While Diwali is a time for celebration, stressing about how the festival will have an impact on your diet is enough to wreak havoc on your emotional wellness. Sure you want to join in the festivities, but all that decadent food will add inches to your waistline, not to mention the fact that it’s not-too beneficial for your health. The consumption of sugar alone could ruin all the weight loss progress you’ve made, but at least you have substitutes available. Let’s take a look at the sugar substitutes you can make this Diwali:
1. Aspartame: 25 years ago, a revolution came for sweet toothers everywhere; aspartame. This sweetener is often used in soft drinks, due to the fact that it is 200 times sweeter than sugar. However, there is a question of how safe it is for your overall wellbeing, albeit being very beneficial to your diet. Research has shown that drinking diet soft drinks – which contain aspartame – can increase your risk of developing diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Moreover, researchers at the University of Liverpool found that, when mixed with a common food colour ingredient, aspartame actually became toxic to brain cells. Still, the sweetener is yet to be removed from shelves.
2. Honey: While honey does technically have twice the amount of calories that you would find in sugar, it’s actually much better for your health. Organic honey is packed with nutrients and antioxidants to help you ward of illnesses, as well as having a low glycaemic index. This means that using honey will not cause your insulin levels to suddenly spike and crash in the same way that sugar does.
3. Agave Nectar (Syrup): If you like the benefits of honey but you’re a vegan, you might try agave nectar, which is prepared from a plant source known as Blue Agave. However, while this seems like a good option, and no nasty side effects have been confirmed, many agave nectars consist of 70 to 80% fructose, which is more than you would in high-fructose corn syrup! According to Christine Gerbstadt, MD, PhD, RD, spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, the best option is to choose a type of agave that contains no more than 30 to 40% fructose.
4. Sucralose: You may be more aware of this sweetener than you think, as it’s marketed as Splenda. Sucralose is processed from sugar itself and is one sweetener which does not seem to have raised any controversy or health warnings by FDA. Your body does not register sucralose as a carbohydrate and the sweetener doesn’t give you any calories from the sugar. However, you might want to pay closer attention to the bulking agents used in Splenda, as some reports state that these can add around 12 calories per tablespoon of the mixture, even though the package does not list these calories. The good thing about sucralose is that it isn’t affected by heat, which means you can use it in baking recipes without worrying too much. Still, the sweetener is known to have an after taste when used in excess, so don’t overdo it.
5. Blackstrap Molasses: Last but not least on this list is blackstrap molasses. As with honey, this sweetener is high in calories, and so may not be the best option if you’re trying to lose weight. However, DesiDieter Expert Tina Khanna explains, ‘Although heavy on the calorie content, blackstrap is rich in iron, potassium, and calcium, making it a healthier choice than nutritionally defunct artificial sweeteners or even regular refined sugar.’ This is impressive considering the fact that blackstrap and refined sugar both come from sugar cane.
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