Sugar Free Products Good For You?

Unless you were born yesterday, you probably know that white refined sugar is really bad for you and should be eliminated from your diet.  So what does our brain automatically think?  Sugar-free options should be healthy right?  In about 99% of cases it's absolutely wrong!  Think about those sugar-free candies.  You know the chocolate, caramel, and pecan turtles.  Why, these must be better for me because they are sugar free, right?  NO, NO, NO!  Most of these sugar free candies have sugar alcohols in them that cause diarrhea for one thing, but you only took out the sugar and left the fat and there is no other nutritional value in them.  So stay away from sugar free candies.  If you are really craving a sweet treat, try this:  1 tbsp semi-sweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate, 1 tbsp almond butter, 1 small apple cut into wedges.  I have this quite frequently as an afternoon snack and it takes care of the sweet, chocolate, crunchy munchies.  Okay so here is another example that was a real disappointment to me, coffee creamers.  I love, love, love adding this creamy goodness to my coffee.  One day as I was sipping my coffee I realized that it just tasted too good to be true and of course I was correct.  They label it as sugar free because they do not add sugar to it, but it has corn syrup in it which has an asterisk next to it stating that it adds a trivial amount of sugar.  Really?!!!  That means they don't have a clue and you are not doing yourself any favors by drinking it, you might as well pour corn syrup in your coffee to sweeten it, which is not much different than adding white sugar.  If you really enjoy flavored coffee I have a few suggestions.  You can purchase the flavor of coffee you want and use stevia to sweeten and almond milk for creamer or you can make your own flavorings by using stevia as the sweetener, almond milk as the creamer, and a few drops of whatever extract you want for the flavoring.  I will note that I researched the ingredients in flavoring extracts and most of them have an oil that is from the actual flavor itself and propylene glycol.  Propylene glycol is found in tons of industrial, pharmaceutical, and food-grade products and is regulated by the FDA.  It helps to pull water out of substances.  The CDC and FDA agree that it is a safe product and you have probably received it before in injections.  A drop or two diluted in your coffee is not going to hurt you.  Ok, I'm going to get off that soapbox.  The bottom line about sugar-free products is that you have to realize that just because it says it is sugar free, does not mean that it is good for you.  I'm about to step on toes here but I'm going to say it, diet soda is a no-no!!!  And so is almost every other type of soda.  Drink water, plain and simple.  Your body needs it and you don't get enough.  Ditch the soda period!  I could probably go on and on, but read labels and realize that if the real thing is not good for you, the sugar free version probably isn't either.  With that being said however, get creative and come up with alternatives.  Instead of a big bowl of ice cream, opt for a bowl of mixed berries with some greek yogurt, baked apples with cinnamon and stevia instead of apple pie, key lime smoothie, or whatever your mind can create that keeps it clean and healthy.  Best wishes to your wellness!