Copyright 2004 by
TheRawDiet.com
By Michael Snyder
It is time to prepare some
delicious and guilt- free sweet treats! If you follow the recipes found in the
average cookbook, you'll be using pounds of processed sugar. At last, there are
now delicious alternatives to sugar that will amaze your taste buds. These
alternatives to sugar are healthy and you won't feel guilty for indulging in
dessert.
Most people are aware of
the health dangers created by processed sweeteners such as white and brown
sugar, high fructose corn syrup, cooked honey, and aspartame. These sweeteners
must be avoided at all costs if you want to improve your health. If you haven't
done so, please read this excellent article by Dr. Nancy Appleton titled
"124 Ways Sugar Ruins Your Health". http://www.nancyappleton.com/pages/damages.html
The many dangers of
aspartame are described in detail on this excellent website, http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/
The living foods diet
provides many delicious and healthy alternatives to the processed sweeteners
commonly used. Some of the most popular foods used as sweeteners in the living
foods diet include stevia, agave
nectar, fresh or dried fruits, dried or frozen berries, dates, young coconut, yacon syrup, and raw honey. If a cooked recipe calls for
processed sugar, one of these ingredients will be an excellent substitute. Use
these sweeteners to make living food versions of cakes, pies, cookies, ice
cream, nut mylk shakes, puddings, chocolate bars, and similar goodies. You will
feel wonderful after eating the raw food sweet treats and your energy levels
won't crash an hour after eating.
Stevia is the ultimate sweet leaf. A native of Paraguay, South America, steviais a low glycemic
herb that can be purchased as a powder, liquid extract, or as a dried whole
leaf. It is 30 times sweeter than white sugar in its unprocessed form. It
contains zero calories, it registers as zero on the glycemic
index, and it contains health promoting vitamins and minerals. When stevia is concentrated in a powder or liquid form it is up
to 300 times sweeter than sugar, yet it is safe for diabetics. You only need a
quarter teaspoon to sweeten up a recipe or beverage. You can easily grow your
own plant and grind the dried leaf into a powder. Avoid the alcohol-extracted
and refined forms.
Agave nectar
is an exciting new mineral-rich syrup that comes from the agave
cactus. It has a natural and delicious taste similar to honey or maple syrup.
It is absorbed slowly into the bloodstream and doesn't significantly raise
blood sugar levels. It has a low glycemic index rating
and is safe for diabetics and those with hyperglycemia. There are many
companies distributing agave nectar but not all of
them are raw. If the label doesn't say raw you may want to contact the company
to verify that it isn't heated above 118 degrees.
Fruits are the perfect natural sweeteners for any recipe.
The addition of apples, pears, dates, berries, bananas, or oranges will add a
delicious sweet taste to your food. Fresh, raw fruit juice can be added
to the recipe instead of water to give it additional flavor. Dried fruits such
as raisins, tomatoes, and apricots are concentrated sugar sources and should be
soaked in water for a minimum of half an hour. These nutritious foods are
equally as sweet as processed sugar and they taste much better.
Young coconuts are highly nutritious, delicious, and easy to
digest. The young coconuts, also known as Thai, jelly, shaved, green, asian, or water coconuts, are usually found in Asian
grocery stores. They are white and cylindrical with a point on the top. The mineral
rich water is very sweet and should be used in recipes in place of water. The
coconut tree acts as a water filter and takes nine months to create one liter.
The coconut water is virtually identical to human blood plasma and has a
similar electrolyte balance.
The latest sweetener to hit
the market is Yacon Syrup. The yacon is a root vegetable similar to a sweet potato from South America. The yacon is
different from other roots and tubers in that it stores the carbohydrates as simple
sugar instead of starch. This raw syrup can be used in recipes in place of
honey and maple syrup. This is mineral rich raw syrup similar to agave nectar. Farmers in North America
have recently started to grow yacon, which is
becoming available in local Farmers’ Markets and health food stores.
These living food
sweeteners will help you create the most delicious desserts ever made. Your
friends and family will be amazed at how delicious they taste. They won't
believe that something tasting this good is actually healthy! Use these foods
in your recipes and have the sweetest year ever!
Michael Snyder
Portland, OR
http://www.therawdiet.com
mike@therawdiet.com
