So sweet to ditch sugar
THE world seems full of wonder foods these days, from pomegranates to beetroot, yet here’s one you’re unlikely to have heard of. It’s inulin, a substance rather than a fruit or vegetable. The naturally sourced fibre is found in onions, wheat, asparagus, sweet potatoes, bananas and chicory root.
The extract is a powder that is a sweet carbohydrate currently making a name for itself as a healthy alternative to sugar.
It’s easily dissolvable in liquid and can be incorporated into an everyday diet with no fuss – perfect to add to juice, smoothies, cereal, anything that you’re baking or simply a nice cup of tea.
Inulin cannot be digested by humans and, being a soluble fibre, it slows down digestion of other foods and curtails the release of glucose. This prevents spikes in blood sugar levels, possibly preventing diabetes from developing.
By slowing digestion, inulin enables the body to better absorb nutrients from food, and encourages healthy bowel movements.
It promotes good bacteria in the stomach, keeping you and your digestive system healthy.
There is an increasing awareness of the dangers of too much refined sugar in our diet, with a big move to healthier substitutes for sweeteners. Inulin powder is an excellent alternative to sugar.
The human digestive tract does not produce the enzymes needed to break it down and so it contributes little to our calorie intake – and it has fewer than a third the calories of sugar. Inulin has also been shown to reduce the absorption of fat by up to 50 per cent.
This is thought to be due to the action that both inulin and fibre have on gut bacteria, helping to develop healthy gut flora, which helps encourage better digestion and elimination of fats.
The result can be beneficial in the fight against visceral fat which surrounds the internal organs and is proven to be detrimental to health, restricting the organs’ efficiency and causing high blood pressure, an increase in blood glucose levels and weight gain.
The simple and efficient way to try it is Bioglan Inulin, a diet supplement that contains 100 per cent pure naturally sourced inulin and which is available at Holland & Barrett stores nationwide.