Life IS sweet without the sugar

When I stopped eating sugar my sense of taste changed and after a couple of months I could taste the sweetness in foods I had never considered sweet before, e.g. almonds. On one occasion, I tasted a favourite pudding of mine that I had made for someone and disliked it. It was too sweet. Nevertheless, I still missed the odd sweet treat so started to try sugar alternatives.

Stevia: Made from Stevia plant leaves. It's natural and can be found in most supermarkets these days. It isn't a sugar and therefore has a negligable effect on blood glucose levels. As it comes in powder form it dissolves easily so good for baking and general sweetening. Personally I find it has an aftertaste which I don't like. However many people do like it and can't notice any aftertaste at all. If you are using Stevia in my recipes you may need to reduce the sugar quantity even further.

Xylitol: Is found in mushrooms, berries, vegetables and birch bark. It's natural and although it is a sugar, its structure is slighlty diffent to conventional sugar, meaning most yeasts and bacteria can't feed off of it. It doesn't have an aftertaste in my opinion but my partner says he can taste it sometimes. It is 40% less calories than it's equivalent weight of sugar making it a great way to sweeten things and lose weight. It is also said to help kill candida. It comes in a granulated form so you you do have to grind it down sometimes depending on what you are using it for. This is my personal choice which I use in all my recipes that require sweetening. There is however a downside. In large quantities it can have a laxative effect, but you would have to eat quite a lot. I personally don't see that as an issue., as it helps keep you aware of your portion size. There are many brands on the market but I tend to use Total Sweet, a great quality pure product made from birch bark. Do be aware there are some versions made from corn syrup which aren't quite as great due to the production process and corn source.

Sweeteners and Candida: There are other sugar alternatives such as maltitol, coconut palm sugar, fructose, agave nectar. At the end of the day, they are all still sugars which candida could feed off. So while possibly being lower in calories and better for you than refined sugar it's best to avoid them if you do have a candida overgrowth.

What I did find is regardless of which sugar substitute I used , I did have to reduce the amount of sugar equivelent based used by 25% to 50% from the amount stated in conventional recipes to account for my change in tastes. This may be different for you so have a play around with the sugar quantities in my recipes to meet your personal tastes..