Replacing Refined Sugars with Natural Sugars One Step At a Time

I decided last year to stop buying white sugar. Why? Well, I'm not the greatest cook yet, so I'm trying new recipes regularly; but I found that it was too easy for me to use white sugar in things instead of finding substitutes...because I had it on hand. So when I ran out of it one day last year, I decided that was my last day to have it in my house...at least for an experiment.  It has now been about nine months that we have been white-sugar-free in our house.  Do you want to take the challenge? You don't have to go cold turkey, but here is some info to help you make the switch from white sugar to better alternatives. This is an article from westonaprice.com, and for more details on which sweeteners to choose, see our post about your options Replacing Refined Sugars with Natural Sugars One Step At a Time

The average American now consumes 175 pounds of sugar per year! That's 46 teaspoons a day! If we pretend that sugar actually had some benefits, eating one-half pound every day would not seem like such a bad idea. But the truth is that sugar has absolutely no nutritional value whatsoever. Not only does it totally lack nutrients, but when you eat sugar it actually robs your body of nutrients-- vitamins, minerals and even enzymes. Sure sugar may be temporarily pleasing to the taste buds, but the rest of the body suffers for it. The sad thing is that most people are not aware of the devastating effects that excess sugar consumption has on the body. The cartoon illustrates a typical day for many Americans and how the standard American diet affects our health, especially the way we think and feel. Panel 1. Who has time for breakfast? Eating a typical high carb breakfast or skipping it all together can have a major impact on the rest of your day. Here's why: Blood sugar (glucose) is the fuel for every single cell in your body. So naturally you want your fuel supply to be constant all day long. Eating balanced meals at regular intervals throughout the day is necessary to maintain this balance. Breakfast is important because it lays the foundation for the rest of the day. Typical breakfast foods--cold cereal, bagels, donuts, pancakes, waffles, or even oatmeal with sugar, fruit, toast with jam, and fruit juice--are all high in sugars and simple carbohydrates which cause the blood sugar to spike up and then crash. Panel 2. The morning crash The "crash" actually has a medical word for it--hypoglycemia. It is a state of low blood sugar, not actually a disease. When your blood sugar drops too low (after eating a high sugar, high carb meal) or stays too low (after eating nothing at all) many symptoms can occur. The first symptoms to set in are usually mental difficulties, because the brain requires a lot of fuel to do its job. So you may have trouble concentrating or processing information, being forgetful, or feeling mentally dull. Other symptoms include anxiety, feeling overwhelmed, irritable (especially when hungry), depression, crying spells, addictive behavior and cravings for sweets or starches. And, of course, if your fuel supply drops too low, fatigue will obviously be a factor. Many people rely on caffeine to pick themselves up when they crash, creating a "tired-wired" feeling. Many are not aware that the caffeine creates further problems by weakening the adrenal glands which produce hormones that help your body deal with stress. Panel 3. Lunch on the go It's common for many people to rush through lunch, grabbing something quick and convenient, basically whatever it takes to make the hungry feeling go away. Convenience foods are high in refined carbohydrates, which not only perpetuate the up-and-down cycle of the blood sugar roller coaster, but also weaken the immune system. Studies have shown that the ingestion of 100-gram portions of carbohydrates, such as glucose, fructose, sucrose, honey, and orange juice, all significantly reduced the ability of neutrophils to engulf and destroy bacteria. These effects started less that 30 minutes after ingestion and lasted for over five hours.1 Eating sugar throughout the day is a constant assault on the immune system. Even if you don't think you eat a lot of sugar, you'd be surprised at how quickly 100 grams can add up. Just 10 gum drops, three pancakes with syrup, four pretzel rods and a pop, or even a "healthy" meal like oatmeal with raisins, a banana, and a glass of orange juice, are all well over 100 grams each! Panel 4. The afternoon crash Ever feel that slump in the middle of the afternoon? You know, when you're so exhausted the only thing you can think about is taking a nap. This is the time when most people go in search of some caffeine and sugar to pick themselves up quickly--especially at work because falling asleep at your desk doesn't go over really well with your boss! The problem with the quick "pick-me-up" is that in no time your blood sugar crashes down again. "What goes up quickly, comes down quickly" applies to your blood sugar as well as other things in life! These "pick-me-up" convenient snack foods are high in refined carbohydrates, such as white flour and white sugar, which rob the body of enzymes, minerals and vitamins, especially B vitamins. B vitamins are essential for proper brain and nervous system function. A deficiency in B vitamins includes symptoms like depression, anxiety, panic attacks, heart palpitations, and muscle weakness and tenderness, to name a few. Panel 5. Who feels like cooking dinner? I'm sure at one time or another, possibly every day of your life, you have felt like the woman in our cartoon; let's call her Suzie. Suzie has deprived her body of the proper nutrients and fuel it needs to do its job. It's no wonder that she, just like millions of other Americans, feels so exhausted by the end of the day. So when she comes home from work, taking the time to prepare a nourishing meal for herself and her family is probably the last thing on her mind. The problem is that now Suzie's poor eating habits--and all the problems caused by poor eating habits--are being passed on to her children. So after loading up on a convenient high-carb meal, Suzie, as well as the rest of the family, is likely to experience symptoms of low blood sugar, creating an evening full of mood swings, tension and chaos. Panel 6. Why can't I sleep? At the end of a long day of exhausting your body with a poor diet, sleep couldn't come soon enough. But for those who have sugar-handling problems, falling asleep and staying asleep can be quite a challenge. The purpose of sleep is to heal and repair, and the body requires fuel for this work. So if your body doesn't have enough fuel to do its job, chances are you'll find yourself just lying there in bed, unable to fall into a deep sleep no matter how exhausted you may feel. If staying asleep is the problem, you've simply run out of fuel, so you find yourself staring at the clock at 2:57 A.M. unable to go back to sleep. Not only does a lack of sleep further weaken your immune system, but it also causes an even deeper level of fatigue, weakness, anxiety and nervousness. This is an example of what can occur during a typical day in the life of an American who eats the standard American diet. And this is just one day. Over time, this pattern can seriously affect the way that we think and feel, and ultimately our overall health. It's much easier to enjoy life when you're healthy! Before we can build good health, we have to stop doing the things that destroy it--eliminating white sugar is a great start! The following program will help you replace refined sugar with natural sugars, one step at a time. Step 1. Eliminate all sugar drinks Avoid all sodas, powdered drinks, sports drinks and fruit juices (basically anything in a can, bottle or drink box). Instead, drink plenty of clean water (reverse osmosis filtration is best). It can be flavored with juice of lemon, orange, or essential oils like cinnamon, tangerine or peppermint. Also, herb teas make tasty drinks and come in many delicious flavors (but avoid those with added "flavorings"). Try serving tea chilled and add a pinch of stevia (a natural low-calorie sweetener available at health food stores). If you have access to some sour lacto-fermented drinks or are willing to make them, these would be great. Step 2. Limit sugar foods to three times per week Even if you don't think you eat a lot of sweets, you might be surprised at how quickly they can add up without your even knowing, especially if you have a habit of "unconscious grazing." Use this step to help you pay close attention to the foods you put in your body. Food journaling can be quite helpful for some people. Most important, pay attention to how you feel after eating sweets. Once you have given up the habit of eating sweets on a daily basis, it is common to experience symptoms like nausea, headache, fatigue, or dizziness after indulging in sweets. After giving up sweets for a while, many people say that they don't even taste that good anymore. Step 3. Make a habit of eating at least three good meals per day One of the best ways to overcome cravings for sweets is to eat balanced meals at regular intervals throughout the day. To build a balanced meal, begin with a protein (complete protein is anything from an animal), include a natural source of carbohydrates (veggies, legumes, properly prepared whole grains, or fruits), and don't forget the good fats (butter, lard, tallow, coconut, oil, palm oil, and olive oil). Don't be afraid to eat lots of good fat at every meal. Fats slow down the entry of sugar into the blood stream and prevent those morning and afternoon crashes. If your breakfast, lunch and dinner are filled with nutritious, high-fat foods, you probably won't even think about snack foods between meals. Step 4. Replace refined sugars with natural sugars Get in the habit of reading labels and avoid products made with white sugar, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, sucrose, dextrose, fructose, and ALL artificial sweeteners. Instead use natural sweeteners, including pure maple syrup, molasses, stevia, Rapadura (dehydrated cane sugar juice) or raw unfiltered honey. Many health food stores offer products made with natural sweeteners, like cookies and ice cream, and even licorice, although it is better to make your own. Use this step to help you become acquainted with all the natural alternatives to replace refined sugar products. Step 5. Limit natural sweets to three times per week Blood sugar imbalances occur after eating too many sweets, even the natural ones! So it's important to limit even the natural sweets in your diet. And remember, the best way to prevent sweets from causing a major crash in blood sugar is to avoid eating them by themselves. Instead include dessert as part of a balanced meal. A steak with some steamed veggies, a salad topped with olive oil-based dressing, and a couple of natural cookies made with butter and eggs would be a healthy and balanced way to include dessert. Avoid having dessert with a meal that is high in carbohydrates like pasta, bread, or rice. Eliminating refined sugar can be quite a challenging step, but the incredible impact it will have on your overall health and well-being is definitely worth it! Set a target date for accomplishing each step and be sure to complete one step before moving on to the next one. Be patient with yourself through this process. Many times people try to quit sugar "cold turkey," but end up dreaming about it all day long until eventually they binge on sweets. Then they are right back on the blood-sugar roller coaster. The goal is to stabilize your blood sugar by eating balanced meals at regular intervals throughout the day so that you no longer crave sweets. True success comes when you do eat sweets and they no longer taste good, better yet, they give you a headache, make you nauseous, tired, dizzy and depressed! Sidebar How to Stabilize Your Blood Sugar Blood sugar (glucose) is the fuel for every single cell in your body. Eating balanced meals at regular intervals throughout the day is the most important thing we can do to keep our fuel supply stable. In order to know how to balance a meal, it is necessary to understand how different foods burn. I like to use a simple campfire analogy to explain this to clients. Food burns a lot like a nice campfire. Fats are like the big log in the fire that burns for a long time. Fats are slow-burning fuels that help to stabilize blood sugar and allow you to go between meals without feeling so hungry. Fats also send a signal to your brain to tell you when you're satisfied, so you know when to stop eating. This explains why people on lowfat diets are so hungry all the time. Eating fats at every meal helps to control your appetite. The best fats for consumption are butter, lard, tallow, coconut oil, palm oil or olive oil. Good fats should be included with every meal. Protein is like the teepee which provides the support and structure for the campfire. Protein is the building block for every single cell in the body. It's what the body uses to heal and repair. Protein also supplies the body with amino acids which help to stabilize blood sugar and reduce cravings for carbohydrates. Complete protein comes from animal sources and should be the base of every meal. Carbohydrates are quick burning fuels which are like the kindling in the campfire. Carbohydrates that are high in fiber burn a little slower, like little twigs. The processed carbohydrates like white bread, sugared cereals, candy, cakes, cookies, crackers, pasta, and bagels burn up more quickly, like leaves and paper. And what would happen if you threw a bunch of twigs, leaves, and paper in a pile and lit them on fire? You'd get a huge blaze and then it would burn out quickly. The same thing happens when you eat a meal of nothing but carbohydrates, even the natural ones like fruits, vegetables and whole grains. So to keep your blood sugar stable, think of building a nice campfire at each meal. Start with your protein teepee, add some natural carbohydrate kindling, and be sure to include your big fat log to keep your fire burning strong!

Grain Challenge - February: Barley

           from www.wholegraincouncil.org

BARLEY AT A GLANCE

How important is barley to civilization? Aside from its use as food, barley is the root of the English measurement system. In 1324 Edward II of England standardized the inch as equal to “three grains of barley, dry and round, placed end to end lengthwise." The foot, the yard, the mile, and all other English measurements followed on. 

Barley is highest in fiber of all the whole grains, with common varieties clocking in at about 17% fiber, and some, such as the variety called Prowashonupana barley (marketed by Conagra asSustagrain), having up to 30% fiber! (For comparison, brown rice contains 3.5% fiber, corn about 7%, oats 10% and wheat about 12%.) While the fiber in most grains is concentrated largely in the outer bran layer, barley's fiber is found throughout the whole grain, which may account for its extraordinarily high levels.

But the goodness of whole grains comes from more than fiber. Whole grain barley is high in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals essential to health, too. However, much of the barley eaten in the U.S. is pearled or pearl barley, which is missing some or all of its bran layer. 

As it grows in the field, most barley has an inedible hull adhering tightly to the grain kernel. The easiest, quickest way to remove this inedible hull is to scrape (pearl) it off without worrying too much about how much bran comes off at the same time. To make sure you're enjoying true whole grain barley, looked for hulled barley (barley where the inedible hull was removed carefully, keeping any bran loss to insignificant levels) or hulless barley (a different variety that grows without a tightly-attached hull).

	Barley, growing in a field This is what barley looks like as it grows in the field. Most barley is what's called "covered barley," which means it has a tough, inedible outer hull around the barley kernel. This covering must be removed before the barley can be eaten. A less common variety, referred to as "naked" barley, has a covering, or hull, that is so loose that it usually falls off during harvesting.
	Hulled Barley (sometimes called Dehulled Barley) Hulled barley is covered barley that has been minimally processed to remove only the tough inedible outer hull. It's challenging to remove the hull carefully so that some of the bran is not lost – but that's what must be done for covered barley to be considered whole grain.  (see Pearl Barley, below)
	Hulless Barley This type of barley has an outer hull that's so loosely attached to the kernel that it generally falls off during harvesting. This cuts down on processing and ensures that all of the bran and germ are retained.
	Barley Grits When barley kernels are cut into several pieces, they become grits. Read the label carefully: grits from hulled or hulless barley are whole grain, but grits created by cutting up pearl barley are not considered whole grain.
	Barley Flakes If barley flakes remind you of oatmeal (rolled oats), it's because they're created the same way, by steaming kernels, rolling them, and drying them. As with barley grits, flakes can be made from whole grain barley or from pearl barley, with only the former considered to be whole grains. Barley flakes cook faster, because they've been lightly steamed and because of their greater surface area.
	Barley Flour Barley flour is used in baked goods and as a thickener for soups, stews and gravies. While it contains gluten, the protein that helps baked goods rise, the type of gluten in barley flour does not promote adequate rising on its own, so barley flour is usually used with wheat flour. Look for whole grain barley flour, ground from hulled or hulless barley, not from pearl barley.
	Pearl Barley (not a whole grain) Pearl barley has been polished, or "pearled" to remove some or all of the outer bran layer along with the hull. If it's lightly pearled, pearl barley will be tan colored (top photo); if it's heavily pearled, barley will be quite white (bottom photo). Most of the barley found in the typical supermarket is pearl barley. Although it is technically a refined grain, it's much healthier than other refined grains because (a) some of the bran may still be present and (b) the fiber in barley is distributed throughout the kernel, and not just in the outer bran layer. Pearl barley cooks more quickly than whole grain barley.
	Quick Pearl Barley (not a whole grain) Quick barley is a type of barley flake that cooks in about 10 minutes, because it has been partially cooked and dried during the flake-rolling process. Although barley flakes can be whole grain and technically it would feasible to create quick whole grain barley (similar to quick oats, which are whole grain), the quick barley commercially available today is made from pearl barley and so is not whole grain.

HEALTH BENEFITS OF BARLEY

In scientific studies, barley has been shown to reduce the risk of many diseases, and to provide important health benefits. Barley offers many of the same healthy vitamins and minerals as other whole grains, but many think its special health benefits stem from the high levels of soluble beta-glucan fiber found in this grain.

According to a recent review in the journal Minerva Med, beta-glucans reduce cholesterol, help control blood sugar, and improve immune system function. New research even indicates that beta-glucans may be radioprotective: they may help our bodies stand up better to chemotherapy, radiation therapy and nuclear emergencies.

• Barley, like all whole grains, reduces blood pressure.
• Eating barley has been shown to lower LDL "bad" cholesterol and may help reduce the risk of heart disease.
• A flood of recent research indicates that barley's ability to control blood sugar may be exceptional, offering an important tool against rising rates of diabetes.
• Barley has more protein than corn, brown rice, millet, sorghum or rye, and is higher in fiber and lower in soluble (starch) carbohydrates than almost all other whole grains.
• Barley may help you feel full longer, and thereby help you control your weight.
• Barley – even pearl barley – may help reduce visceral fat and waist circumference.

How to store

Raw/uncooked barley (pearl barley, whole grain barley kernels, barley flour, barley flakes, barley grits) should be stored in an airtight container in a cool place, preferably in the refrigerator or freezer.  If refrigerated or frozen in an airtight container, raw/uncooked barley may be stored for about 6 months.

Cooked barley (pearl or whole grain kernels) may be stored for a short time prior to using.  Place cooked pearl or whole grain barley kernels in an airtight container and refrigerate or freeze for up to a week.  For best results, bring refrigerated or frozen barley to room temperature before using.

COOKING TIPS

Cooking time: pearled, 45-60 minutes; hulled, 90 minutes

Liquid per cup of grain: 3 cups

How to cook barley: Combine barley and water in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until tender.

To cook pearl barley: In medium saucepan with lid, bring 3 cups water to a boil.  Add 1 cup pearl barley and return to boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover and cook 45 minutes or until barley is tender and liquid is absorbed.  Makes about 3 to 3-1/2 cups.

In a crock pot or slow cooker: Place 2-1/2 cups boiling water, 1 cup pearl barley and 1/2 teaspoon salt in crock pot or slow cooker.  Cover and cook on HIGH for approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes.  

To cook whole grain barley kernels:  In medium saucepan with lid, bring 3 cups water to a boil.  Add 1 cup whole grain barley kernels and return to boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover and cook about 50 to 55 minutes.  Makes about 3 cups.  Note: Because whole grain barley retains most of the outer bran layer, the kernels tend to absorb less liquid during the cooking process.  It may be necessary to pour off any remaining liquid after 50 to 55 minutes of cooking time.  Compared to pearl barley, whole grain barley tends to be chewier in texture and produces a more robust flavor.

Using barley flour: Barley flour adds a subtle nutty flavor and fiber to baked goods.  While barley flour contains gluten, the protein that makes baked goods rise, the type of gluten in barley does not promote adequate rising on its own.  So it’s best to use barley flour in combination with all-purpose enriched wheat or whole wheat flour.  As a rule of thumb, barley flour may be substituted for about 1/4 of the total flour used in yeast breads.  For most quick breads, muffins, cookies and bars, barley flour may be substituted for about 1/2 of the total amount of flour used.