Wholesome Sweetners

Wholesome sweeteners


"What is the white granulated sugar we buy at the grocery store? How is it made? Sugar is what is left over from sugar cane or sugar beets after they are chemically processed and highly refined.

Whole natural foods are always a combination of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. Sugar cane and sugar beets are food, and their dehydrated juices are food.

By the time we buy our sugar at the store, however, it has been so refined that our body does not recognize it as food. While we tend to think brown sugar, raw sugar, and turbinado are better for us, they too are usually just refined sugar with enough molasses added to give then the desired color.

Fructose and high fructose corn syrup are highly refined sweeteners that are known to unbalance the blood sugar level in our bodies and turn of our “satiety” or the ability for our stomach to signal our brain that we are full.

Artificial sweeteners such as “Equal” and Nutr-sweet contain Aspartame, which is a toxic substance that has been associated with many health problems (due in part because of its ability to cross the blood brain barrier), including depression, birth defects, pancreatitis, and seizures.

When we eat refined sugars, we are eating empty, unbalanced calories. In order for our body to balance and detoxify, and to digest this sugar, it has to use up our reserves of insulin, enzymes, vitamins and minerals.

When we use refined sugars for many years our reserves are depleted and our body will need to borrow these nutrients from deep in our bones, teeth, and vital organs. This is our body’s way to try to correct the sugar imbalance. Weakness, decay of teeth, disease, and lowered immune system will follow. (Our immune system turns off for 5 hours after eating sugar- Dr. Mercola.com). Diabetes, Candida (yeast problems), food allergies, headaches, hypoglycemia, weak adrenal glands, mental illness, and chronic fatigue syndrome are just some of the illnesses that can come from eating too much sugar.

The good news is that we do have a choice. We do not have to decide that since regular, refined sugar is so bad for us we will just have to stay away from sweets. There are all- natural sweeteners available that contain many nutrients. Natural sweeteners, too, should be used in moderation, because even they can cause blood sugar imbalances if they are used in excess. " -Wholesome Sugar Free Cooking- Cook Book"



Natural sugars include-

Agave-

Honey- Pure, Raw honey is full of nutrients and digestive enzymes. Heating honey to over 117* causes it to lose some of its enzymes, but the nutrients will still be there. Babies do not have enough stomach acids to take care of possible bacteria in honey, so be sure not to give babies under one year of age honey.

Maple Syrup-
This evaporated sap of the sugar maple tree is rich in minerals. It gives a naturally wonderful maple flavor to baked goods and other desserts and hot cereals.

Sorghum-

This syrup is made by boiling sorghum cane juice. It contains B vitamins and minerals like calcium and iron. It is delicious in molasses cookies.

Sucanat-

Made by dehydrating cane sugar juice, Sucanat has a great flavor and is rich in minerals. It is probably the easiest to exchange in recipes calling for sugar.

Stevia- A super-sweet herb, stevia is tolerated much better by diabetics than some other natural sweeteners. The biggest problem is adding too much, which produces an unpleasant bitter flavor.


Approximate Stevia Sweetness Equivalents-

1/3-1/2 tsp. white extract powder= 1 cup sugar

1 tsp. Stevia Clear= 1 cup sugar

1 Tbsp. Whole leaf dark liquid concentrate= 1 cup sugar

1 1/2 -2 Tbsp Honey Leaf Powder= 1 cup sugar

1 ½- 2 Tbsp. Stevia Plus powder= 1 cup sugar

18-24 Stevia Plus packets= 1 cup sugar

2 tsp whole leaf dark liquid concentrate= 1 c brown sugar

• Too much stevia may taste bitter.

When substituting stevia for sugar in your own recipes you may have to adjust for the bulk. Try adding applesauce, apple butter, or plain yogurt.

If you are not familiar with using stevia, use only about half the amount the recipe calls for, gradually use more as your taste buds adjust.