**REVIEW** Living Natural Yacon Syrup

In my quest to eat healthier, live healthier and stay in shape, I've tried making small changes in my life. One of the changes was trying to get away from so much processed sugar. I talked about this before. And then again. One of my favorite substitutes for white sugar is raw or brown sugar. A favorite  substitute for those sugars is Yacon syrup. I've tried others and now I've had the chance to try Living Natural's  Yacon Syrup.

Yacon syrup has lots of benefits over the usual sweeteners a lot of us use. For me, the taste is the biggest positive. There is non of that metallic, artificial tinge or aftertaste.

Living Natural's Yacon has an exceptionally nice taste because, to me at least, the molasses type flavor was a little more pronounced that in other syrups I've tried. The texture was a little different also - almost grainier-looking but not actually grainy at all.

This is Living Natural Brand Yacon

To compare a difference of textures, this is a photo what another brand of Yacon syrup I use:

This one is darker & a tiny bit thicker

As for quality and taste, both syrups I have tried are nice. The Natural Life syrup is (to me) slightly sweeter while the other one has a more wine-like undertone. The main thing is the benefits of using them as an alternative to sugar. Some info straight from the product page:

• 100% natural with no additives or sweeteners and is extracted purely from the roots of the Yacon plant (Smallanthus Sonchifolius)
• high amount of fructooligosaccharides. This natural soluble fiber has been shown to reduce symptoms of constipation and improve metabolism.
• high in antioxidants and potassium and studies have shown it increases the levels of 'friendly' bacteria in the digestive system

From my own use over the months of Yacon syrup, I can tell you that using it on a regular basis did decrease my sugar cravings. (I have not used white table sugar in a few years, but I don't even use my brown or raw sugar in my coffee now except on an occasional basis.) When I started using Yacon syrup some time back, I was still coming down off my prednisone weight of (I shudder to even type this) 204 lbs. I am down to the 160's and would be doing better if I had not gone back on a steady diet of bread in the past couple of weeks... Also, it helps if you actually use the Yacon on a regular basis.

The suggestion is to use Yacon in beverages and I have grown to like the taste of it in my coffee. This time, I also tried adding a little bit to some rice (plain white rice with butter) and to some oatmeal. The taste was interesting and pleasant, but I had to experiment with how much to add to get the right amount of sweetness. (I ended up using about half a dinner spoon full.) Because Yacon has a distinctive taste, I got a sort of molasses-flavored treat with my oatmeal. I have to say that I like using this particular brand in my warm/hot food where I use the other brand in my coffees and some of my teas. I think it's going to come down to preference. Personally, I want to keep a variety around for my different uses.

I'd also like to add (as I usually do) something about customer service. The product page has a nice message:

When you order today, you're protected by our 100% quality and satisfaction guarantee together with our focus on exceptional customer service!

Finally, I will say this about using Yacon syrup: Any one of us who is trying to revise our diet and lifestyle to be healthy know that big changes come from lots of small efforts. Using an alternative to white sugar is one of the best changes I've made. Lord knows, I'm not giving up sweets if I can help it. Using Yacon syrup is a good way to make a single but important effort. Did that make sense? I hope so!

I will suggest to fellow healthy minded people that if you take one part of your daily diet that costs you the most calories from sugar, then use Yacon (or some other sweetener alternative) instead.

Peace
--Free

DISCLOSURE:
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.