Sugar and Spice those things aren’t so nice

Today’s post is not going to be easy for most people to read. Today, I am going to talk to you about sugar. Real and fake.

Sugar in it’s simplest form is the juice from a cane plant. A plant. That makes it ok right? In the pure form yes. but in the bleached out processed crap that we commonly know as sugar, no. When sugar is processed, all of the enzymes, fiber and vitamins are zapped right out of it. Leaving us with something that has absolutely no nutritional value what so ever. Yep, it sure makes those cupcakes taste good but wouldn’t you rather have those cupcakes sweetened with something that can actually do something decent for your body? That’s right, you have options that actually don’t taste like crap.

Lets start with the good options:

• Agave nectar. Its sweet and yummy and is in a pure form. Meaning that the vitamins and nutrients are still there. It absorbs slowly into the blood stream too so you won’t have those quick sugar highs and huge sugar crashes. Agave can be found in just about any health food store. It is a bit pricey in terms of purchasing sweeteners but you don’t use nearly as much to sweeten your recipes. The key to this one: Experimenting. It can be used in any baking or cooking recipe in place of sugar but its much sweeter than the white grainy garbage filled counterpart. So you will have to figure out the amounts to add when using it.
• Evaporated cane juice.  Another good guy. I have yet to be able to find this one anywhere though.
• Molasses. If you decide to try this one, read the ingredient list. Sometimes lard is used to keep it from foaming when it is packaged for sale.
• Some other good guys - Turbinado sugar, raw sugar, Sucunant, maple syrup. Just figure out what will work for you and make the switch.

I don’t think it would be fair if I didn’t touch on the artificial sweeteners out there. Nutrasweet and Equal. They are worse than the devil!!!! They all contain aspartame. Aspartame was put before the FDA countless times for approval before they allowed it into foods. The process began back in 1973. At the time, it was shown by a neuroscientist involved in the FDA testing, that aspartame was the case for memory loss, nerve cell damage, migraines, reproductive disorders, brain lesions, blindness, Alzheimers, bloating and seizures. The testing that was contained in the original approval process for aspartame was later proven to be manipulated. Several objections to its approval had been filed and eventually through a lengthy legal battle, the statue of limitations on the grand jury proceedings won out and it was approved and added to foods. 

Nutrasweet and Equal both contain aspartame. Aspartame contains methyl alcohol. When you ingest aspartame, this methyl alcohol converts to formaldehyde. The last time I checked, ingesting formaldehyde was not a good thing.  Equal doesn’t just contain aspartame. It also contains phenylalanine. An amino acid that occurs naturally in the brain. If it occurs naturally, it can’t be bad, right? WRONG. Too much phenylalanine in your brain can contribute to seizures, schizophrenia, and depression. Lovely stuff isn’t it?

Let’s not forget Splenda. Spenda is made directly from sugar but does not contain the calories. On its label, it says that is it 98% pure. Do you want to know what that other 2% is? Heavy metal (and I am not talking music here folks), methanol and arsenic. You heard me correctly. Dive in. Enjoy. NOT.

So what do you do when you can no longer stomach ingesting the lovely sugar replacement products yet you want to drop those pounds? Simple, you consume sugar. Real sugar in its most natural form or you use one of natures other sweeteners. Say it with me ladies..."I will not eat processed sugar. I will not eat processed sugar. I will NOT eat processed sugar.”
Ciao.

Hmm… I wonder what the artificial sweetner in Coke Zero is… I’m off to investigate

Salena - ohhh be sure to let us know. I am certain youo aren’t the only one drinking it.

Wait!! What about Sweet -n- low - I use that… is that bad too??  Please don’t say it, please, lol… What else would I put in my unsweetened ice tea???

Isn’t unsweetened Iced tea supposed to not have ANYTHING in it??? LOL!
Use agave girl. Its better for you and sooo much sweeter. You will use less to do more. Raw Sugar is better for you than sweet n low. You can also find that in little packets at the supermarket. Granted, if you are pouring 5 packs of it into one glass of tea...none of it is going to be helpful. LOL!

Hey you forgot a really great alternative that is all natural, has no calories, and is thought to lower blood sugar!  Stevia!!

The FDA refuses to release it to be labelled as a sweetener.  However, it is sold as a dietary supplement.  You can use it in baking, cooking, and just sweetening your drinks.  You do use less of it then you do sugar.

I will admit to the occaisional diet Coke, but most of the time if I want something carbonated I try to drink Perrier or else have a real Coke because I don’t really like the taste of aspartame. I think that’s what they use in Coke Zero as well, though you don’t seem to taste it as much. Of course, when it comes right down to it, soft drinks aren’t good for you anyway. 

Other than that, I don’t do the artificial sweetener thing because I don’t like how it tastes. I prefer to just moderate my sugar intake. Sugar may not be the best thing for you, but I think a little now and then is not going to do much harm - especially if you can use the less refined types.

As for stevia, I know a lot of people swear by it, but I think it has a nasty aftertaste. Obviously works for some people though, so may be worth a try if you are looking for a sugar substitute.

Ok, Queenie, I finally joined! I am hoping this will help me get my ass in gear and lose my 4 year old “baby fat”.

Although I do drink diet sodas once in a while, I have been weary of them for a long time. My BIL is a pilot and has told me that they have been advised not to consume any artificial sweeteners as they can affect them in bad ways. Not that it happens very often, but the fact that it can is freaky.

I like to by unrefined sugar, but being the broke..no, I mean frugal person that I am, usually end up buying the white stuff.  I don’t bake often, so the only time I really use the stuff is in my iced tea.  I cannot give up my tea!  So I guess I will make more of an effort now to spend the extra $ and go with the stuff that I know is not as harmful to me and my family.

This is a cool site. Hope it helps me stay on track!

Chris - So glad you joined us. I think that some of these tips might be helpful for you in more ways than weight loss. I plan to cover a lot of more natural foods when we make our big update here.

Worse than the devil?

I’m sitting here laughing because for some reason it reminds me of a t-shirt I saw ... “Hell: Where all the fun people end up.”

I’ve resolved that when I get to goal I’ll seek out products with fewer artificial sweeteners.  When I’m maintaining I’ll have a few more calories to play with.  Until then ... I shall dance with the devil by the pale moonlight. 

gggrr I am up 3 freaking pounds :(

Yep. Stevia. Someone mentioned above. It’s great stuff. It’s a bit pricey too but well worth it.

It’s also much sweeter so some experimentation is in order.

When I decided to become a skinny bitch, sweeteners were the first things I decided to ban from my life.  I immediately ditched anything with artificial sweeteners in it (including my beloved splenda) and honestly, that really wasn’t that hard.  Then I banished white sugar. The entire package went into the garbage and we now only use honey and/or turbinado sugar in the house and we love both of them.

The hardest part has been sugar in the foods we eat.  I’m a chronic label reader and I’ll buy anything with pure cane sugar or cane juice over regular sugar (or it’s nasty substitutes) but it’s really hard sometimes to avoid it completely.

I loved your post today Shelah and i’m going to make an effort to ban those last few little things that have sugar in them too… I know I don’t need them or want them anyway, sometimes my PMS riddled self just can’t say no though.  Argh!

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