Removing sugar from my diet has made me realise just how sweet modern foods are. I don't mean obviously sweet foods - cake, puddings, biscuits are clearly going to be sugary - but foods which we class as savoury also now seem so very sweet. Salsa dips, pasta sauces, ketchups and pre-packed meals all now taste unbearably of sugar.
But going without sweetness altogether is not easy. I cannot drink coffee without a spoonful of sugar, and I like my porridge sweet in the morning. And now and again I really do need some sort of cake - not a fluffy, sugar filled fancy but a wholemeal muffin with apple and almonds or similar.
So what options for those avoiding sugar but still wanting the sweetness? I have tried stevia but cannot get on with the after taste. Recipes for "healthier" cakes have suggested using maple syrup or honey, but, although less processed, I am unsure whether these represent a lower gi than the sugars I used to cook with (granulated / demerera / muscovado). I have also tried agave, nice in taste but so very expensive, and fructose. Fructose is my current sugar of choice with its claims of being lower gi, but I have heard the arguments against it too, which worry me that in trying to make a healthier choice I am in fact choosing an even unhealthier option.
I know, I know - the obvious answer is to learn to live without sugar at all, but life is just too short to live with that amount of denial.
So I will continue to try to reduce my sugar intake as much as possible and will continue to wonder which is the best option for those times when I really do need a little sweetness.
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