The best way of keeping the blood sugar levels constant is to cut down on processed sugar and substitute it with natural sugars from fruits and honey. Here are six healthy substitutes for the white sugar.
Six healthy substitutes for the white sugar
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Six healthy substitutes for the white sugar
Our expert and famous nutritionist suggests various healthy substitutes can use instead of consuming the white sugar.
One of main reasons we desire sugar is when the body is in imbalance; but eating white sugar is not an answer. Substitute white sugar with grapes, honey, jaggery, sugarcane juice, and dried (dates, raisins, apricots) and fresh fruits. These are not only delicious substitutes for the white sugar but are also an extremely healthy. Here are the substitutes benefits:
Honey
Honey is healthy substitute for the white sugar. It strengthens the heart, prevents from cold, cough and fever and also purifies the blood. Being alkaline in nature, it does not produce an acidity or gas. People with a high BP problem should have honey as acetylcholine present in the honey increases the blood flow to heart thereby decreasing the blood pressure.
How to use:
Honey easily dissolves in the liquids so you can add it to their beverages instead of adding sugar and also sweeten their desserts with it.
Six healthy substitutes for the white sugar
Dry fruits
- Dry fruits include fruits which have beendried. The most popular ones are dates (khajur), raisins (kishmish), dried figs (anjeer) and prunes (sukhaalubukhara).
- Dates are an excellent source of iron, potassium, and vitamin B apart from the being high in fibre. One can make khajur chutney or date sauce if do not want to eat it raw.
- For those people who wish to sweeten their food with the sugar, simply toss few raisins in it instead. These are juicy, sweet and even contain nutrients of grapes.
- If suffer from digestive problems, eat dry figs. They are great for those battling asthma and even the regular cough and cold as they are mucus-drying.
- Prune juice have low glycemic index and are rich in fibre which helps to maintain a healthy digestive system.
- Dry fruits can come to the release when you have strong sugar craving. They can also be added to a food in the place of sugar for sweetening, especially sabzis or dals, when they need to be slightly sweet.
Sugarcane juice
Even though white sugar is made from the sugarcane, the refining process removes many useful nutrients from it. Sugarcane juice contains vitamins B and C and is rich in organic salts of iron, calcium, and manganese. It is recommended for the people suffering from an anemia and jaundice and is a refreshing beverage. My recommendation is to have a natural, fresh sugarcane juice without adding ginger, lemon or mint for flavor.
Six healthy substitutes for the white sugar
Jaggery
Frequently called medicinal sugar, it is useful for curing issues like cough, constipation & indigestion and has the high mineral content ensuring that we get micronutrients. Jaggery is the closest substitute for sugar when it comes to usage. It can be also used exactly like sugar. Can get jaggery in powder form, solid form and even liquid form. You can sweeten chikkis and other Indian sweets using jaggery which make an excellent dessert options. It can even be used in dals,vegetables and curries which need to be slightly sweetened.
Fruits
It is better to fulfill the sugar requirements from fruits like mangoes, carrots, beets, papaya, oranges, banana, apple, watermelon etc. The sugar in them is in less concentrated form and hence does not increase the blood sugar level that considerably. Fruits are delicious, sweet and have zero fat.
Stevia
Stevia (Meethi patti), a South American herb known to lower an eminent blood pressure, and is digestive helps which reduces gas and stomach acidity, and prevents an obesity. It has low calories and is also known to guard an against gum and tooth decay. Stevia, in fact, is only sweetener that I would recommend for the diabetics. It is easily available in an India under different brand names. These are available as powders which can be added to the food and beverages to sweeten them. Do note that some forms of Stevia cannot be cooked, so only add them after you are done with the cooking.
Include these healthy alternatives to the white sugar in the daily diet and march the way to a fit life.
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