Things to Leave Behind in 2009 – Sugar! Part 1

We’ve started a new year. This is a great time to start on a new road to health and good eating habits. The next few posts will focus on what to avoid in your diet and things to include instead.

Number 1 thing to leave behind in 2009 is SUGAR! There are so many forms of this sweet, addictive substance inhabiting almost everything we eat. The obvious is candy, cookies, cakes, pop. But the not so obvious is tomato sauce, canned meats, and “healthy” cereals and yoghurt. It’s everywhere!

However, sugar is addictive and actually lowers your immune system making you more susceptible to disease. It also robs your bones of minerals and actually swells your tongue to a larger than normal size. It comes in many different forms and might be seen on your ingredient labels as sugar, brown sugar, fructose, high fructose corn syrup (think sodas), cane sugar, corn syrup. . . . There’s a ton of different forms of sugar out there!

Then there’s the other category of sweeteners - artificial. Aspartame and Saccharin are the top artificial sweeteners. But they can have side effects too and should not be consumed. Headaches, seizures, mood disorders, and even cancer have all been linked to these taste enhancing chemicals. And the new up and coming artificial sweetener which is marketed as being totally safe, Splenda (sucralose), has also been linked to some not-so-nice side effects which include skin rashes/flushing, panic-like agitation, dizziness and numbness, diarrhea, muscle aches, headaches, intestinal cramping, bladder issues, and stomach pain.1 And the hardest research to believe is that these artificial sweeteners can actually play tricks on your body’s natural ability to count calorie intake which can actually cause adverse effects on you trying to loose weight!2

But we all like to splurge every once in awhile! So, perhaps you could make 1 day a week your “sweet” day. Enjoy your favorite soda or piece of cake. The rest of the week try these alternative safe low-glycemic (won’t cause blood sugar spikes) sweeteners:

1 – Stevia – comes in powder or liquid, has zero calories and is 200 – 300 times sweeter than sugar so you only need a little. Try this homemade lemonade with Stevia.
Juice of 1 lemon stirred into 8 – 10 oz. of water; then add a ½ dropper of Stevia. Stir, add ice and enjoy!

2 – Xylitol – a sugar alcohol extracted from the fiber of many vegetables and fruits. It has the same consistency and sweetness as white sugar but with 33% of the calories. A lot of healthy chewing gums are made using Xylitol.

3 – Lankanto – a new sweetener derived from non-GMO erythritol (fermented corn sugar) and the super sweet extract of the luo han guo fruit which is found only in the mountains of China. It is a zero calorie sweetener but is used exactly like white sugar. So you can bake with it, put a teaspoon in your coffee, etc. The downside is that it is very expensive and can only be purchased online at www.bodyecology.com . I buy it once a year around the holidays and bake with it for those special holiday treats.

We all love sugar and I don’t want you to feel guilty about desiring to eat something sweet. After all, we have sweet taste buds. But it’s the choices we make as to how we satisfy our sweet tooth which will make you healthy in 2009 and beyond. The next time you have that craving try reaching for a piece of fruit (they contain fiber which slows down your metabolism of the naturally occurring sugars), homemade lemonade, or a chocolate chip cookie made with Stevia (recipe below). Once you clean refined sugars out of your body you’ll find it much easier to look the other way when you see a Krispy Kreme donut looking you in the face!

Happy Eating!

Stevia Sweetened Chocolate Chip Cookies
(taken from The Stevia Cookbook by Ray Sahelian, M.D., and Donna Gates)

Yield: About 4 dozen

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon sea salt
¾ teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
½ teaspoon white stevia powder
1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
1 cup salted butter, softened
1 ¼ cups good quality chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a cookie sheet and set aside.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder, and set aside.
3. Place the egg, stevia, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl, and beat well with a wooden spoon or an electric hand-held mixer. Slowly add the butter, continuing to beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
4. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, ½ cup at a time, stirring well with a wooden spoon after each addition. Fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Drop heaping teaspoons of batter on the cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown.

1The Artificial and Natural Sweeteners Health & Safety Rankings – Which are Worst, Which are Best?, www.bodyecology.com, 2009
http://www.bodyecology.com/07/07/05/artificial_&_natural_sweeteners.php

2 Things that Make You Fat. CBS Broadcasting, Inc. December 2004.http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/12/06/earlyshow/series/weightoff/main659299.shtml

Antioxidants

We've heard the term "antioxidant" a lot, but what are some good ways to consume them, and what exactly do they do? According to the American Dietetic Association, antioxidants are substances that can prevent damage to your body cells or repair damage that has already been done. They're a strong fighter of carcinogenic materials that enter your body. Some antioxidants even break down estrogen (estrogen can promote quicker growth of cancerous cells.) Antioxidants also can slow down degenerative processes in body tissue, help blood vessels remain open and flexible, and boost immunity.

So, what are some of the best foods that are antioxidant-rich?1 Here is a list of many which are readily available most or all times of the year:

1. Berries - blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries. Contain proanthocyanidins, which fight cancer and heart disease.

2. Broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts. Contain indole-3-carbinol. Breaks down estrogen, thereby reducing risk of estrogen-sensitive cancers such as breast, cervical, ovarian.

3. Tomatoes. Contain lycopene, helpful in fighting prostate cancer. The heating process for tomato sauce or cooked tomatoes makes the lycopene more available to be absorbed in the body.

4. Red grapes. Contain resveratrol and quercetin, good for heart and blood vessel health.

5. Garlic. Its antifungal properties are good for asthma and yeast infections. Also fights against heart disease, cancer and the effects of aging.

6. Spinach. Contains lutein, which fights free radicals that attack the eyes, also protects the retina from sun damage.

7. Tea - both green and black. Contains theaflavins, which fight free radicals and prevent degenerative processes in body tissues.

8. Carrots. Contain beta-carotene, which protects against many cancers and slows the progression of arthritis. Cooking carrots causes the nutrients to be most readily absorbed by your body.

9. Soy. Contains genistein, which fights against breast, colon and prostate cancer. We're talking about the whole food here, not soybean oil.

10. Whole grains - whole wheat, whole grain oats, brown rice. Contain vitamin E, which helps fight prostate cancer, boosts immunity, and slows the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

1 www.crumcreek.com