HEALTH Alternatives to sugar

Sweetness without the sour health risks


Healthy Eating
Collen Fitzpatrick

How would you feel if you realised that up to 25 per cent of your calories comes from a poisonous substance in your food, and that this substance causes weight gain, elevated blood pressure, elevated LDL cholesterol, depletion of your vitamins and minerals, and can lead to gout, heart disease and liver damage?
The truth is that this is actually happening, and the substance is sugar.
It is thrown into practically every convenience food – tinned, jarred, dried, whatever way it’s packaged – sugar is usually added. In many cases you may be unaware of the presence of sugar. It may be listed as sucrose, lactose, fructose, dextrose – something to watch out for.
But is sugar really that bad? Well, aside from the conditions mentioned above, sugar also lowers the immune system, and it causes adrenaline to rise, bringing with it hyperactivity and feelings of stress. It’s acidic nature causes digestive disorders and exacerbates all inflammatory conditions such as arthritis etc. Sugar can also contribute to mood disorders, depression and much, much more.

Alternatives
But what are the alternatives? Surely we need our little treats in life. There is hope! Desserts and treats sweetened with xylitol or agave syrup are perfectly harmless. Both of these natural sweeteners have a low glycaemic index, which means they do not sharply raise blood sugar levels and are safe for diabetics.
Xylitol is a natural sweetener from the birch tree. It’s anti bacterial and good for the teeth to boot. Xylitol also contains about two to three times less calories than sugar.
Others sweeteners in the same family that do not compare so favourably include mannitol, malitol and sorbitol. These cause spikes in blood sugar levels, especially malitol. They can also cause gastrointestinal problems, bloating and diarrhoea. The reason for this is because these types of sweeteners are not fully absorbed by the body (which is why they are lower in calories). In very large amounts xylitol, which is also not absorbed, may also cause diarrhoea, but this generally won’t happen if you get a high quality one. Xylitol looks like sugar and can replace sugar in any recipe in equal amounts.
The other alternative is agave syrup. Agave is very low on the glycaemic index and is considered ‘raw’, so that it is not burnt or processed. Agave is like a honey in consistency and it’s a great sweetener.
There are many other sweeteners that are better than processed sugar, including dates, date syrup and even maple syrup. While maple syrup is not suitable for diabetics, a 100 per cent pure one is full of minerals and is more of  a ‘wholefood’ than sugar.
A final note – stay away from artificial sweeteners that contain substances like saccharine or aspartame. They are carcinogenic. At least the body recognises sugar and can deal with it, whereas these artificial sweeteners are alien to the body and create even more chaos.

Just to prove there can be life without sugar, here are some simple recipes to try:
Moist Orange & Chocolate Cake

• 100g / 4 oz wholemeal flour (pref spelt)
• 100g / 4 oz coconut oil or butter
• 100g / 4 oz Xylitol
• 2 eggs
• Rind of 1 orange
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• Syrup – 4 tbls fresh orange juice plus 3 oz agave syrup

Chocolate Icing

• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• ½ cup agave syrup
• ¼ cup melted coconut oil

Line a round 9-10 inch cake tin with wax paper and preheat oven to 180ºC/Gas 4. Beat the coconut oil and Xylitol together, then gradually beat in the eggs followed by the orange rind, Fold in the flour and baking powder. Spoon the mixture into the cake tin. Bake for 20 minutes or until cake goldens and is firm to the touch.
While the cake is in the oven, mix the orange juice and agave syrup. When the cake comes out of the oven turn it upside down on a wire wrack, peel off the wax paper and pour the syrup over it immediately while it’s hot, this is what goves it it’s moistness. Leave it to cool.
Then mix all the ingredients for the chocolate icing in a food processor or you can mix them with an electric soup mixer, but the mixture must be smooth and silky. Pour the icing over top the cake, making sure the cake has cooled suffiiently so that the icing does not melt all over it. However, don’t put the icing to set in the fridge while waiting for the cake to cool, or you will not be able to spread it over the top of the cake!

Banana and Blueberry Muffins
(Makes 12)

• 90 mls / 6 tbls milk or soy milk
• 2 eggs
• 225g / 2 cups of wholemeal flour (pref spelt)
• 150g / 10 tbls coconut oil or butter, melted
• pinch of salt
• 1 tbls natural vanilla essence
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbls baking powder
• 100g/ 4oz Xylitol
• 150g/ 5 oz blueberries*
• 2 bananas, mashed*

Preheat oven to 180ºC/Gas 4. Place the milk, eggs, butter (or coconut oil) in a bowl and whisk. Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder in a separate bowl and then add the Xylitol and bluberries. Stir in the milk mixtures and then fold in the mashed bananas. Spoon the mixture into paper cases in a muffin tin, bake for 15-20 minutes or until muffins start to golden. Cool on a wire wrack.

To increase moistness you can increase the amount of bananas and blueberries

Colleen Fitzpatrick is a nutritional therapist practicing at Westport Clinic, High Street, Westport (www.westportclinic.net). She can be contacted at 087 6937792 or collfitz3t@yohoo.com.