So many of us who are trying to lose weight look for healthy alternatives in sweetening our world. One alternative that we often look to is the very natural and seemingly healthy honey. We see a million varieties of it in health food stores, whereas we rarely ever see sugar in a health food store, so we know it must be healthy for us. So we spend a bundle on several varieties of honey, bring them home and sweeten our world in a way previously unknown and marvel at how wonderful life is without sugar. We do all of this with the self-satisfied glow of someone who knows they are exercising a healthy alternative and will soon lose weight and be better inside and out.
Then the scale betrays us.
We wonder how this could be. How can we actually be gaining weight when we’ve eliminated all sugar from our diet?
I’ll tell you how!
Every teaspoon of honey has 31% more calories than a teaspoon of sugar. One teaspoon of sugar packs 15 calories. One teaspoon of honey packs 22 calories. (If you’re toying with the idea of using brown sugar instead of either of these, forget about it! Brown sugar is a combination of sugar and molasses and contains 17 calories per teaspoon.)
If you are looking for a healthy alternative to sugar that won’t cause your blood sugar to spike and the bathroom scale to betray you, here are the two best options:
Stevia: Stevia is an extract from the herb Sweetleaf. It is calorie free and about 300 times sweeter than sugar but is generally only found in a liquid. For that reason, it is great for those who need their coffee or tea sweetened but not necessarily so for those who want to bake.
Splenda: Splenda is a brand name for sucralose. It is made through a multi-step process that starts with sugar and converts it to a no calorie, carbohydrate free sweetener. Unlike aspartame, which is commonly used in diet soft drinks, Splenda will not cause weight loss to stall. Splenda can be used in baking and cooking (in fact, I use it exclusively in everything I bake). There are no conversions to recipes necessary as Splenda measures cup for cup just like sugar. You can also use Splenda to make your favorite Kool Aid drinks!
So, if you’re trying to cut the sugar in your diet, please remember that honey is not a lower calorie option.
Related Blogs:
No-Bake Cinnamon Apple Cheesecake