Guide to Natural Sweeteners

Yesterday, we talked about one of the Maker's superfoods: raw honey. But there are other sweeteners as well that meet the Maker's specifications for health. They must all be used in moderation (even honey) as excess use can upset body chemistry just as much as white sugar does, (albeit white sugar does mess things up every time, not just when used in moderation!) but there are some really good ones out there.

I know we're in the middle of a series on the Maker's superfoods, but I thought I'd pause while on the topic of raw honey to show you which sweeteners will bring health to your family, and which won't!

Accepted sweeteners on the Maker's Diet: (see p. 224)

1. Organic, raw honey (see my post yesterday)
2. Organic, whole, unrefined evaporated sugar cane juice: aka "Rapadura"
3. Organic maple syrup
4. Organic Stevia

Ok, so now some explanations are in order. What on earth is Rapadura, and what really counts as "raw" honey?

These definitions are taken from p. 537 of Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions.

1. Organic, raw honey:
"Honey that has not been heated over 117 degree is loaded with amylases, enzymes that digest carbohydrates, as well as all the nutrients found in plant pollens... Glucose tolerance tests indicate that, for most people, honey does not upset blood sugar levels as severely as does refined sugar. Buy honey labeled "raw and use it in desserts that do not require heating."

2. Organic maple syrup:
"The concentrated sap of huge deciduous trees, maple syrup is rich in trace minerals, brought up from below ground by teh tree's deep rots. It imparts a wonderful flavor to cream-based desserts and may be used in baked goods, such as muffins and pancakes. Unfortunately, formaldehyde is used in the production of most commercial maple syrup."

3. Organic Rapadura:
"Rapadura is the commercial name for dehydrated cane sugar juice, which the people of India have used for thousands of years. It is rich in minerals, particularly silica. Rapadura has a wonderful flavor and closely mimics sugar in chemical properties. It gives the best results for cookies and cakes but be careful not to overdo- in large amounts Rapadura can upset the body chemistry just as much as sugar..."

4. Stevia Powder:
"A sweet powder made from a South American herb, stevia can be used by those who are sensitive even to natural sweeteners. As it does not add bulk, it is difficult to use successfully in baked goods; but stevia powder is a good sweetener for salad dressings, smoothies, whipped cream and pie crusts."

In our family, we love using organic raw honey and organic dehydrated cane juice (Rapadura) for our sweeteners of choice. The Rapunzel brand of Rapadura is a really good one. Look at your local health food market for it or buy it online:

http://www.rapunzel.com





You already know about our family's favorite brand of raw honey, Really Raw Honey. We don't use organic maple syrup often, but when we do, it is delicious in plain, organic whole milk yogurt (preferably raw if possible) and on sprouted/soaked pancakes! You can buy organic Stevia at your local health food market if you want to give it a shot. I'm sure you can also find it easily online!

A note on the Rapadura: there is serious confusion regarding this type of sugar. That's because there are all kinds of sugars marketed as "natural" and healthy these days. Some of them are healthy, and others are not. Your best bet is to stick with the products I have outlined above, to spare yourself confusion and to ensure you are getting the highest amount of nutrients possible in your sweeteners. (Even though they really should be used sparingly, but it's totally unrealistic to never have sweets!)

For example, there is also "evaporated cane juice," "turbinado sugar," "sugar in the raw," etc. It is very confusing to walk down a health food store aisle. What I have discovered in my research is that all of these sugars are processed differently. Some, like "turbinado" and "sugar in the raw" are not too far removed from white sugar. They also metabolize in your body like white sugar does. Basically, I only use and recommend using Rapadura and evaporated cane juice. Sugar labeled "Rapadura" (Rapunzel is the only brand I know of marketing this product in the U.S.) is the absolute most pure form of sugar. However, evaporated cane juice is OK, but Rapadura is the purest, with the most nutrients and minerals intact.

My advice: if you want a white sugar subsitute that's not a liquid (e.g. honey or maple syrup) then use Rapadura. However, most organic sweets that are marketed (like Julie's ice cream, the best ice cream I have ever tasted!) in health food stores will contain evaporated cane juice. I think this is OK for these limited products, but it shouldn't be most food that you eat. I.e., make it the exception, not the rule! It's always best to make your own sweets with your Rapadura anyway!

I don't use other types of sugar because most of them are more refined. So if a product says, "Organic sugar" I won't buy it, because I don't have any way of knowing the processing of that product. I'll talk some more the next post about sugars and sweeteners you should avoid.

In the meantime, go get some Rapadura! ;)

Get Healthy with the Maker's Superfoods! Part 2

Want to sweeten your life? Do it the natural way with organic, raw and unfiltered honey. Honey is truly a biblical food. But the plastic bear at the grocery store full of processed, adulterated honey doesn't hold a candle to the real stuff:

Superfood/Healing Food #2: Honey
(from p. 151 of the Maker's Diet, by Jordan Rubin)

"The Creator chose to use honey to describe the abundance of the Promised Land, calling it the land of "milk and honey" (Exod. 13:5). Honey is on the of the most powerful healing foods we have at our disposal. Generations of grandmothers prepared hot honey drinks to soothe sore throats, calm frayed nerves, and ensure a good night's sleep. Asthmatics often swear by honey's ability to help them breathe easier. Honey wipes out bacteria that cause diarrhea. And honey may eliminate such disease-causing bacteria as salmonella, Shigella, E.coli, and cholera.

The Bible implies a strong influence of butter and honey on brain function. "Curds [butter] and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good" (Isa 7:15). The brain is made of mostly fat (which butter provides), and it runs on glucose (of which honey is an excellent source). Always look for high-quality honey produced locally and sold in its raw and unheated form- this preserves its rich storehouse of naturally occuring enzymes and bee pollen."

We love raw, organic honey in our house! We use it every day in smoothies, and for peanut butter/honey sandwiches. We also enjoy it in tea. We absolutely LOVE a brand called Really Raw Honey.







This honey is incredible. It is creamy, raw, totally unfiltered, and unprocessed. A few years ago I recommended it to a close friend struggling with insane allergies- it helped her tremendously! It is also amazing for burns, insect bites, and rashes. I have a hunch that it would work great for acne as well- albeit a little sticky!

Support the disappearing honeybees and your body by enjoying God's best natural sweetener- raw honey!

Get Healthy with the Maker's Superfoods! Part 1

This week we are going to talk about how to enrich your life with optimal health, using some of the best food choices that God has provided. We'll discuss the food and its benefit (taken from the Maker's Diet) and then I'll give my personal brand recommendations and recipes!

Superfood/Healing Food #1: Fish and Fish Oil
(from p. 145 of the Maker's Diet, by Jordan Rubin)

"If you follow the precise biblical recommendations for the Creator's seafood, you can ensure health and avoid disease. (See Leviticus 11:9-12.) Fish is a wonderfully rich source of protein, potassium, vitamins and minerals. For those who simply don't get enough cold-water fish, it is imperative that you take a form of high quality cod liver oil every day. Today we understand scientifically that fish and cod liver oil:

• Thin the blood
• Protect the arteries from damage
• Inhibit blood clots (antithrombotic)
• Reduce blood triglycerides
• Lower LDL blood cholesterol
• Lower blood pressure
• Reduce risk of heart attack and stroke
• Ease symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis
• Reduce risk of lupus
• Relieve migraine headaches
• Fight inflammation
• Help regulate the immune system
• Inhibit cancer in animals (and possibly humans)
• Soothe bronchial asthma
• Combat early kidney disease

Much of the healing powers of fish reside in the omega-3 fatty acids that are particularly highly concentrated in cold-water fish such as salmon, sardines, bluefish, herring, lake trout, mackarel, sablefish, white-fish, bluefin tuna and anchovies, as well as in cod liver oil. Doctors have prescribed cod liver oil for more than two hundred years for a number of ailments, including rheumatism and arthritis.

...Studies show that cod liver oil high in omega-3 fats EPA and DHA reduces or eliminates all three risks. {for heart attack and stroke} The higher the levels of omega-3 fatty acids in the blood, the lower your blood pressure and your risk of heart disease and cancer!"

Wow! It's amazing that fish and fish oil can do all that for us! In our house, we all take cod liver oil every day. (Even the little guys.) I could barely take it when we started the Maker's Diet 4.5 years ago, but I developed a technique where I just pour it off a spoon down the back of my throat bypassing my taste buds! :) We take the Garden of Life cod liver oil:













but they also sell capsules if you don't want to take the liquid form. The best place online I've found to purchase supplements is http://www.choicenutritionals.com.

And remember, when you're eating fish, you need to buy wild-caught fish if you want any of the aforementioned health benefits. Eating farm-raised salmon or any other farm raised fish is a good way to ensure you ingest toxins, not the benefits of one of the Maker's top superfoods! For more on the dangers of farmed fish, I'd recommend you check out these articles by Dr. Mercola:

What You Need to Know About Farmed Fish

Farmed Salmon May Increase Your Cancer Risk

Monday's Food for Thought: Drink Your Whole Milk!

Monday's Food for Thought: Drink your (Whole) milk

"When animals are placed on skim milk...the animals develop very poorly. But when four percent butter fat is fed to similar animals, they develop normally. The vegetable oils now being pushed on the American people by organized medicine and self-styled nutrition experts will not work as a substitute for cream.

Skim milk-fed animals develop testicular atrophy with complete sterility. Male sterility is a major concern in our country today and the skim milk fad may be a contributing factor. The test animals also developed severe calcification of most large blood vessels, anemia, and high blood pressure.

Another characteristic of the syndrome that may be of significance in human medicine is the development of calcium deposits around the bone openings in the spine that provided for the exit of nerves. Sciatica and other nerve compression syndromes may be caused by this nutritional deficiency. Also, a decrease in hearing, leading to complete deafness."

William Campbell Douglass, MD The Milk Book

Food For Thought: Do You Still Want to Eat That Ice Cream?

Friday's Food For Thought: from PPNF Health Journal:

"In the old days when ice cream was made of whole eggs, milk and sugar and laboriously cranked out in the old home freezer, a serving of ice cream was only an occasional family treat which didn't do much harm,

Today in this mass producing, synthetic age, it is another matter entirely. Today you may be treating your family to poison!

Ice cream manufacturers are not required by law to list the additives used in the manufacturing of their product. Consequently, today most ice creams are synthetic from start to finish. Analysis has shown the following:

DIETHYLGLYCOL: A cheap chemical used as an emulsifier instead of eggs is the same chemical used in antifreeze and in paint removers.

PIPERONAL: Used in place of vanilla. This chemical is used to kill lice.

ALDEHYDE C-17: Used to flavor cherry ice cream. It is an inflammable liquid also used in aniline dyes, plastic and rubber.

ETHYL ACETATE: Used to give ice cream a pineapple flavor- and as a cleaner for leather and textiles; its vapors have been known to cause chronic lung, liver and heart damage.

BUTYRALDEHYDE: Used in nut flavored ice cream. It is one of the ingredients of rubber cement.

AMYL ACETATE: Used for its banana flavor. It is also used as an oil paint solvent.

BENZYL ACETATE: Used for its strawberry flavor. It is a nitrate solvent.

The next time you are tempted by a luscious looking banana split sundae made with commercial ice cream, think of it as a mixture of antifreeze, oil paint, nitrate solvent, and lice killer; and you won't find it so appetizing!"

What's the Story of Your Food?

From Fighting the Food Giants by Paul Stitt:

"The ones most devastated by the growth of the processed food industry are the populations of the underdeveloped nations. In their insatiable lust for sales, the food monsters are competing for overseas markets. They are pouring millions into Third World advertising campaigns, trying to convince the poor Brazilian farmer that "He Deserves a Break Today," and the starving child of Ghana that "Things Go Better with a Coke."

...The food giants are certainly racking up a lot of victories in the Third World.
Two noted food researchers, Frances Moore Lappe and Joseph Collins, have visited the tiny, rotting stores in the rural areas of poor countries and have found chewing gum sold by the stick, Ritz crackers sold one-by-one, and two-packs of Twinkies split up so the awful things can be sold separately.

This demand for this poison has been generated by food conglomerate advertising which is doing a great job of teaching people in poor lands "that their traditional diets of beans, corn, millet and rice are worthless as compared to what Americans eat." To the food conglomerates, poor people turning from native, whole foods to processed junk means profit; to the people themselves it means death."

We didn't always eat this way, you know. How did processed food become the trademark of all "civilized" societies?

And the most unhealthy societies.

What's the story of your food? Go ask your kids. Why ask your kids? Because someone is paying big money to make sure they eat the same way that you do. And someone is making big money too. In a study of commercials aimed specifically at toddlers and preschoolers, and aired on Nickelodeon, Disney, and PBS, kids viewed 130 food-related commercials during a morning TV watching slot. Of these 130 commercials, more than half were specifically targeted towards kids, and 50 of them were for fast food, and 18 for sweetened cereals.

The study also found that 82% of the advertising on PBS, and 36% of the advertising on the Disney Channel was sponsored by fast-food chains.

Ask yourself: who is making money through the food that I'm buying for myself and my family? Do they really have my best interests in mind?

The answers might shock you.

How To Get Sick: Part 7: Swallow Your Food Without Chewing Well (Or At All)

Now this is one way to get sick that you wouldn't normally think about. Most of us chew our food incredibly quickly, especially children and men! :) We are constantly telling Nathaniel, "Lots of chews!" Some guys eat so fast that they are done with a meal in less than 5 minutes. Or even 10! If you can eat a full meal in less than 10 minutes, you're not chewing enough.

Here's why it's important to chew your food:

# 7 Way to Get Sick:
A Modern Prescription for Illness: Swallow your food without chewing well (or at all) (p.91 of the Maker's Diet)

"Chewing is extremely important to proper digestion. The chewing reflex signals the body to release saliva containing the salivary enzyme ptyalin, a form of amylase, which begins to break down carbohydrates. Parotid glands behind the ears signal the thymus gland to produce T-cells just in case the food contains toxins or pathogens. The ultimate goal of the process is to deliver food to the stomach in a liquid state.

I'm convinced my habit of "wolfing down my food" in chunks contributed to the development of Crohn's disease in my body. Horace Fletcher, who lived in the early 1900's, had a wasting disease known as Addison's disease, which produced major digestive problems and weight loss. Mr. Fletcher allegedly cured himself by chewing each mouthful of food thirty-five to fifty times. His story inspired others who began chewing their food thoroughly; they called themselves "Fletcherizers."

Don't go calling yourself a "Rubinizer," but I do recommend chewing each bite twenty-five to fifty times as needed- especially when eating foods high in carbohydrates such as grains, sugars, and starches. Always eat sitting down, and avoid watching TV, arguing, or doing something that requires concentration."

I dare you to count how many times you are chewing each bite- I bet you will be surprised with how few times you chew your food! Remember, your food will get broken down into a liquid form at some point- but if you don't do the right job, you will tax your digestive system, feel less full and thereby eat more overall, and spend your body's energy on doing the job you didn't do, taking away from the mental energy and focus you need to make it through your day! So go and chew!