Sugar Free Desserts: Good Sugars

Sugar free desserts can taste good and be low glycemic! That does not mean that you should be eating highly processed, packaged desserts that are labeled "sugar free" but may be loaded with high glycemic ingredients.

When I talk about sugar free desserts what I mean is desserts that do not contain sucrose, white table sugar, but they do contain a low glycemic sweetener or just fresh fruit.

You do not have to give up sweets to maintain healthy fat loss but you do have to pay attention to what type of sweets you indulge in! Yes, there are good sugars and bad sugars just as there are good fats and bad fats. Low glycemic recipes can include natural sweeteners like fructose, erythritol, stevia or agave syrup that do not elevate blood sugar and actually have health benefits.

You will need to make adjustments to your recipes but it can be done. It is possible to create delicious sugar free desserts. Fructose, made from natural sugars in fruit and honey, is the most like refined sugar as far as texture. It is found in some supermarkets and in most natural foods stores. It can be easily substituted for refined sugar in baking although since it's sweeter you will need a little less of it. When you eat a low glycemic index diet and by that I mean this is how you eat because it's healthier - it's not a short term diet, you need to be familiar with the low glycemic sweeteners.

According to the Glycemic Research Institute there are natural sugars that do not stimulate fat storage and do not elevate our blood sugar. These are the ones you want to use when making sugar free desserts. The natural sugars or sweeteners need to have the following characteristics:

Above the characteristics are to the left and on the right are the sweeteners.  Again, you need to read labels! When you want a sweetener for your tea or coffee or cereal or for a low glycemic recipe these natural sugars are acceptable.

There are more low glycemic sweeteners listed on the printable list on the GI List of Foods page. Erythritol is the latest one to be discovered that I know of and it's still hard to find. I have not tried it yet but I have read that it tastes more like sugar than other sugar alcohols which is a plus. It is being made by NOW which is in some health food stores and it can be purchased online from amazon.com. Erythritol is a natural sugar alcohol that occurs in fruits and fermented foods and does not affect blood sugar. If you eat too much of it it can have a laxative affect but it does not cause digestive discomfort as some of the other sweeteners do.

Stevia and xylitol are also natural sugar alcohols. Xylitol is added to many products for sweetness including gum. Dentists sometimes recommend it because it "starves" harmful bacteria that cause tooth decay. There are even toothpastes on the market that contain xylitol that are recommended by dentists because it is so helpful in preventing tooth decay. I have used stevia and I find it a bit too sweet. It is good for your digestion. My favorite low glycemic sweetener is agave syrup which is widely available in natural foods stores. It tastes a little like a mild maple syrup and of course is low glycemic.

Fructose has a low gi index, however, as with all sweeteners you need to indulge occasionally not every day. Fructose is sweeter than table sugar so you need less of it. You can also reduce the sugar of most recipes by half. Once you have stopped eating so much sugar most recipes will taste much too sweet anyway. Here's a new habit to cultivate - eat fresh fruit for dessert! Save the low glycemic sweetened desserts for special occasions.

"The amount of fat the body absorbs after a meal is greater when that meal includes sugar." (Journal of the American College of Nutrition 1999;18)