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
[email protected]
is coconut palm sugar raw?
Posted by: michelle | August 15, 2010 at 01:12 PM
Thank you for this entry. I have diabetes but I still need to find ways to sate my "sweet tooth." I needed to look for alternative sweeteners to stop my cravings without subjecting my body to harm.
Posted by: diabetic neuropathy treatment | August 09, 2010 at 05:39 AM
I have yet to try yacon but I am going to look for it at the local whole foods to see if they have it.
Posted by: CNNGOcom | January 30, 2010 at 10:31 PM