The expert advised the best way to replace sugar.

There are many alternatives to added sugar

“Buyers are increasingly asking for a healthier dessert instead of a tastier one, they are interested in its composition and choose sweets with a balanced taste and composition. Products without added sugar, gluten, lactose, and vegan dessert alternatives have been popular for some time. Natural products also get attention: real chocolate, natural curd and cream, kefir creams, fruit purees, ”says Thierry Lauvray, a pastry expert at the Iki retail chain.

According to the pastry chef, innovation desserts, taking into account the needs of customers, their composition is reviewed every year and the aim is to bring them as close as possible to the healthiest option. Mr. Lauvray shares helpful tips that will also be helpful to those who prepare desserts at home.

“I am in favor of using everything that is natural and the easiest to find by hand, that’s why natural honey is one of my favorites that we can use to replace sugar. In various confectionery products, we can also change the sugar with nuts: apricots, plums, blueberries – these nuts are my favorites. Figs and dates are one of the sweetest nuts, which are also perfect for various cakes, ”says T. Lauvray.

According to a pastry expert, we can also replace sugar with agave syrup: it gives sweetness and has a sufficiently neutral flavor. Another of his favorite ingredients is maple syrup; it’s not just a great alternative to sugar. Maple syrup also gives the products a mild but rich flavor. However, Mr Lauvray underlines that although these syrups are healthier than sugar, we must also dose them carefully.

According to experts, desserts are healthier to enjoy in the first half of the day and in the afternoon. And when the sweet moment of the day comes with dessert, it is best to choose coffee or tea without sugar, water, because sugar-free drinks are one of the best ways to reduce the amount of sugar in the daily diet.

What do the experts recommend?

The World Health Organization recommends that daily sugar intake be reduced to less than 10%. of the total daily energy intake and, to improve health, it is better to reduce sugar consumption to 5%.
According to WHO experts, adults should not consume more than 25 g of sugar, children – 12 g of sugar per day. This means that an adult would need 6 teaspoons and a child 3 teaspoons of sugar a day.

Even if we completely eliminate cakes and muffins from our diet and do not flavor coffee with sugar, this does not mean that we will not get it by eating other, at first glance innocent foods. Therefore, one should be interested in the composition of favorite products.