What’s the best sweetener to use on the Military Diet?
It can be pretty frustrating these days knowing what to use as a sweetener. We want to avoid sugar and all its calories, but there’s a lot of bad press about artificial sweeteners like Splenda, Aspartame and Saccharine. These artificial, no calorie sweeteners are actually making us fat instead of thin because they stimulate high insulin levels in the body and promote fat storage. The same sweeteners cause cancer, liver problems and headaches.
What’s more evil, sugar or sweeteners?
It’s pretty much a toss up. High fructose corn syrup is the devil and it’s in almost everything you eat. The empty calories in corn syrup cause your blood sugar to go through the roof, creating an insulin surge that promotes fat gain and even more sugar cravings. Refined white sugar has no nutritional value and is almost as bad as corn syrup. If you’re going to use sugar, use only natural sweeteners like honey and organic maple syrup. The latter actually contain anti oxidants and nutritional value, unlike white sugar and corn syrup. And if you’re looking for a no calorie sweetener on the Military Diet, read on…
What can I substitute for Sugar on the Military Diet?
While on the three low calorie days of the Military diet, we recommend Stevia. On your four days off, either use Stevia or very natural sweeteners like honey and maple syrup.
Stevia is the best alternative to artificial sweeteners and sugar. Stevia is a South American herb that’s been used for centuries as a sweetener. The leaves of the plant have zero calories, zero carbs and don’t even register on the glycemic index. Stevia is a lot sweeter than sugar but way more healthy. You still save on calories but don’t damage your health or your waistline. Stevia is an herb that’s dried into powder. Unlike Splenda and Aspartame, all the press on Stevia is positive. And wouldn’t you rather get your sweetener from a natural herb than a laboratory?
Stevia can be used in your coffee, added to plain Greek yogurt, on cereal or in your baking. Basically you can use it wherever you used sugar or sweeteners in the past. You can buy Stevia at Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Walmart, Walgreens and Fred Mayer. In Canada, Stevia is available at Shopper’s Drug Mart. Stevia is also sold online at Amazon. Buying Stevia is more expensive than sugar, but a little goes a long way.
