Cutting out the Sugar

Sugar…more addicting than cocaine?  According to many nutrition experts, sugar is the most addicting substance legally available today.  And guess what…it is in almost every processed food out there.  Various estimates state that the average American eats anywhere between 100 and 150 lbs of sugar a year.  That is a lot of sugar, not to mention a ton of calories!  (Between 175,500 and 263,250 calories).

Now I’m not talking about the sugar found in fruits (fructose) or milk (lactose)…I’m talking about the white stuff (added sugar).  The tough part is, sugar is listed on ingredient labels under so many different names, it can be difficult to keep track of them all!  According to about.com, common names for sugar on ingredient labels include:

• Barley Malt Syrup
• Corn sweetener
• Corn syrup, or corn syrup solids
• Dehydrated Cane Juice
• Dextrin
• Dextrose
• Fruit juice concentrate
• Glucose
• High-fructose corn syrup
• Invert sugar
• Maltodextrin
• Malt syrup
• Maltose
• Maple syrup
• Molasses
• Raw sugar
• Rice Syrup
• Saccharose
• Sorghum or sorghum syrup
• Sucrose
• Syrup
• Treacle
• Turbinado Sugar
• Xylose

I love sugar and sweets just as much as the next person.  I used to crave something sweet every evening like clock work.  I never understood the hold it had over me until I stopped eating added sugar for a period of time and noticed how much better I felt.  This was further confirmed when I went back and ate sugary, sweet treats and then noticed a sluggish, overall cruddy feeling that came over me.  Sugar really does have a negative effect on how you feel.  Not only did it affect how I felt immediately after eating it, but the next day while trying to exercise, I noticed a decrease in my performance as well.

So what do I do now if I need something sweet?  I must say, first of all, I don’t crave sweet things as often, and food that used to not be sweet enough for my tastes is sometimes too sweet now.  But if I do bake and am required to use a sweetening agent, I look for natural, non-processed sweeteners in the form of bananas, honey and unsweetened applesauce.  While these items contain a form of sugar, sugar in this state has a lower glycemic value so won’t spike blood sugar like the white, highly processed form.  Pure maple syrup would be another option…I find this adds too much of the maple flavor for my taste, so I stick to bananas, honey and applesauce.

Does this mean you can never eat sugar??  No, as with anything these days, it is hard to completely avoid processed sugar.  But if you are mindful of what you are eating and avoid it as much as possible, I can tell you, as I did, you will noticed a definite difference in the way you feel and perform during physical activity.

So give it a try.  Give up eating added sugar for a week.  See how you feel.  Do you notice a difference?  Then go and eat a sugary treat…think chocolate or pie and see how you feel then.  I bet you’ll like how you feel avoiding sugar much better than do when you give in to the hold sugar has over so many of us!

Recipe:  Clean Chocolate PB Cupcakes

Credit:  The Kitchen Table – The Eat Clean Diet

Ingredients:

• 1.5c Oatmeal
• 4T Ground Flaxseed
• 3 scoops Chocolate Whey
• 1/2tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2tsp Baking Soda
• 4T Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 1 whole egg
• 1/4c Non-Fat, Plain Greek Yogurt
• 1/2c Unsweetened Applesauce
• 1/2c Natural Peanut Butter – no sugar added
• 1/2c Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk

Instructions:

1.  Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix well.
2.  In another bowl, combine all wet ingredients. Mix well.
3.  Pour wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Mix well.
4.  Divide evenly into greased muffin tins.
5.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Calories: 168.8; Fat: 8.7; Carbs: 13.4; Fiber: 4; Protein: 12.5

YIELD: 12

Enjoy!

Food of the Week: The Banana

This week’s pick for Food of the Week is non other than the simple banana!

Bananen. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bananas are versatile, delicious fruits that have so many different uses, it’s amazing.  They can be eaten as snacks, blended in smoothies or even used as a replacement for eggs or oil in baking.

Some people who are trying to eat healthy shy away from bananas because they think they are too starchy.  Complex carbs like those in bananas are excellent for your health and do no spike blood sugar like eating refined carbs would.  They are also fat, cholesterol and sodium free, and with only 110 calories per serving, bananas are the most popular fruit in the U.S. with Americans eating more bananas per year than both apples and oranges combined.

Photo Credit: http://www.chiquitabananas.com

Just think of all the uses for bananas; smashed bananas are often the first foods infants are started on.  Kids love to eat them either whole or mixed in smoothies for snacks.  When baking, you can often substitute bananas for the eggs or oil in your recipe.  You can even make ‘ice cream’ by blending together frozen bananas with berries, peanut butter or even chocolate for a guilt free cool, refreshing snack.

So next time you’re looking for a power snack, think about a banana.  Whether it be with a little bit of natural, sugar free peanut butter or right out of the peel, you really can beat the banana.

Source: http://www.chiquitabananas.com

Recipe:  Oatmeal Banana Muffins

Ingredients:

2.5 Cup old fashioned oats

1 Cup plain low fat greek yogurt

2 eggs

1/2 Cup honey

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 Tbsp ground flax seed

1 tsp vanilla

2 ripe bananas (the more brown spots the better, means they are sweeter)

Sugar Free or Dark Chocolate Chips, nuts, raisins or the mix-in of your choice

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray with olive oil or line with silicone or foil liners 12 muffin tins.

2. Pulse oats in a food processor for about 10 seconds, and then add remaining ingredients.

3. Continue pulsing until everything is blended and the oats are ground fine.

4. Add chocolate chips, nuts or any other mix-ins you’d like at this point.

5. Divide batter between muffin tins.

6. Bake for 18-20 minutes.

7.  ENJOY!

These muffins are delicious and don’t last long at our house.  We often even eat them for breakfast!