DIET
Sugar Alternatives
Kym has selected a few of the most common sugar alternatives, infused with some of her herbal favourites from the top drawer of her treat resource box.
by Kym Ollerton I
have had my share of sugar cravings: late night assignments, high stress tasks with impossible deadlines, and
hormone-induced chocolate crusades. I have experienced my share of post- sugar-banquet guilt too. Sugar cravings tend to manipulate
us when at our weakest; always when we don’t have the time or the mental capacity to make good food choices. And we have never been so conscious of the foods we put in our mouths, nor the confusion that comes with popular health culture. Working in practice, and to some
tight deadlines myself, I have found it invaluable to maintain an arsenal of sugar alternatives. Establishing some firm foundations on decent sweeteners can empower our choices, gifting our minds and bodies the kindness they deserve for better health.
MESQUITE Mesquite is a South American native, where it was used for hundreds of years for medicinal and culinary purposes (mostly the wood was used to smoke meat). Mesquite tree pods are harvested, finely ground and milled to make the sweet flour that is easily substituted for any other sugar. Happily, mesquite has a good source
of soluble fibre ensuring it has a positive effect on blood sugar levels by slowing absorption through the gastro-intestinal tract. For this reason, mesquite is considered to have a low glycemic index. Other beneficial nutritional
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incentives include considerably high protein and mineral content. Mesquite is a relative newcomer to the
Australian market, with only a select few brands offering this appealing caramel- tasting natural sweetener. It can be used as an alternative sugar for anything and is especially delicious in smoothies and baking. Use in a ratio of 1:1.
MONK FRUIT Monk fruit (or ‘Lo Han Guo’ to the locals) was a favourite of Buddhist monks throughout South East Asia. It is yet another centuries-old culinary masterpiece (around 1200 AD) revived for the 21st Century. In its traditionally eaten raw form,
monk fruit looks like any other melon you would find at the supermarket or grocers. Although the raw fruit is nothing to write home about (sorry Mother Nature), the extract made from the juice of the monk fruit is around 200 times sweeter than sugar (sucrose), a little monk fruit goes a long way! In Traditional Chinese Medicine, monk
fruit has been used to improve digestion and to encourage weight loss, while contemporary health benefits highlight a positive effect on blood sugar balance and reducing cholesterol. Monk fruit is also high in vitamin C, making it a good source of antioxidants. Use monk fruit in fluid extract or granulated powder form.
STEVIA Stevia is sourced from the sweet leaf of the Stevia rebaudiana plant and is another all-natural, healthy, blood- sugar-friendly sweetening alternative with zero calories, low GI, and is also gluten free. Stevia is a versatile sweetener.
Stevia is super sweet, measuring in at least one hundred times sweeter than sucrose; so one never needs very much. The drops are ideal for tea and coffee
because you can be totally sure you’re getting the same amount of sweetening with each cup. Stevia is easy to substitute in baking
too – when you are using a pure product (as found in health food stores for instance) the quantity to use is about 1/2 teaspoon of powder as the equivalent in sweetness to 1 cup of sugar! However, then your recipe needs a bit of extra liquid (remembering that
sugar dissolves when heated) and, in that case, compensate for that with 1/3 cup of beaten egg white, or mashed banana, or other fruit puree, or even juice or yoghurt. However, note that supermarket
brands have fillers as bulking agents and therefore have a very different ratio – and are much weaker. It’s a bit hard to work out from the label what is a filler and what is not, but if it contains maltodextrin then this is a filler. If it contains erythritol then this is an artificial sweetener and is also used as a carrier. What’s more, some products may have up to 95% filler (or non- stevia) – and the stevia that is in these products is not necessarily organic stevia. So better to shop at your health food store, read the labels and know that you have a more concentrated
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