What should we eat when we want something sweet?
It’s a questions that many of us ask. We all know that any type of ‘real’ sugar promotes the growth of bad bacteria in the gut and hampers the growth of the beneficial kind.
So a few years back we were all told agave syrup was the saviour of all mankind and thus we ran off to buy it by the bucketful. All manufacturers and kind bloggers created ‘healthy’ recipes and products soaked in agave syrup. Many still do.
Now it turns out agave is the Devil Incarnate and due to the high fructose levels, it can cause more harm than white sugar. 😐
A report in the Sept. 17, 2014, issue of the journal Nature demonstrates that even common sweeteners—including sucralose (found in Splenda)—can raise glucose levels, most likely by changing the composition of intestinal bacteria. How annoying. So after reading that, we ditched artificial sweeteners.
The next thing that was going to save us was organic stevia powder…Stevia has been used for more than 1,500 years by various primitive tribes as a sweet treat…so natural.
Therefore this must be good, no?
However it turns out, that if consumed in more than two servings a day, it can cause mutagenic compounds in our colon causing dreadful havoc.
Sigh.
Therefore we still don’t know what to eat when we wish to have something sweet. So what CAN we have without causing instant death or horrific illnesses?
Depends who you listen to.
Dr Greger recommends a small amount of date syrup, date sugar or molasses might be the way to go.
And in 2012 he wrote: ‘the natural sweetener erythritol does not appear to carry the adverse effects associated with other non- and low-caloric natural and artificial sweeteners, and may actually have antioxidant potential.’
What do I do?
I don’t eat sugar on a regular basis.
But every few months I might indulge in a small dessert or one gelato. And I do that totally guilt free. 
Twice or three times a year max eating something with sugar? I noticed my body didn’t totally disintegrate from that. Yet. Fingers crossed.
At home, if I want to bake or create something sweet, which is truly most unusual, I mush up some banana or dates as my sweetening agent. Works perfectly well.
And by not eating sugar, I don’t crave sugar. I don’t even like it anymore. For me it has become a non-issue, because my desire to eat something sweet is totally satisfied by a piece of fruit or a small handful of dried fruit like a date or two with almond butter.
Heaven.
As an overweight teenager I would not have thought this was possible…
How much sugar do you eat?