OVERHAUL YOUR PANTRY (Part 2: Sugar alternatives)

Following on from my last post about overhauling your pantry, in this post I'd like to touch on the use of alternatives for Sugar in your home.

I think most people would be in agreeance that sugar tastes good. In fact it tastes too good! This year I have made a conscious effort to significantly reduce the amount of sugar my family is having in our overall diet. I strongly believe that the reduction in sugar in this household has not only made a massive difference in the behavioural changes within our 4 boys but also help to shed further weight that I had not managed to shift for close to ten years!

Sugar was my drug of choice! I know that up until recently I was addicted to it. My body would tell me when it thought it needed it (3pm slump anyone) and I am sure that I was eating sugar in almost every item that entered my mouth. It would start with my breakfast cereal. A label of low sugar on a cereal packet still means sugar is in it. I was having sugar in my low fat choccy milk, sugar in my coffee, sugar in sauces, sugar added to some juices, sugar in muesli bars, sugar in chocolate, sugar in frozen coke, sugar in my salsa dip, even sugar in the bread we were buying! No matter where you look you will find sugar in processed foods, even in things you weren't expecting!!

Best solution to cutting down sugar (let's face it, cutting it out completely is near impossible) is to eat as many homemade foods as your time will allow. I found the easiest way to the cut the time factor down and make a multitude of things from scratch was using my Thermomix. If you haven't heard about a Thermomix then you'll just have to wait for another blog post to come, or go google it. You certainly won't run out of things to read about this incredible machine! In saying that please feel free to use your standard food processor to make my recipes, you may just find it takes slightly longer or you may need to buy certain items in their milled or ground forms (eg: buying almond meal instead of making your own).

My favourite natural sweetener of choice as an alternative to sugar is Agave Syrup (sometimes called Agave nectar). Agave syrup is produced from the nectar of a mexican cactus. This stuff seriously tastes awesome and whilst it is still a sweetener it comes with great health benefits that it's counterpart doesn't. One of the best reasons I love using Agave syrup is because it is so sweet you really don't need a hell of a lot of it. Here are some other reasons you should try using it:

• Agave syrup has a low GI (glycemic index) of between 10 and 19, significantly lower than other sweeteners. Honey has a GI of 35-58 whilst sugar has a GI of 60.
• Low GI carbohydrates, such as agave syrup, can prevent your blood-sugar levels from rising too high, which can lead to high triglycerides and an increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and heart problems.
• Agave syrup has a consistency similar to honey yet it is not quite as viscous (sticky) so it is easily dissolved into things such as baked goods and yoghurt.

I buy my agave from Flannery's Health Foods. I am sure most health food stores or bulk food suppliers would also stock this. If you want to give it a go then I suggest you buy a small amount and try it on for taste. Use it anytime you would normally use sugar but start out by cutting the quantity by half until you work out the right balance for you. Remember though it is still a sweetener and therefore contributes to your overall calorie intake so best to be careful not to go too silly with it!

Another alternative worth considering is Stevia. Stevia is also a natural sweetener but it is made from the leaf of the stevia plant. It is considered to be approx 300 times sweeter than sugar so very little is required. Stevia contains no calories and therefore has no effect on blood sugar levels, making it suitable for diabetics. I find that Stevia has quite a bitter aftertaste. It is for this reason I use only a small amount of Stevia liquid drops to help reduce my overall Agave or maple syrup quantity. I know of some people who can purely replace all their sweetened products with stevia but unfortunately the aftertaste means I am unable to do so. Still don't discount using this product in addition to other sweeteners to lower their total content and therefore reduce your overall caloric intake.

My other favourite natural sweetener is Pure organic maple syrup. Maple syrup comes from the sap of the Maple tree, grown in abundance throughout Canada. It contains significant amounts of zinc and manganese, as well as amino acids. Compared to honey it has 15 times more calcium and 1/10 as much sodium. I also find like agave it is considerably sweeter than sugar and full in flavour that you often need less than you would normally would need using sugar.

My recipes that will follow on within this blog will often list agave syrup and stevia as my sweetener. Feel free to use honey instead (or sugar if really necessary) but keep in mind the reason I avoid sugar as much as possible is because it is easy to eat too much of it collectively over the course of a day and can be quite addictive in the long term!