Hey, guys.
Dr. Axe here, Doctor of Functional Medicine and Founder of draxe.com.
Today I'm here to share with you my top five natural sweeteners and sugar substitutes,
and so this is a big deal today.
So many people are over consuming high fructose corn syrup, processed sugar, and just carbs
in general.
And what I'm going to go over here are my top five natural sweeteners that many of them,
not all of them, that many of them still have sugar, but it's much easier for your body
to digest and process, and is going to bring the most health benefits to your body.
So whether you're looking for sugar substitutes for baking or cooking, or let's say just something
to add in your morning tea or smoothie, these are going to be the best five natural sweeteners
you can use.
And to start with, I'm going to go for my number one natural sweetener, and that's pure,
raw honey.
Now when you're buying honey, you want it to say raw.
You want it to ideally even be from a local source.
And so for me, this is an area here in the area of Nashville, Tennessee, where I'm located.
And so again, this is a form of honey that I love.
And let me say this about honey.
One of the reasons it's so beneficial is that honey that is not just a sugar.
It's actually a food.
Honey doesn't just contain sugar.
It also contains amino acids.
It contains specific types of electrolytes and antioxidants, and antimicrobial compounds
that can really support your body and the health of your body.
So pure, raw honey.
Now again, you want to use it sparingly, as the proverbs say.
You don't want to go overboard with using these sweeteners.
But one tablespoon, one to two times daily, is a good, healthy amount that most people
can do well with.
So again, pure, raw honey.
A few other benefit here of honey is that it helps reduce allergy symptoms.
And the reason it does it is this local pollen, and this is if you buy local honey, it actually
really helps with allergies because it helps your body adapt to local pollen.
It's kind of natural immunizations over time, the truth of how we were supposed to adapt
to our surroundings, we have in bee pollen, which is found in pure raw, honey.
By the way, there was a study at Texas A&M University.
They found that about 80% of honey on supermarket shelves don't contain any pollen whatsoever.
That's why you've really got to buy the raw stuff if you want the real deal.
Also, raw honey contains antimicrobial properties.
So I don't just eat honey.
I actually use honey, when I get a cut or a wound, I put it in the area.
If you have acne or skin issues, you can put it right on the area.
So it can actually even be used as a form of natural medicine.
And some of my favorite ways to use honey is I use it in the morning with my sprouted,
soaked oatmeal sometimes.
I'll put it in a breakfast smoothie.
I'll use it when I'm making gluten-free pancakes.
I'll use it with some green tea.
Just a little bit of honey in there to sweeten it up.
But again, honey, probably my most used sweetener that I use here on a regular basis.
The number two sweetener you should really consider using on a regular basis, and this
is especially good if you have blood sugar issues, if you're overweight, or if you have
something like diabetes, and that's Stevia.
Stevia is a no-calorie, all-natural sweetener that comes from the leaf of, actually, a flowering
plant.
And Stevia, there are many types of Stevia.
Ideally you get full, green-leaf Stevia.
Another form of Stevia that's suitable is doing Stevia that is basically just ground
and part of it is extracted.
Now there are other brands out there today that I am not a fan of, like Truvia, because
it's so highly processed.
And they'll also add in other chemicals, and they come from GMO corn or add in GMO corn
derivatives, and we all know we don't want GMOs in our diet.
But SweetLeaf, this is one of my favorite brands I use, this is Stevia.
In fact, they even have Stevia flavors.
This is, you can get chocolate Stevia, vanilla Stevia, chocolate-raspberry Stevia, pumpkin
pie spice Stevia.
So there's a lot of different brands.
But the great thing about Stevia is there's no sugar involved.
And so if you do have diabetes or blood sugar issues, or are looking to lose weight fast,
this is a great no-carbohydrate solution.
And again, just like using honey sparingly, you shouldn't be dumping this in your foods
and going overboard, but just a little bit goes a long way.
Just a few drops in your morning tea.
I love this with my herbal teas in the morning.
I add a little bit sometimes to something like a morning smoothie, a little bit to baking
goods or if I'm making homemade pudding.
I'll put this in there with some chia seeds and coconut milk and coconut oil.
But again, a little bit of Stevia is great, especially if you've got blood sugar issues
or weight loss issues.
Try some Stevia, my second favorite natural sweetener.
My number three natural sweetener are dates.
Now dates, we could throw other fruits here into the category, things like raisins, apricots,
other dried fruit, pineapple juices.
But the great thing about dates are they're also very high in fiber and potassium, as
well as other vitamins and minerals.
In fact, of all the sweeteners I'm going to go over, dates have the highest nutrient value.
Now in terms of phytochemicals that heal the body, honey is the highest, but in terms of
actually vitamins and minerals and fiber content, dates are the highest.
And that fiber actually slows down sugar absorption.
So remember, if we're comparing this to white sugar or high fructose corn syrup, dates are
not sugar.
Dates are a food that contain sugar, and this food also has fiber and antioxidants, and
minerals like potassium, that helps you slowly absorb sugar and really helps regulate sugar
within your body.
And so dates are very sweet.
And I actually love making homemade pecan pie.
And so when we do different baking at home and do some of our ingredients, like you'll
find in my "Real Food Diet Cookbook", you're going to see we use dates all the time.
You mix some dates with some nut butter, and you can make food bars at home.
You can make protein bars.
You can make pies.
This is amazing to add with some pecans and cashews and make a homemade pie crust.
And so in baking especially.
I make a smoothie at home with some cashew butter and peaches, and you throw some dates
in there.
Dates are great, actually, just to throw in smoothies.
And it's really great if you're into raw food and vegan foods.
Dates are probably the number one naturally sweetener used.
And again, potassium is great for flushing out toxins.
It's great for balancing electrolytes in the body, so this is great for athletes.
And again, you don't want to go overboard, but again, dates, a fantastic sweetener.
My number three favorite sweetener.
Number four on my list is coconut sugar.
You can see here we have organic coconut palm sugar.
We actually have a vanilla flavor.
It's unrefined.
It's vegan.
It's not GMO.
And especially when you're baking, if you're looking for an equal comparison, let's say
you're baking a cake and you want a recipe that has the equal amounts of one cup of sugar
to one cup of an alternative natural sweetener, well, here you go.
Coconut sugar or coconut palm sugar here is the ideal replacement.
We know coconut, juice especially, which is where a lot of this comes from, the coconut
juice is full of potassium.
It's full of electrolytes and nutrients.
So again, if you're looking for equal comparison that's nontoxic, non-GMO, that your body's
going to be able to digest better, organic coconut palm sugar is better.
All of these sweeteners, by the way, they're lower on the glycemic index.
Where regular table sugar scores 100, many of these sweeteners score closer to a 50,
so half the glycemic index.
So it's going to affect your body in a lesser amount to where it's not going to cause your
energy levels to drop or increase, spike your insulin levels, increasing your risk of diabetes
like a lot of the other sugars out there today.
So this is a great replacement, equal replacement, to actual table sugar, especially in baking
cookies and pies and things like that.
And last but not necessarily least in terms of a natural sweetener is 100% pure, organic
maple syrup.
And when you buy it, look for Grade B or even a lower grade, even Grade C. But you want
a Grade B maple syrup.
This is USDA organic.
And maple syrup we know is a fantastic sweetener.
It's good especially over things like pancakes and waffles.
It's good in certain recipes where you want more of that, sort of that earthy flavor along
with it.
And so again, 100% pure organic maple syrup, another good sweetener to add in.
What I would do is get rid of the sugar.
By the way, if you just are using regular sugar in your baking and cooking, the majority
of that sugar is genetically modified.
It comes from genetically modified beets and GMO corn.
And so if you just see sugar on a food label that you're buying or you're using regular
sugar in baking, we know that that is highly toxic to the body.
And why not?
It is so easy to replace those fake sugars with real sugar, these natural sugar substitutes
and natural sweeteners to use instead.
So remember these five natural sweeteners.
Raw honey; Stevia; dates; coconut sugar; and pure, organic maple syrup.
Use those five natural sugar substitutes and you're going to be a lot healthier for it
while satisfying your sweet tooth.