or high intensity and non-nutritive sweetener.

There are many products in the market that the person can choose from. One of the best selling is made of an ingredient called Aspartame. Brands that use this are NutraSweet, Equal and Canderel.

Companies that manufacture this have produced beverages, sachet packs and bars which serve as another way of taking this into the body. The shelf life of such products could last three years as along as these are stored in room temperature.

Another brand that is quite popular is Splenda. This product also adds flavor without the extra calories after being taken in by the body. People who buy this product dont only mix it with tea or coffee. There are those that substitute this for regular sugar during baking.

The company also has a wide range of products to choose from in the grocery that are good for those with a sweet tooth but dont want to add those extra calories.

Sugarcane has been used for years on a variety of products. In Asia, this has been used as a drink. Lately, people have seen this as an alternative to oil for vehicles. A few years back, scientists have discovered that this can also be a low calorie health sweetener.

Sucanat serves as a wholesome sweetener that is all natural and can give the person the right amount of vitamins and minerals that the body needs.

The ingredients that make up a low calorie sweetener can be found in almost every basic thing that the person buys from the supermarket. Some examples are toothpaste, breath mints, syrup and cooking oil. These ingredients are printed on the label are a good for those who want to have a healthy lifestyle.

Getting to Know the Kinds of Sugar Sweeteners

The terms sugar and sweetener are not so much different in terms of meaning. Although people feel that sugar is a form of sweetener, this actually not the case. Sugar is a term used to refer to any substance that is used to sweeten food. However, because of the fact that sucrose or the ordinary table sugar is also loosely called as sugar or in some cases white sugar, sweetener is then used.

Sugar is a form of carbohydrates that can be good for the body when eaten in right amounts. The problem arises when people eat too much of it. Unlike other food items, sugar do not have anything more to offer than empty calories. Sugar, you see, can actually pack the calories and add to your weight. This increases the risk of developing other health problems such as hypertension, heart disease and diabetes, not to mention the threat of obesity.

Sugar comes in many forms. Do you know where each comes from?

White sugar is perhaps the most common form. This is the ordinary table sugar that people use for their drinks. White sugar comes from sugar cane. Another similar form is the brown sugar, which many believe is much healthier than the white. Brown sugar is made by adding the sugar cane molasses, making it more moisturized. There is also the raw sugar which retains much of the molasses of the sugar cane. Turbinado, Muscovado and Demerara are terms that are used to refer to raw sugar.

Honey is another sweetener that many consider to be very healthy. Naturally produced by honeybees, it requires no processing and can be used directly.

Stevia is a form of sugar or sweetener that is derived from a Paraguay plant with the same name. Stevia is actually considered an herb and is considered to be very healthy because it contains no calories and unlike the ordinary table sugar, which are empty carbohydrates, stevia actually has some levels of vitamins and minerals.

It is said to be capable of helping lower blood pressure, improve digestion and discourage the growth of bacteria. One disadvantage though is that stevia has a slightly bitter aftertaste.

Maple syrup comes from the sap of maple trees. Although maple syrup is also considered quite healthy, consumers are asked to be cautious in using uncertified ones because thete is danger of it having chemical residues from pesticides.

Malt syrup, on the other hand, comes from barley. It contains maltose, which is less sweet as sucrose.

Faking Away Sweets in Sugar

When one speaks of sugar, first thing in mind is the advantage of having a sweet taste of food. It is difficult to find someone who does not like a taste of it, one time or another in a person’s life. It maybe, he refuses intake of it at present for health reasons but in the past he admits, had the joy of eating many kinds of sweet foods.

Children like candies because it is associated with something tasty-sweet. In the earlier days of our grandparents, when people know nothing about calories and disadvantages of some excessive food intakes the elderly finds joy in the thought of having chocolate for breakfast because of the pleasant sweet taste associated when the native chocolate is sweetened with plenty of sugar as a beverage.

Low calorie sweeteners became a household word recently, for reasons that today’s generation is more aware of cases of diabetes and obesity associated with eating excessive sweets. Uncontrolled intake of carbohydrates, which has plenty of starch and sugar, is not advised to people who suffer diabetes, or those prone to obesity.

Researches in the earlier 21st century have proven that low calorie sweeteners had been introduced in the market to substitute the use of actual sugar. Actually some chemical contents are substituted, reduced, or refined to certain degree as to fake the sweet taste in natural sugar. It becomes in a way synthetic, but beneficial to the general health of the public. The faking of the sweet taste reduced the calories present in the actual glucose sugar. It is not surprising that consumers products displayed in the markets today include grocery items on low calorie sweeteners.

Why such preference on the synthetic-made sugar, rather than the organic sweet? Table sugar or sucrose is our common table sugar. There are many kinds of sugar in different sweeteners around, both in fruits and manufactured table sugar. Fruit contains fructose sugar, and milk contains lactose. Reducing or transforming natural-sweet-taste sugar to certain low calorie level is that which makes it more healthful.

Today’s market offers various brands in the making of low calorie sweeteners. The FDA of the United States had an extensive evaluation and test for the assurance of safe use for public consumption. Safety measures against complications in the reproduction; genetic effects, risk to cancer, the central nervous system, and body metabolism were strictly
considered.

Kinds of manufactured low calorie sweeteners:
*Sucralose – the only low calorie sweeter that is made from actual sugar, made 600 times sweeter than our table sugar. It’s available in a very wide range of food distribution with a need of sweetener, branded in the name Splenda (granular and packets) in several outlets. *Aspartame a non-calorie sweetener used in beverages, 200 times sweeter than sugar. They’re several others of similar values.

Equal Sweetener – What is it About

Recent studies have shown that too much sugar may be bad for the health. This could to lead diseases such as diabetes that could lead to the complications.

Since people still need sugar in the system but in reduced amounts, companies have decided to make artificial sweeteners and Equal is one of the popular brands in the market.

This product is marketed and exported throughout the world by the Merisant Corporation. The company has offices in the United States, Mexico, Switzerland and Australia.

The main ingredient is aspartame which is a substitute for natural sugar that can be mixed in food or in the persons drink. The chemical composition is made up of 50% phenylalanine, 40% aspartic acid and 10% methanol.

There are those who claim that taking this either through food or drink is harmful to the health but there have been no studies published in any magazines to publicly announce the potential risk.

However, there have been some reports that this can cause dizziness, headaches, weight gain, memory loss, anxiety and rashes.

It is funny to know that this is used on a variety of products and people dont really realize it. These products are breath mints, toothpaste, cereals and multi-vitamins that are all available in the supermarket. People have been taking this for years!

Equal sweetener can be purchased at the grocery. This also comes now in bars with various flavors such as Peach, Lemon and Vanilla Bean. This can be purchased in bottles, box or packets making this easy to have around the house or when going on a business trip or a vacation out of town.

The product should be stored in room temperature at all times and is good for up to 3 years.

Equal and the main ingredient aspartame have undergone more than 200 lab tests by various organizations. These bodies have been certified to be safe by the United States Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization.

Studies have shown that this can be mixed with tea or coffee more than once a day. According to one study, a person can drink up to 97 packets a day which is still safe.

It has been proven to be safe for those diagnosed with diabetes since sugar is also needed to maintain the carbohydrate count in the body.

The person can check with a dietitian before trying this product and get information from other brands that also provide artificial sweeteners in the market before choosing the one to use for the home.