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It’s easy to see that too much sugar is causing our world a fair amount of grief. With the wide variety of sugar substitutes many are choosing to reduce their sugar intake or eliminate it completely. The hard part is finding a sugar substitute that will work for you. There are natural sweeteners and synthetic sweeteners. Some cause side effects such as tooth decay, headaches or digestion problems. In this article you’ll find a few quick things to keep in mind while trying to find the right fit.

When considering sugar substitutes there are two very distinct directions you can go. You can go with a man made artificial or an all natural sweetener. Each have their own side effects or benefits to consider. Artificial sweeteners are specifically engineered to provide some particular benefit, but I don’t know that we have figured out how to create a chemical that provides that benefit without causing another side effect. Even natural sweeteners will have different benefits and side effects to consider. You will need to decide which works best for you.

Artificial sweeteners are products you may have heard of such as sucralose or aspartame. These are sweeteners designed to have zero calories and beneficial for weight loss. They seem on the surface to be a great product, but there are many reports of pretty serious side effects. The reports are still contradictory from one to the other, but the majority are reporting side effects such as migraines, headaches, stomach upset and even seizures in some people. In addition to the effect on our bodies there are some physical properties to consider. Aspartame cannot withstand heat and breaks down making it not suitable for cooking. Sucralose itself is suitable for cooking but it has to be mixed with filler that will leave your baked goods sweet like it should, but dry and quite different than you might expect. Artificial sweeteners are big money makers for many companies so be careful not to be tricked by clever marketing. Study both sides carefully and consider the long term affects before choosing to go with something artificial.

Quickly catching up in popularity are the all natural sweeteners. Some of them you may have heard of are Erythritol, Xylitol, Mannitol, Sorbitol and Stevia. All of these are 100% natural and sweet to the taste. However, just because it is all natural doesn’t mean it won’t have side effects. Three of the above mentioned seem to stand out as better alternatives to sugar; Erythritol, Xylitol and Stevia. Xylitol and Stevia will cause digestion issues if you aren’t careful with the quantity you consume. Erythritol however is digested differently by the body and will not cause gastric pain. Another nice benefit of Erythritol is that it is the only one that doesn’t promote tooth decay and it is the only one on the list to be zero calorie.

Found in fruits and vegetables, Erythritol is approximately 70% as sweet as sugar. As listed above it is considered calorie free and will digest very quick and easily in you body leaving no gastric pain commonly caused by natural products. Another great benefit of Erythritol is that it does not affect the blood sugar levels making it an excellent choice for diabetics. Erythritol can be found online or in stores and used as a natural sweetener on its own. Some products are now available that use Erythritol as the base blended with a super sweet ingredient to bring the sweetness level up with sugar. The properties of Erythritol make it great for cooking as well.

This article represents only an extremely small part of the opinions and considerations to filter through. Hopefully my explanation of the process of eliminating artificial sweeteners as too dangerous from your list of options and the rationale used to determine Eyrithritol as the lucky winner will help you follow a similar path.

Find out more about natural sweeteners at www.doctorgrandmas.com. Doctor Grandma’s website is full of interesting information about the benefits of Erythritol and other healthy all natural foods.