The other day, I posted the recipe for goldie cookies on Facebook. I received the question for the hundredth time: what can I replace the sugar with in this recipe? My answer: with another recipe. When you have completely removed sugar from your diet, the only alternative for soft cookies or amaretti are sweeteners. I will talk about them a little further down in the article.
If you’re still looking for the sweet taste after you’ve categorically declared that you’re giving up sugar… better think about what you really want.And if you’re on the Autoimmune Protocol (AIP), you better look for other sweets, like I have on the AIP Recipes category. As a tip from me, if you are on the Autoimmune Protocol, ideally you should seek out sweets less often.
In some recipes, sugar has a sweetening role, but in others it has a structural role. For example, in bread, sugar makes the yeast grow faster. Or in soft cookies, the sugar makes the cookies…soft. Emulsification with egg and fat gives it this property.
And yet, what can I replace sugar with?
At my beginnings in healthy eating, I also tried to replace sugar with other options. I tried them all, and here are my conclusions.
Stevia
It is a natural sweetener that has been used a lot lately. When we buy it, we have to check the information on the label very carefully. Often what is sold as “Stevia” is a mixture of other artificial sweeteners, with additives or other wonders, and with a minor content of real stevia. And… it has a taste that I don’t like.
Coconut sugar
It is obtained from the coconut flower, is unrefined or minimally refined, and contains minerals and vitamins in varying amounts, and the biggest advantage of this sugar, compared to white sugar, is that it has a lower glycemic index. It is the only sugar allowed in the AIP, in small amounts. It’s good, but it’s damn expensive.
Honey
It also contains vitamins and minerals, and in addition, it has enzymes, those special proteins needed by the body. It has a slightly lower glycemic index than sugar. It’s good, but it’s healthier than sugar if you use it in cold stuff. Heated to over 40 degrees Celsius, it is not toxic, as it is circulated, but it is… sugar. The same Mary, but with a fancier and more expensive hat. So, I use honey in cold puddings or cakes, like this one for example. A special caution is needed here: honey is as often falsified as olive oil.
Raw sugar
Not brown, that’s like a Mary with a thick layer of blush over the pimples 😊. Raw sugar is unrefined or minimally refined sugar, which still retains some minerals and vitamins. It has an honorable price, usually.
Artificial sweeteners
They are very controversial. Lately, there are timid studies that say that they are not as safe as it was called at the beginning. The latest research suggests that the use of artificial sweeteners may be associated with effects on metabolism, body weight, appetite and insulin sensitivity. For example, excessive use of artificial sweeteners can negatively impact weight regulation and increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. I don’t know about others, but I don’t touch them.
Final conclusion
Now I use honey, as I said, in cold dishes, and raw sugar, most of the time. I also use white sugar in recipes where it is called for, like the goldie cookie mentioned above. Raw sugar would have their color altered.
Is sugar the enemy?
Added sugar is the enemy only if we allow it to be the enemy. As I wrote in this article, according to the American Heart Association (AHA), the maximum amount of added sugar we should consume in a day is 150 calories per day (37.5 grams or 9 teaspoons) for men and 100 calories per day (25 grams or 6 teaspoons) for women. Another recommendation, from the World Health Organization (WHO), is to keep added sugar consumption below 10% of daily caloric intake. And a further reduction to below 5% of total energy intake would provide additional health benefits.
Do you think that cutting out added sugar completely and gorging yourself with sweets made with honey, stevia, xylitol or dried fruit is healthier? I tell you: you are not. You are healthier if you eat in moderation from all the food groups your body accepts. The key word is MODERATION. Let’s see what “moderation” means in terms of sugar consumption.
Sugar consumption, in numbers
Let’s do a calculation, taking as a starting point the minimum of 5% recommended by the WHO, with me as a lab rat. My average daily caloric intake is 1200. 5% of 1200 is 60 calories, so the maximum sugar allowed for me in this case is 60 calories, which is 14.6 grams, about 4 teaspoons.
Let’s get back to the cookies in question. My recipe makes 30-35 cookies. The total amount of sugar used is 70 grams. So about 2 grams of cookie. If I eat 2 cookies, that’s 4-5 grams of sugar. A teaspoon. The problem isn’t how much sugar is in a cookie, it’s how many cookies I eat. 2 cookies for dessert at the main meal – a teaspoon of sugar. 2 coffees a day with half a teaspoon of sugar each – another teaspoon of sugar. That’s how it’s calculated.
But… there is a big “but” here. See in the next chapter.
The hidden sugar in processed products
If you eliminate the VISIBLE added sugar, and continue to buy processed foods from the supermarket, you will consume more sugar than if you ate 2 homemade cookies that you know how much sugar you put in. Because there is INVISIBLE added sugar, present in products you wouldn’t even think had sugar.
This is one of the reasons why I recommend eating more food cooked at home, from whole products: meat, vegetables, legumes, fruits. You know what you have on your plate. And you can afford a cookie sometimes. You are not afraid of exceeding a certain amount of sugar that you set for yourself, the recommendations of experts are only the starting point. If you think you can get 150 calories from sugar, or 10%, or 5%, or below that, that’s up to you. But you know how much.
I consume 1 teaspoon of raw sugar a day in the 2 coffees I drink, then juggle the other 3 teaspoons from the total of 4 teaspoons daily. I eat a piece of cake or a cookie as a dessert with the main meal. Remember the point: I know how much sugar is in what I’m eating! If everything you eat is bought, you don’t know. Commercial bread has added sugar, mustard, ketchup, pickles, yogurts, vegetable milk, cold meats… Do you know how much sugar you are consuming? You do not know. You should be afraid of this sugar, not a teaspoon put in a 500 gram home-made bread, to grow the yeast, or a teaspoon in 2 innocent cookies.
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My final answer to the question “what can I replace sugar with?” is: with moderation and common sense.
