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Did You Know...

...that sugar is the only taste humans are born craving? And that lemons contain more sugar than strawberries?

photo courtesy of 123rf

A few weeks back we touched a wee bit on sugar and how it can have a dullifying effect on our skin which led to a little face cleanser action here. Well this week we must speak of such things again.

I received samples of some "sugar" from the people over at PureVia. I tried it. I liked it. So now I will tell you a little more about it. Visit their site for their back story. PureVia has a very indepth website and a great Frequently Asked ?'s set up.

Last year some time, during our family vacation we visited my husbands Aunt that lives in a nice little nook of the North where the sun shines on her many plants, posies, and flowers. She was giving us the grand tour of her outdoor tamed wilderness when she plucked something off a plant and said "Taste this." I grew up with that saying and have grown to trust virtually anyone that has eaten a portion of something first and THEN said to me "taste this." Needless to say, I ate it. It was really sweet and it had a slight licorice aftertaste. Not in a bad way though. I was intrigued. She said that the plant sells out quickly every time they come into her local plant shop. When you taste it you could see why. I asked her how does she use it and she uses it as a sweetener in a lot of things: baking, teas, cereal. She just grinds it up for different uses.

As I was researching sugar and all the whatnot I came across some controversy (ooo drama!) over the sugar companies and the stevia producing companies. It is quite extensive and in depth and it's already all spelled out in this really great article here on nutritionwonderland. It is a 3 Part Series of articles so steep some tea and pull up a chair...

I am trying to replace sugar in my diet. Not ALL sugar but just the quote-unqoute bad sugars. I want a more naturally sweetened diet. Some foods have natural sugars and others have refined sugars. Natural is the desired kind of course. Where can you find these alternatives? Here's a list that should be helpful:

AVOID!

White sugar

Dextrose

Corn syrup

Fructose

High fructose corn syrup

Sucrose

and instead try these and....

INDULGE! (wisely of course)

Pure maple syrup

Rapadura (dehydrated cane sugar juice)

Molasses

Raw unfiltered honey

Stevia

Applesauce

Even though there are natural sweeteners to replace refined sugars you still need to use them in moderation. Everything in balance as Shakespeare says (I think). I used my PureVia in some lemonade. It tasted wonderful. It was sweet and delicious and after I am done with my bag of sugar now I know what I will be replacing it with!

Have any of you ever tried this or any of it's counterparts?

Let me know what you use it for. Maybe I'll put up some recipes for a later post, eh?

My best,

Lynn

Music: Black Eyed Peas "I Gotta Feeling" performed on Oprah. They pulled off a spectacular flash mob of spontaneous dancers to surprise O. Love it. Play it.