Day 2: Your Sugar Alternatives Guide

Very low glycemic alternatives white sugar:

Stevia: Stevia is an herbal product, from the leaves of Stevia Rebaudiana. It is naturally very sweet.. Available in liquid or powdered form. It has a potential after-taste that not everyone enjoys.

Xylitol: processed from the birch tree/bark. Having too much may cause gastric distress as it can ferment in the intestines, causing bloating, gas or diarrhea. It is as sweet as sugar but has little effect on raising blood sugar levels.

Conversion Chart

• When using sugarless substitutes or “the best” sweeteners in recipes:

• 1 cup of white sugar = 2 tablespoons powdered Stevia or 1 teaspoon liquid Stevia

• 1 cup of white sugar = 1 cup xylitol

Low glycemic alternatives to white sugar:

Raw honey, maple syrup, and coconut/palm sugar will still raise blood sugar levels but far less than white sugar. The nice thing about these alternatives is that they taste just like white sugar in recipes and are easy to use.

Conversion Chart

• 1 cup of white sugar = ½ cup honey

• 1 cup of white sugar = ½ cup plus 1 teaspoon maple syrup

• 1 cup of white sugar = 1 cup coconut palm sugar

BEST to the WORST Sugar Alternatives

After the 5 Day Sugar-Free Challenge you might want to introduce sugar back into your life. The following is a list of the best to the worst so you can make the best choices for your health.

The Absolute BEST

1. Maple syrup

2. Raw honey

3. Coconut palm sugar

5. Fruit derived sugars like ripe banana, unsweetened applesauce, whole dates

The In-Betweens

1. Raw sugar: Turbinado, Muscovado, Demerara, Rapadura/ Panela

2. Evaporated cane juice

4. Brown rice syrup

The WORST:

1. White sugar

2. Beet sugar, grape sugar

3. Brown sugar

4. Added sugars and sugar synonyms: Glucose, Fructose, Sucrose, Caramel, Lactose, Maltose, Dextrose, Maltodextrin plus more!

5. Artificial sweeteners: Sucralose/ Splenda, NutraSweet, Equal, Sweet and Low

6. Sorbitol: Extracted from corn syrup

The ABSOLUTE Worst:

Corn Syrup, High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) or Glucose/Fructose: Consists of industrially treated, genetically modified cornstarch that has been converted into sugar. The process is very inexpensive but uses huge amounts of energy to produce. There are extreme health risks associated with HFCS that come from its conversion to triglycerides or circulating fats in the blood. Blood triglycerides are stored as fat, which increases the size of fat cells, causing weight gain and is associated with diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.