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Wholesome sweeteners
Most people across the world enjoy the sweet flavor offered by treats like chocolate. Sweetened foods are part of dessert preparations across the world. Refined sugar is now common globally, but it does have a major shortcoming. Refined sugar maintains its sweetness and is easy to use and effective at its task of sweetening anything that it is added to. When the body senses the sweet food, it releases some energy which is one of the components that is involved in the satisfaction felt by people who eat sweet foods.
However, refined sugar does not actually contain much nutrition. Apart from the carbohydrate burst, the sugar has little use in the body. This creates a situation where the body feels as though it is being nourished but the real nutrition required for healthy living is missing.
Wholesome sweeteners are those naturally occurring sweetening agents that add sweetness as well as useful nutritional components to one’s diet. These sweetening agents are generally drawn directly from plants and pass through minimal processing. The lack of processing results in the maintenance of most of the useful nutrition that occurs in the natural plant.
One of the most useful wholesome natural sweeteners is the agave plant. The nectar from various species of the agave plant is a very effective sweetening agent. Wholesome sweetening from agave nectar will add some extra vitamins and minerals to the food that is being consumed. This is naturally healthier than refined sugar. Another massive benefit of the agave nectar is its low rating on the glycemic index scale. The glycemic index is an index that measures the speed at which a particular carbohydrate raises the blood sugar of an individual. Some carbohydrates are broken down quickly. This tends to create a spike in the blood sugar level of the individual who has consumed this type of carbohydrate. Foods that cause a rapid rise in sugar levels are on the high end of the glycemic index scale. Other carbohydrates are broken down slowly and tend to release sugar gradually into the bloodstream. This means that the sugar enters the bloodstream over a longer period but does so more slowly. This situation is very useful for people suffering from diabetes and for people who are susceptible to sugar shock.
One can also control the calories with wholesome sweeteners. Sweetening agents produced from the Stevia plant are effective in this endeavor. The Stevia plant is a highly concentrated source of sweetness. This means that a small quantity of Stevia extract is enough to produce the desired sweetening effect. The benefit of this is that the amount of carbohydrate ingested by the consumer is reduced. This is another type of sweetening agent that is recommended for people suffering from diabetes and other blood sugar related issues.
The blue agave plant is used in Mexico to produce the famous Tequila drink. Its extracts are a key ingredient in this local spirit. The use of wholesome sweeteners is becoming more and more popular because it offers a drawback free experience to the consumer. The sweetness of the food or drink that is infused with the wholesome sweetener remains the same. At the same time, vitamins, minerals and some useful enzymes may be found in wholesome organic sweeteners. This helps the body back up the ‘sugar rush’ with some real nutrition. Many people who consume unhealthy quantities of sweets and chocolates tend to have fat deposits across their body, but do not actually have the required nutrition in their systems to lead a normal, healthy life. Wholesome sweeteners can partially bridge this gap between sugar nutrition and real nutrition.
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