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Types Of Natural Sugar Alternatives

October 31st, 2009

With the growing concern about diabetes and obesity, many people have been looking to sugar alternatives as one way to maintain diet while living a healthier lifestyle. Nearly everyone responds to the sweetness of sugar, but processed regular white sugar used in most of our foods is not good for you and presents a host of health risks. Even though refined sugars are not good for you, there are sugar alternatives so you can still enjoy eating.

Natural sugar is one choice much better for you than refined white sugar. This natural sugar can provide easy to digest energy when consumed in small amounts, benefiting your body. This type of sugar will cause your body to store fat if you eat too much. This is what we try to avoid, but in small doses provides a good alternative.

There are artificial sugar alternatives as well, and some are better than others. The most popular option used is saccharine. The famous pink packet of Sweet and Low is offered in restaurants everywhere. This sugar alternative has been around for years, and is much sweeter than regular sugar. This means you use less for a comparable result.

Sugar alternatives do have a downside; they might not be healthy for you. Many people believe that these sugar alternatives cause cancer, although this hasn’t been scientifically proven. The biggest factor is they create an urge for more sugar. This does not make you eat healthier and avoid other sugars. Since these alternatives actually trick your body that it is consuming sugar, the empty calories still get stored as fat.

Another problem with artificial sweeteners is that they are not very good to cook with. They are alright for sweetening your coffee or iced tea, but they get a chemically taste is you use them to bake. That is why most people have a big bag of refined white sugar in their kitchens.

But there are other natural sugar alternatives that you can use that are great for baking and all your other sweetener needs. Honey is one good choice. It is all natural and good for you in moderation, of course. It is great for baking and as an added bonus it thickens things up as well.

Honey is also a good option for coffee or tea. You can get honey crystals that have been dried, making them easy to use. These honey crystals are perfect to use in beverages or over cereal.

Another one of the interesting natural sugar alternatives is Agave. This is a thick liquid that is derived from a plant. It is not quite as thick as honey that comes with a sweet, wonderful flavor while not being overpowering.

When shopping for natural sugar alternatives, do your research to find the right one. Using a natural sugar substitute can be a good tool when combined with exercise to help maintain a healthier lifestyle.

To see recipes made using a natural sugar known as organic honey crystals then visit the Mama Healthy website to get one of the best sugar alternatives out there.

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For Men Only: Get Rid of that Beer Belly and Still Drink Beer

October 31st, 2009

Men are you sick of hearing about how fine you used to be and how the only thing fine about you now is the wine that you drink? If the answer is yes, that is all about to change, as I can show you how to get rid of your beer fat without ever having to give up the beer! But let’s get down to business by discussing what a beer belly really is and understand what really causes it.

What is a beer belly? A beer belly is by definition a section of fat that has begun to live somewhere between your chest and the area you used to call your waistline. But is it cause by beer? The answer is no. Science and medicine has proven that beer bellies are actually caused by a build up in calories resulting from unhealthy eating habits and lifestyles. The stomach area is the region of the body where men have the greatest deposit of fat cells so, when the body intakes a lot of calories and doesn’t burn them up throughout the day, the body send the fat to that specific area right in your stomach.

Now that you know where your beer belly reallly comes from (probably that fried chicken you’ve been eating) you get start figuring out what you, if anything, you are going to do to get back in shape. You can begin by working on the fat cells that are multiplying in your stomach. While beer is not the direct cause of your belly, it can contribute. Alcohol can make you hungrier (think about your last time at happy hour at a local bar). So if you stopped drinking as much, you’d be taking a step in the right direction.

Get rid of the beer and you also get rid of the increased appetite. However, this article is about losing weight without getting rid of the beer, so that will not be included in our weight loss efforts. But you can switch to a lighter beer with fewer calories and in addition you can exercise more than you drink so that you are burning more calories than you are drinking. Some of you may think that exercising extensively is too much hard work, so that won’t be included in our diet program either. But we will look at the best beers for your belly.

The first thing that probably comes to mind when you think of low calorie beer is the light beers that don’t taste very good. This article was written for real men who would never dream of drinking one of those girly light beers.

First we have the nice and dark Guiness Draught; this beer is not light and with only 125 calories and 10 carbs, you don’t have to worry about your belly. It’s also full of flavor so you don’t have to drink tons to make up for a bad taste. Second we have Beamish Irish Stout; it’s light on calories with only 131. Finally, we have Busch which only has about 133 calories and around 10 carbs. So drink responsibly and get rid of that gut!

Now you know what you can do to get rid of that beer belly without getting rid of the beer. As a matter of fact, the next time your wife or girlfriend or your mother tells you to get from in front of the television and lose some weight, go to the fridge, grab yourself a cold one and tell her you’re working on it right now!

Dorthy Weatherbush is an expert on weight loss for specific body types and has studied the effect genetics has on how people lose weight. She has written lots of information on diets that work and has reviewed the Medifast diet.

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