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Slightly less bad sugars

[00:00:00] Hi everyone. Welcome to my next episode of Five Minute Fridays. Today we are talking all things sugar and sweeteners. So as many of you know, I used to own candy stores, so to say I like sugar is a bit of an understatement. So I've had to work very hard at figuring out how satisfied my sweet tooth without totally derailing my health effort. 

So here goes, I'm going to go through 12 different sugar options from the sugars that are the worst for you. To the sugars that are a little less harmful. I'll be referring to glycemic index. The higher the glycemic index, the more it affects your blood sugar and insulin levels. Okay, so the top four worst offenders.[00:01:00]  

The first is high fructose corn syrup, which I'm sure will not come as a surprise to most of you. It's very cheap, so it's in all processed food. It's not terribly different than regular old table sugar in terms of the way it affects your blood sugar, but it's worse for you in general because it's made from corn and most corn used to produce it is genetically modified. 

The next one is brown rice syrup, and this is a tricky one because its name makes you think it might be healthier. Brown rice, right? But don't be fooled. It has an even higher glycemic index than regular sugar. So look for it on labels because it's used in a lot of toddler snacks. The next one is agave nectar, and at some point people are led to believe this was a healthier option because it's mostly fructose and therefore has a lower glycemic index, but it contains no nutrients or antioxidants as it's often marketed, and it will do you no favors if you're trying to lose weight. 

The next is artificial sweeteners. You know, the packets and the three pretty colors, pink, blue, and yellow, and they are in most diet foods. On the one hand, they're sugar free, so they won't impact your blood sugar. But the problem [00:02:00] is there's overwhelming evidence that the chemicals in these sweeteners are connected to many diseases, including heart disease and all the conditions that fall under irritable bowel syndrome. 

So buyer B, where, so the next four options venture into the slightly less bad. . The first one in this category is brown sugar. Did you know that brown sugar is just white sugar with some molasses re remaining in it? And Trudo sugar is just less processed version of brown sugar. So these two are very similar. 

The bad news is they still have a high glycemic index, but the good news is, is that because of the molasses, there are just a few, not many, but just a few more ne nutrients than. The next one is maple syrup, and obviously I'm talking about pure maple syrup, not the fake stuff, which is typically made from corn syrup. 

The bad news is, is that even pure maple syrup still is high in sugar, but the upside is is that it does have antioxidants and many nutrients. Not found in white sugar. The next one is coconut sugar, and here's one you may not know about, although just like maple syrup, it's still high in sugar. [00:03:00] It has fiber in it, which has been shown to actually help stabilize blood sugar. 

The other cool thing about it is that you don't have to cut down the palm tree to produce it. So from an environmental standpoint, it's a good choice. The next one is honey. And Honey doesn't need much of an intro introduction, and while it's still high in sugar, it has even more antioxidants and vitamins than its predecessors on this list. 

However, it's important to understand that I'm not talking about mass produced, highly processed honey. It's the organic. Raw, unfiltered honey, that is going to have the highest levels of nutrients, and as most people know, but it's worth notating. Small children under one should not eat raw. Uh, honey. Okay, so now we are onto the final four, which are considered to be the better choices for satisfying that sweet tooth. 

First we have Stevia and it comes from the Stevia leaf and it's a hundred percent natural and may even have disease preventing potential. You can buy it in packets or in liquid form. Some say it's too sweet for them, so I suggest you buy the liquid drops and you can control the quantity better. Also, many co [00:04:00] coffee shops are finally starting to swap out the artificial stuff for Stevia, which I'm super excited about. 

And you might also see on these packets that they contain monk fruit, which is also a great healthy. The next one on the list is xylitol, and this is sugar alcohol that you find in sugar-free gum. For example, it is a very low glycemic index score and has been shown to prevent tusk. However, for many people, too much xylitol causes gastrointestinal upset because when consumed in excess, it pulls water into the intestines and can cause issues. 

So this is one that should be used in moderation. And one other note, it is toxic to dogs, so make sure if you have sugar-free candy, mints or gum lying around you, keep it away from your. Right Wilbur? Yeah. No eating sugar-free gum that has xylitol in it. It's really bad for you. No. Okay, so we're round in the corner here. 

The next one is molasses, which is made by boiling down cane sugar. The downside is it's still high in sugar, but the upside is, is that it too has lots of antioxidants and nutrients. The other, the other issue is that it has a pretty strong [00:05:00] flavor, and that's why it's mostly used for baking cookies like gingerbread. 

And the final sugar we're going to discuss are dates in several forms. Date sugar, which I have here and date paste, are considered better choices because they're a whole foods sweetener, meaning there's less processing date sugar doesn't melt well. So many recipes, we'll call for date paste, but dates in general are full of fiber and lots of vitamins compared to some of the other. 

But of course the best sugar or sweetener of all is fresh fruit, mashed or pureed, especially bananas. The reason being that you can add sweetness recipes, but you also get all the fire that comes with fruit. So there you have it. Sugar 1 0 1. At the end of the day, there is no such thing as healthy sugar. 

I was just trying to differentiate between the options that have absolutely zero attributes from those that have a few. And if nothing else, check out your food labels for the sugars on it on this list that are of greatest. Since I had to squeeze a lot of information in a short span, I typed up my list so you can print it out. 

So check out the link in the blog post. And as always, [00:06:00] thanks for watching and I hope you have an awesome rest of your day.