After having personally lined up all available sweeteners myself in the last year, there are plenty of choices beyond refined table sugar that give a decent (but not stuffed) amount of calories while tasting great. And, they're not synthetic chemicals also.

Agave nectar and stevia are two of my favorites. You can completely replace refined sugar in most recipes with agave nectar and use it in tea and even water. But for sweeteners like maple syrup, avoid them unless you want a huge dose of calories in addition to that sweet taste.

Get up to speed with some of the better alternatives to sugar here. Then, get set to stock your pantry with them.

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Are you in love or repulsed by refined sugar? While all those chocolate bars, breakfast cereals and sodas surely taste sweet and inviting, the refined sugar used in most of those products is anything but healthy.

But what is an alternative? Low-glycemic and minimally processed sweeteners like stevia and agave nectar are excellent replacements for refined sugars. How about bran flakes for breakfast?

While bran-based and unsweetened breakfast cereals taste like cardboard to the consumer of sugared-up cereals, add a touch of fresh raspberries or blueberries to that bran and get that sweetness while you get some fresh fruit as well. Ever try strawberries or pineapple on bran? It's excellent!

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As I look at food packages these days, it's amazing to see the large amount of fake sweeteners along with loads of refined sugar in so many foods. After all, everyone has a partial (or whole) "sweet tooth", and manufacturers sell ore products when they make them taste good.

The only downside is that tasting good comes at a price. Generally, refined sugars are really bad for human health (my 2 cents, anyway), and have a load of calories. The solution has been to use artificial sweeteners as a replacement, which then have unnatural chemicals which I consider to be almost as bad (or worse) than refined sugar.

Where is the "sweet" answer then? How about low-calorie, low-glycemic sweeteners like agave nectar and stevia? The food manufacturers probably don't want to use these items due to cost (which can be high) and due to these alternatives being natural products (that can't be protected by patents and such). One thing is for sure -- stevia is a great and sweet alternative that's been used globally for centuries and it beats the pants off table sugar and bleached refined sugar. Try it if you can -- and you decide.

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A new study out of Europe has concluded that high blood sugar levels could lead to increased cancer rates in women.

High blood sugars, which can be caused by eating too many sugary foods, is a leading causing of several ailments (like diabetes). This is the first time I've seen it linked to cancer, though.

Refined sugars are not at all healthy for the body, although raw cane sugar (in moderate amounts) is great as a sweetener. As long as you don't dump two tablespoons in your tea, that is.

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