Alternative sweeteners

OK. So I still love my diet Coke, but I have tried to stay away from sodas and other foods that have artificial sweeteners that are well-known to cause cancer in lab rats.

There are so many different types of natural sweeteners that are available now. Lately I have been experimenting with these alternative sweeteners and just wanted to share a little bit about what I have learned with everyone. This is based on my own research and do not in any way come from the FDA.

The first sweetener that I would recommend is agave nectar. Pictured to the left is the blue agave plant, one of many different species of agave (from which tequila comes from actually). Agave is basically a sweetener produced in Mexico from many different species of agave. It is expressed from the core of the gave and resembles honey. It can range in color from light to dark, depending on the degree of processing. The amber agave is light and mild, while the medium tastes like caramel, and the dark tastes like molasses. The dark nectar has a higher concentration of the plant's natural minerals (iron, calcium, potassium, and magnesium). It is 1.4 to 1.6 times sweeter than sugar. It has a very low glycemic index.

Xylitol and Erythritol are both sugar alcohols that are found in the fibers of fruits and vegetables, verries, corn husks, oats and mushrooms. Xylitol is roughly as sweet as table sugar. Originally coming from the birch tree, it has a very low glycemic index, having very low effects on insulin levels. Erythritol contains 60-70% of the sweetness of table sugar.

Finally, one of the most popular sweeteners is stevia. Stevia is a generic name of 240 species of herbs and shrubs in the sunflower family, known for its sweet leaves. It can be up to 300 times as sweet as sugar and has a zero effect on blood sugar levels.

I have tried all of the sweeteners, and the first question that I get is: "Is there an aftertaste?" Well, there is. I'm not going to lie to you. Stevia has the most aftertaste while xylitol and erythritol have somewhat of a cooling effect (like cough drops). Xylitol probably has the least aftertaste. Agave nectar has no aftertaste at all. It's like a light syrup. Whenever I try something new, it definitely takes some time to get accustomed to different tastes and/or textures. But, I love that we at least have an alternative to regular table sugar, and I don't know about you, but I'd like to keep my pearly whites for a long time!!!!!

Lila