Yesterday I went grocery shopping with my husband. Our strategy is divide and conquer to get through the aisles quicker. I made my usual trip down the baking needs aisle I perused their options of alternate sweeteners. I scanned past the Truvia and Nectresse as I am pretty sure anything white and crystalline is refined. Then I saw Agave Nectar on the top shelf. It seemed fitting. Agave is used to make Tequila and good Tequila is kept on the top shelf so it can't be bad right? But as I reached for it I saw light Agave Nectar and dark Agave Nectar. I drew my hand back. "Which do I choose?" I reach back up and turn the bottles around. They have the same ingredients and same number of calories. Something seemed fishy. I eyed them suspiciously. The light and dark bottles stood there stoically, but they gave up no secrets. They looked a little too similar to the light and dark corn syrup bottles. I decided to pass them off and instead reached for two boxes of Sugar in the Raw, confident that I made the right choice. But even as I placed them in my cart I wondered what exactly made Sugar in the Raw different than brown sugar, or better than anything else. I then went home to get serious with research.
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Phase I: Definition If you google "refined sugar" you find more links warning you against all the alleged health hazards it has, than informing you how it's actually made. After screening through several pages reminding me how it's going to make me obese, diabetic, rot my teeth, and make me prone to cardiovascular disease, dementia and macular degeneration; I really expected to find something evil in the process of taking raw cane sugar and refining it into the common household table sugar. Not so much. The worst I found was sulfur dioxide is the bleaching agent. It's also used as a preservative in dried fruits. In large quantities it can also cause stomach GI disturbances. But overall the sugar refining process looked a lot like the same process used to make rum. Phase II: What is it that I can and can't eat? OMG! Does that mean rum is off my diet? I was alarmed, that I also inadvertently signed on to a non-alchoholic diet, but after further reasearch and consulting with my husband, my Sailor Jerry's and his home brew are safe. (Unless if I decide to go gluten free) For everything else I'll just have to read labels more often (oh so fun). But I did discover that my St. Dalfour fig fruit spread is diet friendly! This is going to be easier than I thought. I'll have to start a working list of what I can and cannot eat. Right now it's anything that includes refined sugar. I'm thinking I should extend that to those fake no calorie sugars (even the ones made from stevia) as they are also processed in order to be made. My strongest doubt is my chocolate cravings. My prediction is that at some point during this journey I may end find myself eating a bar of 100% carob in desperation. But I'll probably have to read the label first. Further knowledge on this subject to follow. |
AuthorI believe in challenging yourself and starting something new and that happiness is in your perception of yourself and your life. Archives
January 2014
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