By Heide Kennedy, Arizona Farm Bureau Communications Intern
Last year I began to follow the paleo diet. While there are a lot of details and specifications about what you can and can’t eat on that diet, the basic goal of the paleo diet is to avoid all processed foods, instead eating only whole, real, and natural foods. 
One area in which I really had to adjust was when it came to options for adding sweetness to drinks and desserts since the typical white cane sugar is heavily processed. So, here are my two favorite sweeteners that are very minimally processed, and actually more nutritious than regular sugar!
Coconut Sugar
Coconut sugar has become my newfound favorite sugar substitute. This is because it is granulated just like regular sugar and can be used as an even replacement for regular sugar. Coconut sugar is made from ground-up sap from coconut palms, and it is similar to brown sugar in color and taste. In terms of nutrition, coconut sugar has more nutrients than regular white sugar. It contains more zinc, iron, calcium, potassium, and B and C vitamins, and it is much less processed than white sugar.
Honey
Honey is also an amazing natural sweetener. It is rich, versatile, and packed with health benefits. I love to use it in baking recipes and also in dressings, coffee, and tea. Researchers have found that consuming honey lowers fasting blood glucose and bad cholesterol, and it also increases good cholesterol. In order to reap these health benefits, it is important to be consuming raw honey rather than pasteurized honey, as the processing weakens the healthfulness of honey.
Whether you’re looking to use alternatives to sugar for a specific diet, or just to reduce the amount of processed foods that you’re consuming, honey and coconut sugar are great! I would strongly suggest giving them a try! Who knows, you might like them better!
For more health-related articles, check out the Fill Your Plate blog!