The Health Benefits of Natural Sugar Alternatives

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Stevia is derived from a very sweet tasting sauce American plant, it's actually more than 200 times sweeter than sugar. Crude stevia which is the processed product before it is purified often carries quite a bitter taste and also a foul smell until it's bleached or de-coloured. The stevia products that you buy in the store often contain other ingredients like the artificial sweetener erythritol. Why Sarah are some people switching from table sugar to these alternatives? There's a perception that natural sugar alternatives like honey are healthier than table sugar because they're lessprocessed.

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Are you trying to eat less sugar? If you are, you might have tried a natural sugar alternative.

Stevia, robinia honey, coconut sugar, agave… the list of these table sugar replacements seems to be growing day by day. But what even are these alternatives? Are they really natural? And do they offer us a healthier way of getting that sweet taste?

In today’s short episode of ZOE Science & Nutrition, Jonathan and Dr. Sarah ask: What are natural sugar alternatives, and are they healthier than table sugar?

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Mentioned in today’s episode:

The artificial sweetener erythritol and cardiovascular event risk from Nature Medicine Effects of D-allulose on glucose tolerance and insulin response from BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care

Effects of stevia on glycemic and lipid profile of type 2 diabetic patients from the Avicenna Journal of Phytomedicine

Agave syrup: Chemical analysis and nutritional profile from the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Are natural sugar alternatives healthier? from Harvard Health Publishing

Alternative sugars - agave nectar from British Dental Journal

Episode transcripts are available here.

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