There is something about the end of a meal that begs a touch of sweetness. While some people reject desserts for fear of added pounds—or blood sugar spikes—others won’t leave the table without a treat. Perhaps there is a better way to serve desserts so that guests feel great and grateful with no regrets.
Come explore alternatives to refined white sugar on this tour celebrating the sublime and divine. Get the current scoop on nutrients, environmental impact, taste profiles, uses, and more.
The Story of Sugar
Sugarcane was once a wild perennial grass. Around 10,000 years ago, it was domesticated in New Guinea for use as animal fodder and human consumption. Sugar was initially extracted from sugarcanes by chewing and extracting fluids via water. About 2,500 years ago, the first chemically refined sugar appeared in India. The process gradually spread to China, Southeast Asia, and eventually the world over.
Today, sugarcane is the world’s largest crop, with 1.86 billion metric tons produced in 2021, according to Statista.com. Most of it is grown in tropical regions like Brazil, India, China, Pakistan, Mexico, and Thailand.
Sugar beets are also used to produce refined white sugar. They are easily grown in temperate climates such as France, Germany, and the United States.
The purification process to make granulated white sugar is lengthy, and the sugar—whether it comes from cane sugar or beet sugar—is stripped of fiber, minerals, and vitamins.
Not only is sugar non-nutritive, large amounts of sugar in one’s diet is linked to adverse health consequences, such as obesity, tooth decay, inflammation, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. As a result, the American Heart Association recommends limiting daily added sugar intake to 25 grams (6 teaspoons) for women and 36 grams (9 teaspoons) for men.
The purification process to make granulated white sugar is lengthy, and the sugar—whether it comes from cane sugar or beet sugar—is stripped of fiber, minerals, and vitamins.
The bad news is that sweetened foods are undeniably delicious and hard to resist, plus they stimulate the appetite and cause cravings for more sweet foods (i.e., sugar is addictive).
The good news is that anyone can limit the super-processed white sugar when they cook by substituting sweeteners that are more sustainably produced, less processed, and closer to the natural source.
Let’s break them into two categories: (1) nutritive and (2) non-nutritive.
(1) Natural Nutritive Sugar Substitutes
Fruit:
Naturally sweet and full of nutrients, apples, bananas, berries, dates, and other fruits can be substituted for sugar in many dishes. Ditch the table sugar and top cereal with natural sugar in the form of strawberries and blueberries and get antioxidants at the same time.
Applesauce and mashed bananas can often replace sugar and oil in cookie and quick bread recipes (try these Oatmeal Cookies using banana as the sweetener). Finally, when craving sugar, eat a piece of fruit and see if it satisfies. The natural sugar in fruit is absorbed more slowly by the body than white sugar because fruit also has fiber.
Vegetables:
They aren’t called sweet potatoes for nothing! Beets, butternut squash, carrots, and sweet potatoes pack a sweet punch. They can be grated and used in sauces to balance acidity in place of white sugar; they can also be blended into breads, layered into lasagna, or eaten as dessert.
Oven roast any of these vegetables to bring out the sugars and munch a treat while getting in one’s daily dose of veggies. If a chocolate treat is desired, try baking these simple sugar-free brownies that use sweet potatoes.
Raw Honey:
Bees make honey using nectar from flowers. Raw honey retains small amounts of vitamins and minerals and holds antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. It’s a great substitution for white sugar in coffee or tea, and it doesn’t increase blood sugar quite as much as sugar. It has been used for medicinal purposes through the ages, and some say eating local honey can help with seasonal allergies.
Honey is one of the most sustainable natural sweeteners because it can be produced on one’s own property. But if beehives in the backyard aren’t on the bucket list, the best choice is buying raw honey from a local, small-scale producer.
Maple Syrup or Coconut Sugar:
How are these two the same, one might ask? They are both made from tree sap. Maple syrup pours readily from maple trees and is boiled down to that thick delicious pancake topping. Coconut sugar is dehydrated coconut sap (and no, it does not taste like coconut). Both options are considered whole food sweeteners with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. They are also very sweet and have more calories, carbs, and sugar than dieters will likely want to grapple with; however, its glycemic index—a measure of how food affects blood sugar levels—is lower than white sugar.
Blackstrap Molasses:
A byproduct of the white sugar purification process, molasses contains iron and B vitamins. The thick texture of molasses can add moisture to baked goods, and its flavor adds depth to sauces. It is a bit high in calories and carbs, but it falls in the middle of the glycemic index, which means it’s better than white sugar.
Molasses definitely has a niche as a sugar substitute and in a recipe like Boston Brown Bread, where molasses and raisins provide the sweetness, cooks may find blackstrap molasses a pantry staple. (Molasses fan hint: try just a little on buckwheat pancakes.)
(2) Natural Non-Nutritive Sugar Substitutes
Monk Fruit:
Also known as Luo Han Guo, monk fruit is crushed and the juice dehydrated to result in a dried powder. It’s a natural calorie-free sweetener with a glycemic index of zero, so it doesn't raise blood sugar levels. This is because monk fruit contains mogrosides, a natural compound that the body doesn't recognize as sugar or carbohydrates, and yet it’s about 200 times sweeter than table sugar.
It can be used in baked goods, beverages, and other foods; however, it should not be used for canning due to the lack of research on how the sweetener will affect the pH of canned goods.
Be sure to look for pure monk fruit sweetener [because] many monk fruit products contain additional ingredients, such as dextrose or erythritol, to balance the sweetness, but they can have adverse effects on health.
Be sure to look for pure monk fruit sweetener. Many monk fruit products contain additional ingredients, such as dextrose or erythritol, to balance the sweetness, but they can have adverse effects on health. Erythritol and xylitol are manufactured “sugar alcohols” (neither sugar nor alcohol) that can cause gastrointestinal irritation. More concerning are recent studies that suggest that erythritol may cause increased risk of blood clotting, stroke, heart attack, and death in people at an elevated risk for developing heart disease.
The only drawback to pure monk fruit sweetener is perhaps the cost. It is difficult to grow, expensive to import, and not readily available on grocery shelves. For a sugar-free dessert made with monk fruit sweetener, these Blueberry Cheesecake Bars use just one bowl and seven ingredients.
Stevia:
Stevia is made from the South American plant Stevia rebaudiana. It is 200 to 400 times as sweet as sugar, so only use a tiny amount to sweeten foods. It's also calorie-free and safe for people with medical conditions like high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes.
It’s popular as an addition to dressings, drinks, marinades, and sauces. Some people report that stevia leaves a bitter aftertaste in baked goods, even though there are stevia products specifically for baking. When cooking with stevia, look for recipes that are developed with measurements for stevia, such as these chocolate brownies.
As with monk fruit, stevia often has other chemical sweeteners (such as erythritol) added to it that may cause health issues.
Stevia is a fairly low-impact crop as it requires less land and processing than sugarcane. That being said, China is the biggest producer, and production methods there are not well documented. It is known that sustainable agriculture is not widespread in China.
Yacon Syrup:
Native to South America, yacon syrup comes from a root vegetable. The syrup is low-sugar and low-glycemic while containing nutrients and prebiotics. It is said to taste something like honey, with less sweetness. Yacon syrup makes a great substitute for table sugar or honey and only has about 20 calories per tablespoon compared to honey’s 64.
The fiber in yacon can help relieve constipation and, alas, this means it can cause diarrhea in some people (especially those with irritable bowel syndrome or disease). Because the fiber is not digestible, it can also cause stomach upset and gas. Before becoming concerned about the side effects, though, consider that yacon syrup may be difficult to find and expensive.
Allulose:
Allulose is derived from plants such as figs, kiwis, and raisins. It’s found in very small quantities, so it is rare; however, new technology is being developed to extract this sweetener on a larger scale.
Allulose doesn’t cause blood sugar spikes and can be used in recipes for baked goods, drinks, and frozen desserts without the increased calories of white sugar.
Allulose doesn’t cause blood sugar spikes and can be used in recipes for baked goods, drinks, and frozen desserts without the increased calories of white sugar. Additionally, allulose does not have any of the unpleasant aftertastes associated with other natural sweeteners like stevia.
Unfortunately, human brains don’t know the difference between non-nutritive, nutritive, chemical, or any other sweetener. They just light up with the ding-ding-ding of the sugar reward and cause the desire for more sweets later.
But who says diners need a cookie or cake to call it dessert? Sun-dried persimmon is a naturally sweet snack in Asian cuisines and Nice Cream is a personal favorite dessert.
Strawberry-Banana Nice Cream
Ingredients:
1 large banana
1 cup strawberries
Directions:
Cut the banana and strawberries into chunks and freeze. Once frozen, pulse in a food processor until smooth, scraping the sides when necessary. Pour into dishes and enjoy.
For alternative or substitute sweeteners, try them in small amounts to be sure they agree with the body. Follow recipes created for sugar substitutes instead of doing a 1:1 replacement. As always, look for organic products to ensure purity. The Fairtrade Mark is the only label that indicates a product is certified by the most recognized ethical labeling system in the world. Overall sustainability is a little more difficult to ascertain, but one can start looking at how foods affect the environment and people at sites like Food Print or Sustainable Brands.
Since humans probably won’t lose their affinity to sweets any time soon, new natural sweeteners will likely continue being found and developed. As plants are further explored and identified, there may be sweet and sustainable ingredients at the local market that haven’t been dreamed of yet. Perhaps there will be a candy mushroom or some sort of delectable seaweed discovered that revolutionizes the sugar industry.
People can already grow their own herbs and spices at home; imagine being able to grow one’s own source of the perfect alternative sugar—wouldn’t that be sweet?
*Julie Peterson writes science-based articles about holistic health, environmental issues, and sustainable living from her small farm in Wisconsin.
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