Sugar and sweet things

I have a sweet tooth (Jonathan has a savoury tooth). But this year I have slowly come to a (current) point where I have pretty much removed refined sugar from our (well, mostly mine and the girls) general diet. Not completely, but significantly. Here's a very condensed overview of some of what I've learned about refined sugar:

For anyone wanting to lose weight, it's sugar (not healthy fats) that you want to cut way back on.  Fat (we're talking healthy fats - nuts, avocado, cold pressed oils, not fatty fried foods etc) is used by the body for energy, whereas sugar is generally stored away - as FAT! (Be wary of low-fat or fat free foods - the fat is usually replaced with lots of sugar). Interestingly, diabetes arose after sugar became part of the modern diet, as did many heart diseases; as did the incidence of mental illness (schizophrenia and depression notably). It makes sense when one reads the effects of sugar on our bodies at the chemical level.  I recently read Sugar Blues, a book that covers the rise of sugar, looking at its negative effects on health as it became part of our everyday diets (nowadays we consume gross amounts of the stuff); it interestingly follows the money making industries related to sugar too. Sugar, while originally a plant (cane or beet) is reduced to a chemical very similar to cocaine (you wouldn't eat cocaine) - all the nutrients and fibre have been removed. In fact, sugar is classified as an antinutrient because the digestion of it actually depletes our bodies nutrient stores - particularly calcium from our bones.

Fascinating stuff! I would strongly recommend you become aware of how much sugar you're eating and try to cut it back, even a little. My husband would mention moderation here :) "Everything in moderation". So Abigail's upcoming birthday cake will have sugar in it (I was planning to make a raw cheesecake, but hubby's philosophy prevailed :)). And I thoroughly enjoyed the goodies Grandma had baked for me on our recent visit, so don't think I've turned my back completely on the stuff! But cutting back and eating healthier alternatives is certainly a good thing for me, and my family.

I now mostly use palm sugar and honey as my sweeteners - and because they cost 3 times the price as (raw) sugar, it is good incentive to cut back (Coles cheapest honey is actually 6 times the price, but one only needs half the amount to sugar when using, so that brings the figure down to 3)! Here's some of my current favourite sweet treats (Abigail happily eats them; Jonathan tends to ask me if it's healthy and then usually assumes it'll be yuck :)):



Black bean fudge: http://mplsswappers.wordpress.com/2011/05/18/recipe-swap-kims-famous-dairy-free-black-bean-fudge/ (I don't have stevia so I double the honey).




'Cookie dough': http://www.mightyvegan.com/2011/07/18/chickpea-cookie-dough/ This stuff does remind me of uncooked biscuit mixture - but it's full of nutrition! (calcium, fibre, iron, protein...) I make half a mix and it's gone in a couple of days!




'Chocolate cakes': http://mamainthekitchen.com/2011/04/30/mama-wont-mind-if-you-have-another-of-that-chocolate-cake/ These are very sweet. I haven't made them with the frosting yet, so that might help mellow them a little. I used ground rolled oats.




http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2009/10/13/recipe-conection-one-bowl-pumpkin-breadmuffins/ These are incredibly moist. I make mine gluten free, and I use the second recipe provided. (Jonathan liked these).



Everything in moderation.
Eat wisely, but enjoy what you eat.