Every single one of these "alternatives" is just another form of sugar. Even something like applesauce, which is often suggested on these types of lists, is full of sugar. More and more information is available about how bad sugar is for us and how unnatural it is for us to eat. Most of the fruits and vegetables we eat have been bred and bred over time to select for starch, sugar, shape, texture, and lack of blemishes until the end product looks very little like the wild/"original" fruit or vegetable and has lost most of the nutrition. Bananas, which are often suggested as a substitute for sugar and other ingredients in baking, are full of starch/sugar and are nothing like their wild/"original" version. I used to think any fruit or vegetable was good and healthy, but now I know that many of them are full of sugar and lacking the nutrients they are "supposed" to have. Populations that eat almost no sugar have almost no tooth decay, and sugar is also being linked to cancer. I am on a quest to significantly reduce the sugar I cook and bake with and every list I find has the same "sugars" listed as alternatives to sugar. It's frustrating. I just want to find a couple of substitutes that I can use to put together some kind of oat bar with dried fruit, nuts, and seeds as a healthier alternative to something like muffins.

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