“Life is uncertain, always eat your dessert first” “Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals like chocolates.” “Stressed spelt backwards is desserts.” If these are some of your favorite quotes, you have a sweet tooth, chances are all your teeth are sweet. Instead of people, mostly food is the apple of your eyes and you get all starry eyed when you see something sweet. But this comes with a downside, mainly because you tend to consume a lot of empty calories and put on a lot of weight. I know you have tried to get over your sugar addiction a lot of times, but it’s not as easy as it seems. If only getting over an addiction was easy. This is when you reach out for sugar-free solutions, but think about it, are they healthy? No! Research has shown, it’s better to consume regular sugar in limited quantity than to substitute it with sugar-free pills. If you are confused as to what you should do now, don’t worry, I have an alternative option for you. Try to substitute your regular sugar with other natural sweeteners as suggested below, that are lesser on calories and not so harsh on your health.

1. Honey

Before desperately Googling the nutritional value of honey and arguing that it contains much more calories than the equivalent amount of sugar, read the whole paragraph and you will know the difference. Honey is the most natural and most healthy alternative to sugar. I agree that one tablespoon of honey contains much more calories compared to one tablespoon of sugar, but have you compared the sweetness of the two yet? Honey is much sweeter than sugar hence, you require a lesser amount of honey to get the same amount of sweetness, thus you end up adding too little honey and thus very few calories. Besides, honey is healthy in many other ways, it carries herbs mixed with it to all the organs through the blood, it regulates sleep and treats insomnia. It also improves your immunity, alienates allergies and above all, regulates your blood sugar. It is antioxidant and anti-inflammatory in nature thus great to soothe a cough, cold and other types of flu. Still think honey is worse than sugar? To know more about this amazing golden liquid, click here.

2. Palm Sugar

Firstly, let me tell you that palm sugar is different from brown sugar. All palm sugars are brown, but all brown sugars are not palm sugars. Palm sugar is made from the sap of Palmyra palm, date palm, or the sugar date palm. So basically, it is not made out of sugarcane. Palm sugar has lower Glycemic Index than the regular sugar which helps to regulate the blood sugar levels. It is used to make ORS or Oral Rehydration Solution which is used to treat diarrhoea, is recommended for women suffering from PCOS and above all, it helps to burn fat from your body. Wow! Eating sweet to lose weight! What can be better? To know more about palm sugar, click here.

3. Brown Sugar And Jaggery

Jaggery or gur as we call it in Hindi is an outcome of sugarcane but a predecessor of sugar. Sometimes, a combination of sugarcane and date palm is used to make jaggery. It is usually golden brown hard substance which is not merely a sweetener, it adds to the taste of the food. It is less processed compared to sugar and retains much more nutrients of the sugar cane. People eat jaggery after a meal because it also aids digestion. Jaggery also cleanses our internal organs like the respiratory tract, lungs, food pipe, stomach and intestine. On the other hand, brown sugar retains more nutrients compared to white sugar like dietary potassium, calcium, magnesium and Vitamin B. It contains lesser calories compared to white sugar. To know more about brown sugar, click here.

4. Stevia

Stevia is extracted from the leaves of the plant, Stevia rebaudiana. The active compounds of stevia are heat stable, pH stable, and are non-fermentable. It’s much sweeter than your regular sugar but virtually has no calories at all! Sounds interesting, right? To know more about stevia, click here.

Despite the option you choose, just remember that these are only a substitute to sugar, they are better than sugar but still contain calories. So do not gobble them like there is no tomorrow. The best way to stay healthy is to eat right and exercise a lot!