Successive research has proved that sugar is damaging. And no matter how hard we deny the reality, it is obvious that excess sugar leads to the body's acidification, causes tooth decay, harms the heart and immune system and leads to obesity. On the other hand sugar is important for the taste, durability and texture of many products. Having got used to sweets and bombarded by so much information about sugar's harmfulness we stand before the dilemma: "sugar or no sugar?"

Do we really want to fully cut ourselves off from sweetness? I don't. I like sweets and my family does too, so I decided to look for products thanks to which the wolf would be full and the sheep alive. The dietitian Maria Śledziowska from EKOlogika on Opaczewska street in Warsaw was very helpful. Thanks to her I learnt that we may reduce the harmful effects of sugar by exchanging it for different sweet products. The way out of the situation is sugar substitutes. During the workshop at EKOlogika I discovered a plentiful group of such products. I found out about their properties, consistencies and how we may use them. I knew some of them before. Who hasn't heard of honey, stevia and xylitol? However, many products from this group were new for me.

Especially interesting for me was information about the glycemic index and the calorific value of sweet products and which of them can be used for baking. For example, I discovered that stevia can be used for baking below 180C. Above this temperature it loses its sweetness. Erythritol leaves a cold feeling in the mouth and cannot be used to sweeten hot tea, but it is perfect for refreshing lemonade in the summer. If we use it to bake biscuit cake, we can lower its calorific value by 25%.

Among the products I hadn't heard of, I found tapioca syrup, which is perfect for baking muffins and for sugar cocktails or fruit salads. Tagatose was interesting – it is the only sugar supplement which can be used to bake coffee cake.

For these who are interested in lowering the amount of sugar in their diet, I recommend the next sweet workshops in EKOlogica. The majority of the above-mentioned products are available there, and even if you do not buy or use them all at once, it is worth knowing about them and reaching out for them at the right time.

I recommend!

Read also To drink or not to drink? That is the question – training workshops for children in EKOlogika