Christmas is approaching and with it come also desserts, sweets and, of course, sugar! We live in a society that combines beautiful moments, parties and celebrations with sugar, forgetting that it constitutes one of our greatest enemies!

Refined sugar is nowadays found everywhere (not just in candies). We find it in packaged juices, in carbonated drinks, in cereals, in industrial bread, in ketchup and mustard, and even in vegetable broth.

But why should we reduce our sugar consumption?

1. Sugar weakens our immune system – Sugar subtracts Vitamin C needed by white blood cells to fight viruses and bacteria. If we consume too much sugar, we lower our defenses.

2. It makes us gain weight – Sugar is absorbed quickly in the form of glucose and is immediately transformed into energy. If we do not use that energy right away, the body will turn it into fat.

3. It accelerates the aging process – Excess glucose is harmful to the body and one of its consequences is directly related to the lack of collagen production. If we eat a lot of sugar, over the years, our skin will lose elasticity and will become increasingly flabby and vulnerable.

4. It destroys our intestinal flora – A high consumption of sugar promotes the proliferation of fungi and harmful bacteria that inhabit our body. Furthermore, it causes flatulence and even diarrhea.

5. It creates addiction: our brain reacts to sugar as it does to alcohol. Sugar generates addiction because it releases large quantities of dopamine. If you want to test your addiction, it’s easy. Just spend 10 days without consuming sugar (note that sugar is not only found in what we call “sweets”). It is very likely that by eliminating sugar from your life, you will initially experience irritation and even headaches: these are the typical symptoms of sugar abstinence.

In the same way that not everything containing sugar is sweet, not everything that is sweet necessarily contains refined sugar. This means that even if we decide to eliminate sugar from our lives, if we feel the need, we can choose many healthy alternatives:

• Coconut sugar – It is a valid and nutritious alternative to white sugar and artificial sweeteners. Iswari Coconut Sugar is produced sustainably from Indonesia’s coconut flowers. It is rich in minerals such as calcium and potassium.

• Xylitol – Iswari Xylitol is obtained from corn and has 40% less calories than refined sugar. It has a low glycemic index and for this reason it is also a good alternative for diabetics. One of its advantages is that its taste, intensity and consistency are similar to those of refined sugar.

• Fruit – Fruit is a good option to sweeten your desserts. Bananas, apples, pears and oranges have a sweet taste and are not harmful to our body. But be careful, because sweet fruit should also be consumed in moderation.

• Dried fruit – Often, by simply adding a topping of nuts and oil-rich seeds, we can get the sweet touch we were looking for in our snack or dessert.

The Iswari White Mulberries are one of the most delicious alternatives. The same can be said of the Iswari Exotica Mix, the Incan Trail Mix or the Fruits of Love Mix.