There are two main ways that drinking alcohol can cause you to consume too much sugar:

• the sugar in the drinks themselves,
• the additional food you eat while drinking.

Sugar in Drinks

Many drinks can have the sugar equivalent of a meal in them so you have to be careful how much you drink.

For example, here is a chart showing the calories in some common types of drinks.

However, the ones with high calorie content and small volume usually have a lot of sugar. Continue reading →

Now that fall is coming, many people will start baking again for the holidays. But this year you may want to replace real sugar you have used in your recipes in the past for one of the various natural alternatives to sugar.

To replace real sugar you have a few options:

Xylitol

By the sound of its name you would guess is it an unhealthy synthetic sugar, but actually it is derived from birch tree bark.

Because it has a low Glycemic Index number, it does not have the same spiking effect on bloodstream sugar making it a good choice for diabetics. As a sugar substitute you can use it at a replacement ratio of 1:1. Continue reading →