Monday, February 25, 2013

crazy facts: coconut sugar


who us??? straight sugar addicts? no?! what gave it away? the snow cones? yeah... ok, you caught me. (side note. check us out! we had only been parents for a few weeks. how nostalgic.)

if you haven't already noticed, we are big fans of coconut sugar around these parts. i vowed to give up white sugar for one year. this may seem crazy -but it is for a good cause- at first it was simple (not) i immediately found myself going through sugar bends and ransacking my cupboards for anything sweet.  i was seriously addicted! i didn't know it, but my body sure wasn't happy when i took it away. it took me about three weeks of purging my body of processed sugar to finally get stable and in control of my cravings. sugar is in everything! high fructose corn syrup and sugars dominate our foods. you've heard this all before. the song and dance is not a new one; But! it sure was making my promise a challenging one. i had to rethink everything. even worse, if i even glanced at a dinner roll i would have "sugar shakes" for a day or two. i immediately found out that gluten was a problem. it would make me crash hard and left me with headaches and a starving stomach all day long.

this is why i've been going gluten free. this is why we have been eating cleaner at our home. this is also why we have been experimenting with fantastic new ingredients. ultimately i am loving the journey! we have been introduced to new and creative flavors and textures that have been exciting and tasty.

but... alas.... like i said before, everything has sugar in it. i needed something for baking muffins. i needed something to add a little summin' summin' to my oatmeal. i wasn't loving agave, and i was conflicted with the actual benefits of this sweetener. all the others, including stevia, were not really all that tasty to me. they tasted too artificial and left me feeling sick after. then i stumbled upon coconut sugar and things changed. i have been so happy with this sugar swap.

not only is it all natural. it is low on the glycemic index, has vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and doesn't leave me with sugar shakes. we order ours on amazon. we still try to stay away from the sweets as much as possible so it takes us a while to go through it. it hasn't seemed like an expensive swap out.

want to learn more about this great sugar? watch this dr oz video.

2 comments:

Jim and Nicole said...

WOW! You two have some serious willplower...I guarentee you I would have the sugar shakes forever, I get a headache if I go a day without a diet coke...:/..bad mommy

the davis family said...

ha ha ha i hear that diet coke is one of the hardest habits to kick. i made a deal with my brother that i wouldn't have it for a year, and so i'm trying my best to stick it out! its been an interesting process though. as i'm typing this, all i can think about is fudge ; )