Natreen vs. brown sugar vs. honey

Which of these three is actually the healthiest option?
I’ve got a few drinks that I just can't stand without adding a tiny bit of sweetness—just a touch!—so I'm trying to figure out the best way to go.
I'm drinking about 5 or 6 cups of tea a day—lots of variety—but plain green, black, or rooibos? Yeah, those are basically undrinkable for me without a little help!

Honey, this med is hands down the healthiest thing you can find out there...

Natreen is absolute garbage.
Brown sugar is pretty much identical to white sugar anyway. If I need to sweeten something, I’d take that over Natreen any day of the week.
Honey works too, I guess.

The best option is Stevia 👍 You can find it at a local health food store.

quietpilot87 said:Stevia is definitely the way to go...

🙂 ...so what would that actually look like?

Stevia is available in liquid drops, and if I recall correctly, it’s derived from an Australian plant. I have some on hand; it's sweet, though I don't find the flavor particularly pleasant.

Around here, most of what they call brown sugar is just plain white sugar with some coloring slapped on it.
Total garbage!

Natreen med is the absolute best!

I’m really not a fan of Natreen—the chemical makeup just doesn't sit right with me... I feel like brown sugar is essentially just white sugar, only slightly less refined, which allows it to retain some decent nutrients... As for honey, it's generally easier on the digestion than processed sugar, though I don't think it possesses any of those "miracle" properties people love to claim it has...

Natreen is absolute toxic garbage.

I stick strictly to honey—it’s more than just plain glucose, you know?—and occasionally I’ll throw in some brown sugar, though I honestly struggle to figure out which brands are actually high quality, so I mostly just rely on the honey. To be fair, I rarely even reach for the sweetener at all.

Has anyone here ever tried maple syrup? I find myself staring at it on the grocery shelf constantly, yet somehow I can never quite bring myself to pull the trigger and buy it.

Or you could just go ahead and buy some fructose.

coppergardener said:or just go buy some fructose.

Good grief, has anyone here actually looked into the supposed dangers of fructose?
Is it all that talk about how it supposedly 'spikes blood triglyceride levels' and whatnot?

Amy Hill92 said:Wait, seriously—has anyone else actually heard those warnings about how bad fructose is?
Something along the lines of "it spikes your blood triglycerides" or whatever else they claim...

Oh, come on now... I haven't. Honestly, I’ve never even bought it—I just tend to avoid anything where it shows up on the label. And let's be real, it isn't exactly "pure" either, since it still counts as a simple sugar, right? But surely, it shouldn't be such a massive issue as long as you aren't overdoing it.

Well, there really isn't much more to say about it... if you want to dive into the actual health implications, you can find the details right here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose.

quietpilot87 said:Honestly, Stevia is the way to go 👍 You can usually find it at a local health food store.

So, what kind of price tag are we looking at here?

coppergardener said:Well, there isn't much else to say... if you want to look into the potential health impacts, check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose.

🙂
It seems we are truly beyond saving... I suppose we shall simply have to abandon our love for all things sweet and call it a day.

In all honesty, I consume fruit quite readily and nothing I read regarding fructose is likely to deter my appetite. However, surely there must be a greater sense of regret when one uses it as a direct substitute for sugar—say, by baking a cake with it? At the very least, I should like to believe the issue lies solely in consuming excessively large doses.

Lisa Nelson96 said:Which of these three options is actually the healthiest?
There are certain drinks I just can't stand without adding a little sweetness (just a touch!), like some teas, so I'm wondering what the best choice is!
I drink about 5 or 6 cups of tea a day—different kinds—but plain green, black, or rooibos is just impossible for me!

Natreen is out. It’s more toxic than white sugar... Brown sugar should be healthy, and it is if it's actually brown sugar and not just white sugar with coloring. So, if you absolutely have to sweeten something, stick with Natreen med...👍

coppergardener said:how much cash we talking?

man, $13. I actually have one, but honestly, coffee just tastes off when I'm with her—I could never get used to it. I just stick to regular sugar, nothing fancy like Splenda or whatever..

ruggedsailor11 said:Artificial sweeteners? Yeah, ditch them—they're honestly worse for you than plain old white sugar. Now, brown sugar can be a decent choice if it’s actually real brown sugar and not just bleached white sugar with some coloring tossed in. If you absolutely need a sweetener, stick with honey...👍

Thanks. And yeah, I’m already using honey.👍

If you're looking for the best way to sweeten tea, honey is definitely the winner! Sugar is sugar—it tastes great—but that artificial sweetener stuff? It’s honestly one of the worst things out there, and I don't think anyone should even touch it.

I actually made the biggest mistake of my entire life—and I've been a tea drinker forever—by trying some Natreen recently. We were out of honey, and I only had about half a teaspoon of sugar left, which wasn't nearly enough to actually taste anything. So, I thought, "Why not?" and tossed a packet of Natreen into my black tea. It was absolutely revolting. But the weird part wasn't even the immediate taste—it was about three minutes after I finished the cup that my mouth started watering like crazy, and I had this bizarre, plastic-y sweet aftertaste lingering in my mouth for nearly half the day!

It honestly feels like everyone around me loses their minds—I’m talking full-on hair-raising shock—whenever I offer them a bit of honey to go with their coffee, chicory, or lemonade. It’s almost as if I’ve served them something scandalous instead of a natural sweetener! I mean... shouldn't they be thanking me? It certainly doesn't cross my mind to go out and stock up on white sugar just to appease them; besides, my little kitchen pantry is already bursting at the seams as it is.