Sugars

I am back in San Diego and can devote some time for writing the blog.  It is next to impossible for me to write the blog while I am in DC.

Sugar is the least complex form of carbohydrate.  There are many misconceptions about different types of sweeteners that I would like to clear up.  One of them is about honey.  Many people use honey in their tea instead of sugar because “honey is better for you”.  Honey may be better for you for other reasons like helping with a sore throat.  But honey is still carbohydrate; in fact a more densely packed carbohydrate.  A lot of people are switching to sugar substitutes like agave nectar.  Again agave nectar is carbohydrate.  It may be good for you for other reasons but for the purposes of reducing weight and getting healthier it is no different than sugar.  A tablespoon of sugar is 15g of carbs and other forms of sugar substitutes are also about the same carb value.  I used to eat a lot of brown sugar because I had believed that “it was better for me”.  It may have been better in the sense that it did not have some of the trace chemicals associated with bleaching the sugar to making it look white, but the carb content of brown or white sugar is exactly the same.  When I ended up in the hospital I decided to give up sugar completely.  I decided not use any of the chemical sweeteners because I am also averse to putting chemicals and non-foods in my mouth.  Now I eat and drink everything without any sugar or sweeteners with one exception, my daily dose of homemade chai.  I use one packet of Stevia in three cups of homemade chai twice a day.  One packet of Stevia-in-the-raw has less than 1g of carbs, and it is not an artificial chemical. 

Chemical sweeteners like saccharine (Sweet and Low), aspartame (Equal), or sucralose (Splenda) have all been linked to possible adverse health effects like cancers, neurological disorders, skin problems, depression, etc.  So why take a chance?  It was easy for me to give up sugar, cold turkey.  It may or may not be easy for you to do so.  If it is not easy for you then slowly, over a period of days or weeks, start reducing the amount of sugar you put in anything and eventually you’ll arrive at zero quantity of sugar.  The good news is that you will start tasting the real taste of food and eventually will start disliking sugary sweetness.

If you are diabetic or are trying to reduce your weight, is it OK to eat ice-cream made with Splenda for dessert?  The answer is:  Yes and No.

No, because substituting Splenda for sugar does not take away the carbs you are going to ingest from milk, cream or fruits included in the ice-cream.

Yes, as long as you count the amount of carbs from other ingredients in the ice-cream towards your total carb consumption for the meal.