Over the past couple of years particularly I've learned more about healthier kinds of sweeteners. Just like there are good and bad fats, proteins and carbohydrates, not all sweeteners are created equal. And just to be clear from the start, I'd recommend never using Equal (or Splenda, or any other chemically engineered sugar substitute). This post is decidedly NOT about sugar substitutes but rather about healthy, natural sweeteners. Not only are popular sugar substitutes linked to a variety of serious health concerns in lab animals (including various forms of cancer and memory loss) but they're thought now to be associated with obesity because they may actually cause users to crave "real" sweetness and sugary foods.
Natural sweeteners like honey, maple syrup, barley malt and (my favorites) agave and brown rice syrup, are unrefined or only nominally refined, helping them retain more nutritional value and, just as importantly, taking your body longer to metabolize (which helps you avoid blood sugar spikes and plunges). Overly refined sugars (like standard table sugar and corn syrups) are metabolized very quickly, and when your body has a sharp influx of calories it can't immediately use, it's stored as fat. Table sugar, which is made from sugar cane or sugar beets that have been chemically processed or refined, contain more than 99% sucrose, leaving almost no nutrients or fiber original to these plants. Even so called "raw" or turbinado sugar is more than 96% sucrose. By choosing less refined sugars -- and less refined carbohydrates, like whole wheat and grainy breads, for instance -- your body has time to break down and use the calories. I've also found that over time you develop a real craving for the fuller flavor of some of these sweeteners.
That said, not all of them are perfect substitutes for each kind of food or drink you typically want to sweeten. So, here are some of my thoughts on a few of the sweeteners I really like, and why they're better for you.
Honey
Honey is one of nature's true wonders. Natural honey is only nominally processed to remove beeswax, honeycomb and other natural solids. Look for honey produced locally, because when bees collect nectar from local flowers they can help provide some additional immune system benefits against local allergens. Honey has also been proven to be more effective for sore throats than supposedly medicinal cough syrups and drops. It dissolves well and can be used for baking, spreading or mixing into liquids. It tastes better to me in tea than in coffee, but if you're at the cafe and don't have a better alternative, a little honey and a little table sugar is better than all sugar. It's also great on hot or cold cereals.
Brown Rice Syrup
Speaking of cereal, my favorite additive by a longshot is brown rice syrup. If you're an athlete you've no doubt seen the ingredient in energy gels and bars. One property that makes it so remarkable is that it actually contains protein (the largest amount found in any sweetener) along with complex carbohydrates. This makes it excellent for quick acting but slower burning and longer lasting energy. It has a rich, nutty butterscotch flavor and is thick (like molasses). It's made by cooking brown rice for a very long time to extract its sugars. I'm not a baker but apparently it's excellent for baking. It's about half as sweet as equal portions of table sugar but very satisfying. It's not as effective in tea or coffee though it does dissolve in hot liquids. Try it on oatmeal or cold cereal and you won't go back to sugar.
Agave Nectar
This is a fantastically sweet liquid sweetener made from the nectar of wild agave plants (a plant in the succulent family, like cacti). It's slightly less viscous than honey, making it dissolve remarkably well in drinks (even cold ones) and it has a milder more neutral taste (especially the lighter grades) so it doesn't influence the flavor like many other sweeteners. It has a relatively low glycemic index due to its higher proportion of fructose and lower levels of glucose, which means it doesn't cause as large a spike in blood sugar levels. It also has a long shelf life and won't crystallize like honey will over time. It can be used in cooking or baking, and because it's about 40% sweeter than table sugar you don't need to use as much of it. If you drink coffee or tea with any regularity you'll definitely want to try this healthier (and sweeter!) alternative.
Stevia
Stevia (also known as sweetleaf or sugarleaf) is a fascinating sweetener. It's made from a perennial plant grown in South America (particularly Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina) where it's been used for hundreds of years. Remarkably, while it's approximately 30 to 300 times sweeter than sugar it has no calories. As such it's become is attractive as a natural sweetener to diabetics. It's sweetening effect doesn't seem as "satisfying" (at least to me) across all uses as some other sweeteners. It's best application, in my opinion, is in teas. If you drink tea with sugar or honey you should try Stevia since you could drink it all day with no calories. It comes in both powder and liquid form, both which work quite well, though the liquid form should be refigerated. At home, a small bottle of liquid Stevia in the fridge is indespensible. At work the powder form may be more convenient. It's most easily found in health food stores and co-ops since until recently it could be sold only as a "dietary supplement" (there's not enough space in this post to explain the interesting history and politics regarding why). When you look for it you may be surprised by how "expensive" it seems. The price tag, however, is very deceiving since you need literally 1-2 drops per cup of tea or a small fraction of a teaspoon.
There are a number of other natural sweeteners that provide healthier alternatives to table sugar, corn sweeteners or chemically dubious sugar substitutes, but these are my top four. Hopefully you'll find an alternative here you like, or, like me, you'll use them all in different circumstances.
Other sweeteners to consider: Barley malt, date sugar.
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