Thoughtful Thursdays

Maple tree

I'd like to keep today's post short and sweet [really, no pun intended] with some important facts.  I've recently been getting into conversations with friends about health and wellness, particularly sugar.  I'm not going to crawl onto a soap box or anything, I'm just going to share facts as I've researched them.  So, while I'm not on my health soap box I am going to recommend a book entitled Sugar Blues "The shocker that cured millions of the sugar blues.  Will it cure you too?"  


[Disclaimer] It is up to you how and if you are going to research this information or apply it to your own life and if you're going to seek proper medical/nutritional advise.  

Sugar cane

Yesterday, I came across an article in a free health magazine called delicious living all about alternative sweeteners for your family and how to use them.  Here are just the bullet points.  Please read the complete article to receive the benefit of non condensed information.

Sugar varietals

• Agave Nectar- golden or dark brown liquid traditionally derived from the boiled sap of the blue agave plant. Less viscous than honey but thicker than maple syrup.  It's intensely sweet and doesn't crystallize.

• Date Sugar- dehydrated and ground dates.  Grainy texture; deep, earthy color and sweetness.
• Organic granulated Sugar- unbleached, less processed granulated sugar.  Not made from genetically modified sugar beets.

• Brown Rice Syrup- dense liquid made by fermenting brown rice with enzymes to convert starches to sugars.  Thick creamy texture, pale golden color, mild sweetness reminiscent of butterscotch.

• Xylitol-white crystaline alcohol powder once commonly derived from birch bark, now mostly refined corn, berries and plums.  Similar in appearance and sweetness to white sugar.

• Stevia-derived from a shrub; now available in leaf form (ground or whole leaf) and as a refined liquid or powder concentrate. Usually sold in the supplement section.  The raw left is 60 times sweeter than sugar; in concentrated form, stevia is 150 to 300 times sweeter than sugar.

• Palm Sugar-Granulated or chunk sugar made by boiling the sap of coconut palm-tree flowers.  Looks similar to brown sugar; has more robust flavor than white sugar or honey, with hints of caramel and maple syrup.

Happy Thursday, treat yourself well and remain healthy!