As you probably know by now one of the main pillars of a ketogenic diet is avoiding nearly all sugars and carbs.

Keeping our carb macro super low is what allows our bodies to trigger ketosis and start rapidly burning fat as an energy source, but for those who are new to a low-carb diet fighting sugar cravings is one of the trickiest parts of the journey. After all, the standard American diet is loaded with carbs and sugars from fruit and granola at breakfast to soda at lunch to ice cream after dinner.

Overcoming that sugar craving is possible, it just takes a few weeks of commitment. it's especially important during the beginning to avoid sugars and sweets as giving in can only fuel your cravings further, but even after you come out on the other side of sugar cravings you might still experience the urge for something sweet from time to time. Thanks to a handful of ketogenic friendly sweeteners there are ways to create tasty treats for yourself to enjoy on special occasions.

first let's look at the different kinds of sweeteners which generally fall into a few different classifications.

* natural sweeteners often derived from plants

* sugar-alcohols

* synthetic or artificial sweeteners

each kind of sweetener usually contains some level of carbs calories and the ability to affect your blood sugar levels.

When it comes to keto friendly sweeteners we prefer to stick with stevia and erythritol or a blend of the two. Both are naturally occurring don't cause blood sugar or insulin spikes and have a nice flavor, though some people complain of an aftertaste from using stevia or erythritol on their own. when combined each one seems to cancel out the aftertaste of the other both only contain 5 calories per 100 gram serving.

*Stevia

Stevia comes from an herb that is commonly known as the sugar leaf the extract is nutrient free and because of its sweet flavor without the detrimental effects of sugar it has become pretty popular. over the past few years you can find it in liquid or crystallized form in many supermarkets and natural food stores.

in some studies stevia has been shown to slightly reduce blood pressure and lower blood glucose and insulin levels in diabetics and has had great results in animal testing for anti-inflammatory purposes. we generally recommend purchasing liquid stevia which is raw powdered stevia mixed with a solution that keeps a pure powdered, Stevia is often mixed with other sweeteners that can contain hidden carbs.

*Erythritol

erythritol is a sugar alcohol found in fruits and vegetables and the commercial varieties are usually extracted from corn. it's an appropriate sweetener for a keto diet because it doesn't affect blood sugar or insulin levels and contains very few calories.

* Xylitol

Xylitol is a sugar alcohol that is not nutrient-dense taste similar to sugar and has been found to aid with dental health. However, it's closely tied to stomach discomfort and lethal for dogs .

*Allulose

Allulose is a natural low calorie sweetener made up of simple sugars that are entirely excreted from the body without being metabolized at all. it's important to know that the long-term effects of allulose on the microbiome are not yet known but currently the FDA states that it is generally recognized as safe.

With any sweetener product labeled low or no carb, it's still important to look at the ingredients on the packaging. Your goal is to purchase the purest sweetener and avoid products that contain fillers like maltodextran, dextrose and poly dextrose, which can spike blood sugar and sometimes contain unnecessary carbs.

Many products that claim to be sugar-free have ingredients that don't technically constitute a sugar but still have a large glycemic index such as malitol because of current food labeling laws in the United States a lot of products are permitted to calculate these out of the net carb counts and can really add up as secret carbs.

Avoid typical sugars especially high fructose. corn syrup, white sugar, coconut sugar, fruit juice, maple syrup, honey and agave should all be avoided. they all contain extremely high levels of carbohydrates and high GI numbers and spike the blood levels in insulin. just one tablespoon of honey contains 17 grams of carbs over half of your daily allotment.

find the best alternative keto friendly sweetener for your taste and turn to it instead when you want to make or bake a treat you don't have to give up desserts like ice cream brownies pudding muffins and cookies if you have the right tools on hand to help keep the carbs at a minimum.

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