Sugar substitute

[craftymomto5]

Help me mommas! I need something as a replacement for sugar. It has to be as sweet or something close. I would prefer something natural not like sweet n low or anything along those lines. I saw a spot on Oprah's show when she had Dr. Oz on there and he mentioned a sweetner they use and it takes very little to sweeten something. Anyone else hear this? I drink green tea at least 4 x's a day and have to have sugar and lemon in it. I just don't want to counteract the benefits by loading it down with sugar. I also want to get my kids away from it. With 3 of my 5 having ADD/ADHD I want to go with something more natural.

[mandikaake]

He was probably talking about stevia. It's actually an herb but it's very sweet from what I've heard. We use honey or fructose.

[mamabear]

We use grade B maple syrup or Stevia Plus. I'm growing stevia in my herb garden!

[KaiyaSue]

I saw that show. He was talking about Raw Blue Agave Nectar. It comes from a cactus and it kinda looks like honey in consistancy and color. I got some at the health food store. I'm sure Whole Foods would carry it or you could get some online. It is supposed to be sweeter than sugar, but I found it to be about the same sweetness as sugar. It has a nice clean taste.
I've used it in coffee and baked goods. I also got some chocolate syrup form WildernessFamilyNaturals.com that is only sweetened with the Agave.

I have used Stevia too. It has a slight bitter taste to me, but it seems to work great for some people as a natural sugar alternative.

[SimplyGreen]

U can also use barley malt syrup, as a sugar substitue, I have not tried yet, but I am going to put it in my zucchini bread today instead of sugar, I will let you know how it turns out!!!

[GrahamBaby4]

Succanate is a good alternative as is xylitol.
But definitely do your research on alternatives like stevia and xylitol (succanate is short for Sugarcane natural, but your health food store probably has it as succanate)

[blissfullyblessed]

Originally Posted by mamabear We use grade B maple syrup or Stevia Plus. I'm growing stevia in my herb garden!

wow - your good!! It's taking me a bit to get used to the taste, and aftertaste of stevia

[esoloj]

Originally Posted by KaiyaSue I saw that show. He was talking about Raw Blue Agave Nectar. It comes from a cactus and it kinda looks like honey in consistancy and color. I got some at the health food store.

Yep, we've used Agave Nectar. It's great for iced tea or even kool-aid. My kids couldn't tell the difference. I used to get it through a food co-op that I was part of. I think I may have even seen it at Jewel or Dominicks if you have those stores.