Addicted to coffee and want to lose weight?  If that’s what you want, then there’s no problem with that.  Diet coffees are already available for you to consider and they now come in great numbers, so you might find it easy to look for them.

The diet coffees, however, are not that strong to help you lose weight by just drinking a few cups of it.  Still, they must be incorporated into a healthy diet plan for better results.  But before considering them, it is best to note first the rules maintained by the diet plan you are currently considering and drink a cup of diet coffee according to the standards maintained by your diet plan.  

If, for instance, you are using the South Beach diet which is but one of the most popular diet programs known to man, then note that during the phases of South Beach, only artificial sweetener and a low fat milk can be used in your coffee.  Look for those diet coffees that help maintain the level of insulin in your body.  The decaffeinated coffees can do great wonders, so drink a cup or two of it a day.

If Atkins Diet is your preference, then note that there are certain rules to follow when using or drinking coffee.  Before knowing the basics, it is interesting to know first that Atkins Diet is one of the best rivals of South Beach.  This diet is a low carb, high protein diet that sets restrictions to your carbohydrate intake.  Being a low carb diet, the Atkins maintained that a diet coffee with sugar is not the best option.  So when you are using Atkins, don’t use sugar on your coffee.   There are artificial sweeteners out there that you can use to keep your level of carbohydrates low.  Look for them and enjoy a good cup.

Aside from South Beach and Atkins, there is also another popular diet plan that most people have been considering – the Zone Diet.  Basically, the dieters following this plan are allowed to drink coffee that is caffeine-free.  As you may notice, this is also true with the South Beach diet.  Well, you’re right!  Just like South Beach, the rules maintained by the Zone diet when it comes to coffee talks hold that coffees with high level of caffeine are not the best option.  To see better results, the dieters should switch to caffeine-free coffee to keep the insulin from spiking.  Avoid sugar and use the artificial sweeteners, and even low fat milk for a better taste.

Finally worth noting is the use of diet coffee in Blood Type Diet.  Blood Type diet is the diet plan that has nothing to do with lowering your carbohydrates.  Rather, it is founded based on the notion that your blood type has a lot to do with losing weight only if you follow certain restrictions on food intake.  In terms of coffee, it is maintained that a diet coffee can be good for those with a blood type of A and AB.  The type O carrier, however, is not allowed to drink coffee while following this diet plan.  And, just like the above mentioned plans, sweeteners can be used for your cup of diet coffee as they are acceptable for all blood types.

Being diagnosed with diabetes is a life changing event. One of the ways diabetes can alter a person’s life is by suddenly having to adhere to a strict diet. These diets used to include foods that lacked sugar, resulting in less taste and enjoyment. In more recent years, sugar substitutes and a number of artificial sweeteners became available, but many of these substitutes had health concerns associated with them as well as issues with an aftertaste. Diabetes care has advanced through the years, and products such as Splenda have given diabetics more options both at the supermarket and in the kitchen.

Splenda helps make it possible to manage your diet by avoiding excess sugar and calories without having to sacrifice the taste. Splenda is an artificial sweetener, but it tastes similar to natural sugar. Splenda is created from natural sugar and this is one reason why it is used by individuals with diabetes.

Foods made with Splenda retain the sweet taste while providing the necessary health benefits required by a diabetic. The processing that the sugar goes through removes calories and carbohydrates, leaving the taste of the sugar behind. It also eliminates portions of sugar that causes problems for diabetics. The end-result is a sweetener that has the sweet taste of sugar without causing an increase in blood sugar levels or excessive calories that can lead to unwanted weight gain.

Because of the ever-growing popularity of low-sugar and low-calorie foods, a number of food manufacturers have started using Splenda in their products. Due to the availability of sugar-free and low-calorie alternatives to popular food items, individuals with diabetes are able to enjoy foods that they would otherwise have had to do without, including a number of soft drinks and snack foods. Although sugar-free versions of these items existed prior to the creation of Splenda, artificial sweeteners were used in these items that left a bitter aftertaste that limited their popularity. Now that many of these products are being changed to incorporate Splenda as a sugar substitute, it is almost as though an entirely new section of the market is being opened up for diabetics to enjoy.

With an increase in available food options and the availability of Splenda as a sugar substitute, it is much easier for diabetics to have complete control over their diet when cooking at home. This allows individuals with diabetes to eat foods they enjoy without having to worry about the effect that it may have on their blood sugar. It also presents them with the opportunity to cook a number of their favorite foods that they previously could not enjoy. Products such as Splenda make it much easier to control diabetes, since those with the disease no longer feel like they have to watch everything that they eat and they are able to live a more normal life.

Going out to eat has become more accessible to individuals with diabetes since Splenda became a popular sugar alternative. A number of restaurants have started using Splenda to make low-calorie and sugar-free menu items. The popularity of Splenda in restaurant settings seems to be growing by the day. This enables diabetics to enjoy a meal at their favorite restaurant without worrying about their health. It is even possible for them to order dessert and enjoy the same type of snack items that they enjoyed before being diagnosed with diabetes.

Splenda improves the taste of foods, but this is not the only way that it helps those who are living with diabetes. Splenda is also a no-calorie sweetener, meaning that it can be used to help control weight and prevent excessive weight gain. Since increased weight can be dangerous for diabetics, this property of Splenda can literally be a lifesaver. The use of Splenda not only improves the taste of foods for diabetics, but also improves the overall health benefits of the food.

By incorporating Splenda into a regular cooking routine, it is easy to prepare healthy meals that taste great. A solid diet that is low in calories and free of excess sugar can make controlling diabetes much easier, and can quickly help diabetics control their high blood sugar. When combined with careful monitoring of blood sugar, a healthy diet can reduce or eliminate the need for some or all diabetes management medications and can drastically improve the quality of life for those with diabetes.

If you are diabetic, Splenda and other sugar substitutes are an excellent way to enjoy your favorite foods. They are healthy alternatives that provide exactly what you need to enjoy food. Restaurants and special products at the local grocery store are using sugar substitutes. This makes it easy to enjoy many great foods once again.

Health food enthusiasts often question Splenda. Is this sweetener really safe? Does it taste as good as regular sugar? Can I use it in all of my desert recipes? The fact of the matter is that Splenda is actually extremely easy to use, and it is as safe as regular sugar. Actually, there are even health benefits to using Splenda that you don’t find with regular sugar or other kinds of artificial sweeteners. Using Splenda regularly instead of sugar can help make some of your favorite sweet treats better for you. Here are some of the major health benefits of baking with Splenda:

Foods made with Splenda have fewer calories.

Splenda in and of itself is not completely calorie free. This is a version of sugar, but it is hundreds of times sweeter than actual sugar. That means for every calorie of Splenda you use, you are getting a much greater concentration of flavor. So, to add the same amount of sweetness to your food, you are adding a much lower number of calories. Many of the diet foods on the market today, including diet sodas, actually use Splenda instead of sugar so that they are sweeter. Remember, sugar is not the only source of calories in food, so replacing the sugar in a product with Splenda does not necessarily mean it is good for you, it means it can be actually be BETTER for you.

Splenda helps you care for your teeth.

Dentists love Splenda! While this product does not prevent problems if you do not take care of your teeth and will not fix problems if you already have tooth decay and other dental problems, it is a way to ward off the bacteria that causes cavities. Sugar left in your mouth after eating serves as a food for this kind of bacteria. Splenda does not have the same effect, so there is less “food” in your mouth to attract dental problems.

You can cook with Splenda even if you have diabetes.

Splenda is a type of sugar, but the body does not recognize it as sugar in the blood stream. Therefore, you can eat Splenda even if you have diabetes or another sugar-related medical problem. Eating foods made with Splenda should not cause your blood sugar levels to spike. Be careful, however, because many times, the foods using Splenda as a sugar replacement are filled with other ingredients not healthy for someone with a blood sugar problem. Splenda itself is safe, however, even for future mothers dealing with gestational diabetes.

Splenda can help you lose weight.

Because it adds few calories to food and does not have the same effects on the body as sugar, Splenda can actually help people lose weight. Unless you eat lots of sugar and switch entirely to Splenda, you may not see a significant different in your weight, but combined with a healthier diet and exercise, using Splenda can help you achieve weight loss goals. Losing weight is a great way to help you avoid more serious medical conditions like heart disease.

Some Splenda products contain fiber.

If you purchase Splenda with fiber, you will be consuming one gram of fiber for every packet of Splenda you add to your food. Fiber is necessary for help with your digestion, and many people do not get enough fiber from their daily diets. Splenda with fiber does not taste any differently than Splenda without fiber.

Splenda has been found to be completely safe for consumption.

Other the past several decades, artificial sweeteners have been under fire for causing cancer, headaches, depression, and many other problems. However, hundreds of studies have been conducted to measure that safety of Splenda, and these studies showed that it is not a cancer-causing agent, nor does it cause health problems for the average person. Splenda is safe for anyone to consume, from children to pregnant mothers to senior citizens.

There are other benefits, unrelated to health, to using Splenda as well. Compared to other artificial sweeteners, Splenda is quite affordable. It also comes in a number of varieties, such as white granulated “sugar,” brown “sugar,” and a mixture of Splenda and regular sugar. Splenda can be used as a sugar replacement in most recipes, and in recipes that need sugar (like yeast breads); you can add a mixture of Splenda and regular sugar to reduce the calories in the recipe. Splenda reacts differently to heat than most artificial sugars, making it the perfect product to use in your baked goods. Your family probably won’t even notice the difference, so try Splenda today for a sweet new way to manage your health while still enjoying your favorite baked goods.

There are so many good reasons to reduce the amount of sugar in the foods that we eat. Processed sugar, especially in the amounts that we eat it here in the United States, is a major contributor to obesity, and provides very little substantive nutrition for the number of calories that it delivers. While it is easy to reduce sugar in some aspects of your diet, there are some sticking points. If you love to bake, for instance, you’ll find that just cutting out the sugar in many recipes will result in a failed recipe. In many recipes, sugar is more than just a sweetener. It provides texture, contributes to browning and may serve to help other chemical processes happen.

That does not mean you have to give up on baking if you want to cut out sugar. There are a number of tips that can help you reduce sugar in your favorite cakes, cookies and other sweet baked goods and still enjoy them. These tips are helpful for cooking with sweeteners such as Splenda Granular.

Amount
In some recipes, sugar is important for the structure and texture. This is especially true in candies and confections like nougat, and in frostings and sweets. For best results, you really can’t replace the entire amount of sugar with a sugar substitute. You can generally replace about 25% of the sugar called for in the recipe. If you must cook completely sugar free, then try recipes that use other natural sweeteners for flavor and sweetness.

Volume/Height
If your cakes, breads and muffins don’t rise as high when using a granulated sugar substitute, try adding ½ cup of nonfat dry milk powder and half a teaspoon of baking soda for every cup of sweetener that you use.

Bake your cakes and muffins in smaller pans. Instead of 9 inch round cake pans, use 8 inch pans with two inch high sides.

Texture
Cookies and cookie bars often need brown sugar for their texture. If you want to keep that chewy-crunchy bite, you’ll probably need to keep the brown sugar, and only replace the white sugar with a sweetener.

Experiment with your favorite recipes. You can get excellent results by replacing the sugar and much of the fat with applesauce or fruit purees. The best choice for fruit purees? All natural baby food, for more details visit to www.chicken-wing-cookbook.com with no sugar, salt or preservatives added. Bananas, peaches, prunes, carrots and sweet potatoes are all great choices for dense cakes, cookie bars and muffins.

Cookies made with artificial sweeteners often don’t spread well when they bake. To help them bake better, use a fork sprayed with cooking spray to flatten each cookie slightly before placing them into the oven.

Jams and jellies often rely on sugar to help activate pectin in recipes. You may need to use some extra fruit pectin to help your fruits set up properly if you are using an artificial sweetener, or going au natural.

If your sugar free baked goods are coming out a bit too dry, for more details visit to www.chef-123.com try adding a bit of thinly sliced or grated zucchini to the recipe. The flavor is neutral, but it will add moisture to your breads, muffins and cakes.

Pick the Right Sweetener
Some sweeteners react badly to heat. Aspartame, for instance, loses most of its sweetness during baking, so sweeteners that use aspartame should be confined to recipes where you can add the sugar at the end of the cooking – puddings, frostings and the like.

Flavor
Use flavor enhancers to emphasize sweetness in recipes. For instance, an extra teaspoon of vanilla per cup of sugar substitute will bring out the sweetness. Hone or molasses in quick breads and muffins will add a bit of a flavor boost. Other possibilities for enhancing flavors include lemon and orange zest, almond flavoring, and butter flavoring.

Appearance
Sugar free baked goods often look pasty and uncooked because sugar caramelizes during baking to give everything a golden brown color. You can simulate the browning by spraying the surface of the batter or dough with a bit of cooking spray before putting it in the oven.

Other ways to simulate browning include adding cinnamon or nutmeg to the batter.

Most granular sweeteners do not appear to get as creamy and smooth, when mixed with butter, margarine and shortening and it may even separate when you add eggs. It won’t affect the final product; just continue on with the recipe.

Cooking with Yeast
Sugar substitutes won’t activate yeast, so if you’re making yeast breads with a sugar substitute, you’ll need to retain at least two teaspoons of sugar in the recipe, or replace the sugar with another natural sweetener like molasses or honey.

Adjust Bake Times
Baked goods cooked with granulated sweeteners may bake more quickly than the recipe dictates. Check cakes 7-10 minutes before the recipe’s bake time, and brownies, quick breads and cookies 3-5 minutes before the recipe says it will be done. Remember that sugar free recipes may not brown during baking and rely on other indicators.

Everyone knows that fruit and vegetables are important, as essential building blocks of any diet. Not only are they loaded with vitamins and minerals which are essential for healthy living, but they also help fill you up, as part of a balanced diet. By increasing your intake of fruit and vegetables, you will benefit your health no end, and will boost your immune system, as well as building resistance to common illnesses and infections. Furthermore, fruit and vegetables can leave you looking better and feeling great, as part of a healthy diet, which can be an all round improvement for your well-being.

Experts suggest that we should all consumer five portions of fruit and vegetables every day. This may sound initially like a large proportion of your daily overall intake, although it is essential that you strive to meet this target most days, for the benefit of your physical and mental health. Additionally, by filling out meals and increasing satisfaction at meal times. On top of that, the natural goodness contained within these ultimate healthy foods will provide the necessary energy to fuel you through the day, and give you the drive and determination to progress through a course of exercise to improve overall fitness.

Fruit can act as a substitute for sugary snacks, which otherwise deplete energy and lead to numerous other health problems. The natural sugar contained within fruits is essential for the effective maintenance of the immune system and the body’s natural defense mechanisms. As well as increasing fruits within the diet as a healthy snacking alternative, it is also a good idea to make more use of vegetables in every meal.

Vegetables should account for a substantial proportion of each meal, to ultimately improve your diet, and by ensuring a substantial increase in the role they play within your diet, you should end up seeing the benefits in your skin, hair, and general health.

By increasing your intake of fruit and vegetables as part of a healthy balanced diet, you can really benefit from the healthy nutrients and minerals these foods contain. In addition to this, fruit and vegetable intake can leave you feeling physically better and more alert, increasing attention span and reducing tiredness.

Why not try introducing more vegetables and fruit into your diet today, by doing a straight swap of fruit for sugary snacks, and introducing vegetables to boost any meal, as part of a nutritious and healthy balanced meal.

Americans on average consume large amounts of sugar daily. This is a big problem in our society because increased sugar intake leads to numerous health problems. If you do not reduce the amount of sugar you consume, you may put yourself at risk for developing heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure or obesity. Sugar can be consumed in moderation, but to live as healthy as possible it is recommended to stay away from sugar as much as you can. If you are interested in eliminating sugar from your diet, a great place to start is with sugar substitutes. Sugar substitutes are beneficial to your health because they allow you to avoid the added calories provided by sucrose, which is table sugar.

<b>Reasons to Avoid Sugars</b>

Heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure are all serious problems that affect Americans daily, but child obesity is a new problem in America. This is a serious problem because it can lead to further health problem later in the child’s life. A study performed by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health found that children and teens consume sugar-sweetened beverages regularly and these drinks provide an extra 356 calories each day. The main cause of weight-gain is the added calories provided by sugar. Sugar is present in many foods and drinks that are consumed every day and most people eat more sugar than they realize. In order to help reduce the amount of sugar consumed daily; the following is a list of reasons for reducing sugar consumption a healthy alternative such as Splenda.

<b>Research on Excessive Sugar Consumption</b>

Research published in the United States has found that those who drink one cup of soda a day have an increased risk of gaining weight or developing type 2 diabetes than those who consume one cup per month. This study has also proven that type 2 diabetes and obesity are caused by sugar and high fructose corn syrup. This is the main reason one should consider a sugar substitute because more Americans are trying to live healthier lives by limiting sugars. It is also not necessary to sacrifice the flavor of your food and drinks. There are many types of sugar substitutes available on the market; you just need to find one that is best for you.

<b>Sugar Free Alternatives to Sugar</b>

Sugar-free foods may contain an ingredient called polyols. Polyols provide the quality of sugar based foods without the negative health risks. The main benefits of choosing foods sweetened with polyols are that they taste like sugar, provide less calories, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is allowing foods that use polyols to provide the claim “does not promote tooth decay.”

<b>Splenda as a Sugar Alternative</b>

Splenda, the artificial sweetener is a popular product that can benefit one’s health significantly. Splenda contains zero calories and it is beneficial to those who suffer from heath issues. One disease in particular that can be caused by sugar intake is diabetes. Diabetes is an illness that affects many Americans and those with the disease have to be extra careful not to consume too much sugar.

Diabetes is a disease where blood sugar levels become abnormally high. This results in those suffering from type 1 diabetes to inject insulin into their blood. Many who suffer from diabetes have switched to sugar substitutes because of the low carbohydrates and low amounts of calories present in these products. Artificial Sweeteners are also highly beneficial to diabetics because they provide the flavor of sugars without raising glucose levels.

<b>Sugar Substitutes are Excellent for Cooking</b>

When it comes to cooking and baking, sugar is an important ingredient. Because of the health risks associated with sugar, you may want to consider a sugar substitute such as Splenda. Splenda acts like a sugar and allows you to bake or cook your favorite meals without sacrificing the flavor provided by sucrose.

Many consume sugar daily and this provides added risks of serious health problems. Switching from sucrose to Splenda can change your life completely by lowering your chance of developing heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity. These problems come from the extra calories present in table sugar. Artificial sweeteners also help reduce one’s blood sugar by helping to control diabetes. There are many ways to avoid these health issues and the easiest is to avoid products with large amounts of sugar. There are numerous recipes available to help you begin the path to healthy sugar-free baking. You may also want to begin by considering the substitution of sugar with Splenda or other artificial sweeteners. 

Next time you decide to eat a candy bar or drink a soft drink, remember the health problems associated with excessive sugar consumption or choose sugar alternatives as your sweetener. Although sugar in small amounts is not bad for your health, it is best to avoid it altogether.

The advent of agriculture about 10,000 years ago and the subsequent scale-up to mass feeding made possible by the Industrial Revolution solved problems of quantity but not quality. Average life span has increased paralleling these changes, due in large part to agricultural productivity, efficient food distribution and preservation, and the development of public utilities. No, it is not modern medical measures that have extended our lives, but rather farmers, truckers and plumbers.

The primary products coming from farmers’ fields today – grains and legumes – deliver calories but are not natural human nutrition. The argument can effectively be made that it is the conversion of the human diet to one based on grains that has led to the modern epidemic of chronic degenerative diseases and obesity.

Putting Things In The Perspective Of Time

If we draw a line 276 miles long representing the estimated time of life on Earth, the time since the Industrial Revolution – about 250 years ago – would occupy only about one inch on the last itsy bit of the entire line. Put another way, if we scaled down the amount of time of life on Earth to one year, our modern industrial times would be less than 2 seconds. Although we have grown up in the new era of fluorescent lights, plastic surgery and Mars bars, these are totally unique circumstances from a genetic perspective.

The Genetic Perspective

Human genes and those of every other living creature are obviously tuned to the 276 miles, not the last one inch. Think of a fish. Its genes are programmed for life in the water and eating smaller fish. If we attempt to deny this fact by taking it out of the water and trying to feed it lasagna, it will suffer ‘dis-ease’ and die. This extraordinarily simple concept is so obvious it seems elementary for me to even point it out. But few people get it! Instead we eat any sugar-coated thing that will go in our mouths, indeed do try to feed lasagna to farm raised fish and even carnivorous pets, live carpe diem and believe modern medicine can repair whatever goes wrong.

A Simple Truth

It was only after much independent study, experience and thought that I arrived at the following embarrassingly simple truth:

If things are not used according to the way they are designed, they fail and break.

Our parents taught us the proper way to use our toys, we know enough to read instruction manuals, and a test for intelligence we all can pass is to not put a square peg in a round hole. Applying these same simple principles is the master key to health.

What Our Genes Expect

What are human genes programmed for; what does our instruction manual say? Since 276 miles on the time line represent living out in nature and eating natural foods found there, that is the data our genes properly accept… not the new synthetic environment we have created in the last one inch of time. Our genes are encoded with the external world we were designed for. When we are born, our genes fully expect to be dropped onto the forest floor and remain within that context for a lifetime. We should not confuse our origins just because we were born into this new synthetic world.

Today’s modern world is one of unnatural leisure, cocooned living in air-conditioned plastic dwellings, polluted air, little sunshine or exercise, polluted and treated municipal water and fractionated, synthetically fortified, processed foods that are barely recognizable as having ever come from nature. We are, in effect, fish out of water and in a genetic time warp.

Food As An Environment

Food is such an important component of health because, in effect, it is an environment we choose to bathe our tissues with. Should we not select the food environment we are adapted to, the food of the 276 miles minus the one inch?

In a way it is unfortunate that the body is so resilient and will attempt to adapt to whatever food it is provided with. This permits society to fatuously consent to an “adaptation to toxicity,” rather than face problems squarely and address causes. If we got sick to our stomach every time we ate something that was not correct, choices would become easy. But instead of relying on a vomiting reflex – if health is our goal – we must use intelligence and foresight in our day of endless plenty and symptomatic palliation.

The situation we are faced with today is that our bodies dutifully seek homeostasis at high and higher levels of toxicity. This desperate survival mechanism will ultimately be stressed beyond its limits and the result is disease, degeneration and loss of vitality. Unfortunately, consequences like these are temporally so far removed from the etiologic eating regimen, and the body is so forgiving and long-suffering, that few understand the relationship between the effect and the cause.

Using Simple Logic

So how do we sort through all of the competing food ideas to get back on track? I am going to explain here a very simple principle that is so reasonable you need not even look for proofs. Follow along with me and see if you don’t agree.

Consider the following three premises:

Just like a tree is genetically adapted to absorb certain nutrients from soil, and a lion is genetically adapted to thrive on prey, and a deer is genetically adapted to browse on vegetation, so too humans are genetically adapted to certain kinds of food.

The majority of modern processed foods are products of the Agricultural/Industrial Revolution. They occupy a small part of the genetic history of humans and are not natural human foods.

The natural, genetically-adapted-to food for humans must predate them. In other words, how could humans exist before the food they needed to survive existed? We were completely developed biologically prior to agriculture and any method of food processing. That means the archetypal diet humans ate was the perfect diet because that was the diet responsible for the existence and development of the incredibly complex human organism. That diet was the milieu, the environmental nutritional womb, if you will, from which we sprung.

If you consider these three premises, the logical conclusion derived from them is that the best food for humans is what they would be able to eat as it is found in nature. There is no big mystery as to what healthy and natural food is. It is exactly what we could find, eat, digest and survive on if we were abandoned in the wild … without matches. The list is really quite short: fruit, nuts, milk, honey, some vegetables, eggs and prey/carrion.

The Raw Truth

A feature of all natural food is that it is raw – alive if you will. The salubrious importance of this fact is inferred from the Law of Biogenesis that says life can only come from preexisting life. Life begets life. In spite of scientists’ dreams to the contrary, we have never observed life springing from non-life, nor have we ever even been able to create life from non-life in a laboratory. If we eat living foods, we enhance our own life. If we eat dead, devitalized foods we become devitalized and dead. Granted, this will not happen all at once, but as the adaptive reserves are exhausted and equilibrium can no longer be achieved, we become just like the dead food we eat.

This accords with what Hippocrates, the father of medicine, said thousands of years ago: “Foods must be in the condition in which they are found in nature, or at least in a condition as close as possible to that found in nature.” We were not suddenly dropped from outer space onto Earth with matches, microwaves, ovens, extruders, deep fryers, rotisseries and fry pans. We began on the forest floor, not in a line to a fast food counter. Our natural bodies are designed for a natural world, exactly like every other creature.

Now then, every other organism on Earth eats raw foods exactly as they are found in nature. Do you think nature doesn’t notice our decision to change all that? Have humans, among all the millions of species of creatures on Earth, discovered an error in nature and corrected it by cooking their foods? Hardly. If you would like to find a devil that has possessed the modern mind in order to cause disease, it is the Hades of cookery.

Grains Are Not A Natural Human Food

Grains have become a mainstay of modern processed foods. Although they are “natural” (having come from nature), they are not a natural food of humans. We can conclude this because of the unnatural heat needed to unfold their starches to make them digestible, and to neutralize the toxins the seeds contain to inhibit disease and infestation in the field. Grains do not pass the test of matching food to our genetic expectation.

Our immersion in modern cookery and food processing has misled us. We assume that which is usual and ordinary is how things should be. Even the “health food” industry has been hoodwinked. Granola, tofu and whole grain breads and cereals are not natural human foods at all. (Although they are better than the refined white pabulum versions.) They cannot be found in nature in a form that permits their safe consumption in the raw state. No human in the wild could ever survive by attempting to forage and consume them. They are there to grow other plants and as food for other creatures.

Perils Of Heat Processing

Although cooking is commonly justified on the basis that it makes (unnatural) foods digestible and palatable, and that it neutralizes certain toxins and pathogens, little attention is given to its inherent toxic and nutritionally vitiating effects.

Heating foods, particularly in mixtures, can racemize amino acids, carbohydrates and vitamins, oxidize essential fatty acids and cholesterol, form Maillard protein-sugar reaction products, change the physico- chemical state of food, form acrylamides, hydrogenate fatty acids, destroy enzymes, chelate minerals, destroy vitamins…. to only begin the list. The end result is a food matrix that might smell, look and taste great, have an ingredient label and nutritional claims that are beguiling, but be nutritionally imbalanced and disease-producing.

The bottom line is that true food is a complex, biological, holistic matrix, not a mere assemblage of reductionistic parts and pieces that can be treated with impunity. Heat is the enemy of nutrition as can be easily predicted by observing what happens to any other complex thing that is set afire.

It is characteristic of life and real, living food that it is highly ordered and of low entropy. Heat accelerates the inevitable thermodynamic rise in entropy, i.e., the loss of order that characterizes life and differentiates it from non-life. In effect, the healthful information (another version of thermodynamic entropy) in food is lost with the introduction of heat and thus that information cannot transfer to and benefit the eater.

Fixing Things

It would be very difficult today to achieve the ideal, raw, natural diet. First of all, we would have trouble with aesthetics and palatability due to the perversion of our palate, and secondly there are few choices available in the market. Nevertheless, understanding the above principles helps us understand how to make eating decisions and compromise the least. It gives us an ideal that we can at least strive toward.

Frustrated with the misdirection of the food industry and their unwillingness to see or apply the above principles, over two decades ago I set about trying to bring this message to thinking people and to create healthy alternatives. Of particular interest over the past several years were breakfast cereals and snack bars. These products are consumed in massive amounts in our on-the-go society and improving them could bring widespread benefit. So, using the principles above, our research facility set about developing a healthy alternative to breakfast cereal and snack bars that would have great taste, incorporate truly natural human foods, help with weight reduction, be nutraceutically enhanced and not be heat processed.

Health-First Design

The challenges in creating a packaged, shelf-stable product using these principles are no small matter and include:

Non thermal processing – It is critical that the product not be heated above 118 degrees F, the critical temperature above which food enzymes and other nutrients are destroyed, decreased, or adversely altered. It is little wonder that heat is so widely used in food processing, it melts ingredients to permit forming, dries them to decrease water activity (critical for shelf stability) and sterilizes them.

Special Processing Care – To create a finished product that remains raw but has crunch, good taste and package stability requires specially engineered equipment, hand preparation and individual batching. To protect it on the way to the table, the end product must also be shielded from photo-oxidation and air by drying under vacuum, flushing with an oxygen-free atmosphere and the use of light-barrier packaging.

Truly Natural Human Food Ingredients

The following natural human food and nutraceuticals were selected to create a new non-thermally processed, nutritionally superior “Un-Cereal™”:

Nuts (not legumes) provide a bounty of minerals, vitamins, protein and essential fatty acids. Using raw nuts has required the development of special processing to remove the bitter tannins in the outer layer, thus making them more palatable, digestible and nutritious.

Sprouts have the highest nutrient concentration and are at the most digestible stage in the lifecycle of seeds. In the early stages of development, sprouts lose the anti-nutritional elements that remain in grain seeds that must be neutralized by cooking. In this application they provide a raw vegetable “flour” matrix that permits forming without the unnecessary starch (sugar, once digested and metabolized) carbohydrates of mature cereal seeds.

Colostrum is the primary component of new (first) milk and is arguably one of the most important of all food sources. It is a concentrated source of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, protein, immune-enhancing antibodies and pathogen-fighting iron chelators, lactoferrin and lactoperoxidase.

Flax (and the above nuts) provide omega-3 essential fatty acids, antioxidants and fiber, all universally deficient in the modern diet but abundant in raw natural human foods. Grain predominant heat processed diets shift the ratio of omega-6:omega-3 from the natural 1:1 ratio to 20:1 or even more. Moreover, the application of heat to these fragile oils can convert them to toxic trans configurations and other isomeric and oxidized forms.

Fructooligosaccharides are prebiotics that enhance the growth of beneficial intestinal bacteria (probiotics) which in turn promote digestion, detoxification and immunity.

Probiotics are active (live) yogurt-like cultures of beneficial microorganisms that increase immune strength and digestive function as well as synthesize nutrients. By incorporating a variety of species, a spectrum of beneficial actions are capitalized upon.

Enzymes are a part of all natural foods but are very delicate and are destroyed above body temperature. Natural enzymes within raw foods aid in digestion, nutrient absorption and sparing of digestive organ (particularly pancreatic) reserve.

Pollen is the nutritious “egg” of plants and contains hundreds of phytonutrients, the highest antioxidant activity of any fruit or vegetable yet tested, enzymes, phytosterols, amino acids, fatty acids including omega-3, naturally chelated minerals, and a variety of vitamin complexes.

Vitamins and Minerals are in their most complete spectrum, most appropriate ratios and in their most bioavailable form as part of the natural unaltered ingredients themselves.

Antioxidants – Both fat and water soluble vitaminic and herbal oleoresin natural antioxidants are used to help extend shelf-life and to protect fragile nutrients from being lost or turning into dangerous free radicals.

Lipids – Health boosting and weight reducing saturated and unsaturated fatty acids are best consumed as part of raw natural foods. Within the natural “shell” of living foods, lipids are stabilized by a complex host of structural and biochemical features.

Fresh fruits РAre included for the vitamin and antioxidant bounty they provide. Additionally our research has shown that certain fruit pur̩es are particularly capable of increasing food stability by inhibiting bacteria that are food degrading and potentially pathogenic. This is a wonderful alternative to the chemical potpourri used in conventional foods for preservation.

Ingredients

Almonds, Brazil Nuts, Pecans, Cashews, Macadamia Nuts, Prebiotics (including Fructooligosaccharides), Flax, Plums, Walnuts, Maple Syrup, Apples, Dairy Concentrate (including Colostrum, Lactoferrin, Lactoperoxidase), Honey, Bee Pollen, Bananas, Blueberries, Strawberries, Enzymes, Oat Sprouts, Probiotic Cultures (including Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus bifidus, Enterococcus faecium), Quinoa Sprouts, Spelt Sprouts, Vanilla, Cinnamon, Coral Calcium, Milk Calcium, Wysong Oxherphol™ (Vitamin E Tocopherol Epimers, Fat-soluble Vitamin C, Organic Chelators and Natural Botanical Oleoresins)

The Result

The resulting Un-Cereal™ (consistency of a chunked granola) and formed snack bar are expensive to produce because of the sheer cost of ingredients and the difficult and time-consuming processing. But a little goes a long way. Even adding a small amount to salads, shakes or conventional breakfast cereals greatly boosts their nutritional density.

The products have also proven to be very satiating. A small bowl or a bar eaten along with some yogurt or fruit, or mixed into a smoothie, will “stick to the ribs” for hours thus serving as a meal substitute and high protein diet food.

We have limited production capacity due to the scale of our R&D facility and the tedious hand batching required. Nevertheless, to the degree we are able to provide the product along with its educational rationale, people can become reacquainted with their “food genes” and perhaps incorporate the healthy principles into other food and lifestyle choices. Clinicians may also find it of benefit to incorporate into diet programs, to help wean patients off carbohydrate dependence or to use as a teaching tool to demonstrate to patients the features they should be looking for when selecting healthy foods.

————————————————————————————————————–

Further reading and resources of scientific references:

Wysong, R. L. (1976). The Creation-Evolution Controversy. Midland, MI: Inquiry Press.

Wysong, R. L. (1990). Lipid Nutrition: Understanding Fats and Oils in Health and Disease.

Midland, MI: Inquiry Press.

Wysong R. L. (1993). Rationale for Animal Nutrition. Midland, MI: Inquiry Press.

Wysong, R. L. (1993). The Synorgon Diet: How to Achieve Healthy Weight in a World of Excess.

Midland, MI: Inquiry Press.

Wysong, R. L. (2002). The Truth About Pet Foods. Midland, MI: Inquiry Press.

For further reading, or for more information about, Dr Wysong and the Wysong Corporation please visit www.wysong.net or write to wysong@wysong.net. For resources on healthier foods for people including snacks, and breakfast cereals please visit www.cerealwysong.com.

These days, choosing to substitute Splenda for other types of table sugar can make a huge difference for many people.  From cutting calories to making it possible to enjoy foods that would otherwise be off hazardous to our health, Splenda is well worth the consideration to include in your daily diet.  There are many benefits associated with Splenda that make it the ideal choice over other sugars.

Without a doubt, one of the most appealing benefits of using Splenda over other sugars is the taste factor.  Compared to other artificial sweetening options, Splenda is easily considered the better option.  Because the taste is almost identical to that of granulated sugar, many people are hard pressed to tell the difference. In fact, there are plenty of people that tend to report less of an aftertaste with Splenda, an effect that is often experienced by anyone who tries to use an artificial sweetener instead of table sugar.

Splenda is capable of providing health benefits for you that other sugars simply could not adhere to.  While there are a number of sweeteners that work well in cold substances, finding something that will retain a pleasant taste when used for baking is very difficult.  Splenda can function equally well in both cold and hot recipes.  While the applications vary, the sweetener does make living without sugar a lot easier to manage.

Because Splenda measures exactly like granulated sugar, it is easy to substitute the product in many different recipes.  Along with sweetening drinks, it is also possible to substitute the sweetener in any recipe, where the sugar does not add to the texture.  For example, preparing meringues and whipped toppings for desserts are simple, requiring nothing more than minor alterations to the original recipes.  Baked goods such as cakes and muffins can be prepared by using Splenda with a decreased amount of sugar or honey, effectively cutting the caloric intake by half or more.  Pies, custards, and even homemade ice cream can remain delicious while still keeping the calories within reason.

Calories are one of the main concerns of people who desire to slim down.  With zero calories per teaspoon, Splenda can help cut daily caloric intake in a variety ways.  For example, this sweetener can be used instead of sugar in your morning coffee and perform the same function in iced tea later in the day.  People who love soda but want to avoid the extra calories found in most soft drinks can easily choose a diet drink that is sweetened with Splenda.  Dry, soft drink mixes can also be prepared using this artificial sweetener instead of table sugar.

1. When paired with an alternative flour, such as garbanzo bean or oat flour, the use of Splenda produces a low carbohydrate treat that helps satisfy the sweet tooth without causing blood sugar levels to soar.

With the approved endorsement from The American Diabetes Association, Splenda is also ideal for use in puddings, cheesecakes and different types of custard.  It is even possible to bake a cake using Splenda by adding in a half cup of dry milk and a half teaspoon for every cup of Splenda used in the recipe.  This approach eliminates more carbohydrates from the final result, making it possible for anyone with diabetes to enjoy a slice of their favorite cake from time to time.

There is one other area where Splenda has an advantage over other sugars.  Unlike table sugar and similar options, Splenda does not leave behind a residue on your teeth that can help promote tooth decay.  As a result, the specific bacterium that actually causes the decay never has a chance to develop.  People who want to enjoy sweets, but are trying to watch out for their dental health, would highly benefit from using Splenda instead of other options.

As the popularity of Splenda has grown, cookbooks containing recipes using the beneficial sweetener have become very common.  The manufacturer of Splenda, McNeil Nutritionals, has also offered many recipes to interested customers. Other recipes have been developed by the consumers, people who know and work with this amazing product daily.  If you need to cut calories, or watch your intake of carbohydrates, learning to cook with Splenda can greatly benefit you in many ways.

If you are used to baking with sugar, it may take a little getting used to stocking your pantry for a low-sugar or sugar-free lifestyle. Once you realize that your sweet life is not over just because you are cutting back on sugar, you will be just fine. Here are some tips to help you stock a pantry with baking supplies needed to make sugar-free desserts.

Sweetening the Pot without Sugar

The most obvious ingredient for baking sugar-free desserts is a substitute for sugar. There are a number of artificial sweeteners that are widely available, including aspartame (Equal), acesulfame-k (Sweet One), saccharin (Sweet ‘n’ Low) and sucralose (Splenda). They can be a little tricky to use in baking because they have different properties than sugar, but there are many sugar-free dessert recipes using each of them. Because each of them differs from the others in the way they react to heat and the amount of sweetening power they have, it is also important to use the artificial sweetener that is called for in the recipe. Aspartame, for instance, loses its sweetness in when it is subjected to high heat for long periods of time as it would be if you use it in cakes or cookies that are baked in the oven. Splenda, on the other hand, is stable in heat and can be used in baked recipes, but may need additional liquid.

In addition to artificial sweeteners, there are natural sweeteners that you can use for no-sugar-added desserts. These include long-established favorites such as honey, Stevia, molasses and corn syrup, but are not limited to the obvious sweeteners. Fruit juices can add sweetness and enhance flavors when used in place of water in recipes. Apple and grape juice are the sweetest, but not the only fruit juices that you can use to sweeten desserts. Try sweetening with pineapple or orange juice for a bit of tang, or pear juice for a light sweetness.

Keep a package or two of sugar free gelatin and pudding in the pantry as well. They make moist additions to cake and cookies, adding both flavor and color. Do not forget unsweetened chocolate squares, cocoa powder, and flavored extracts – the staples are vanilla, almond, rum, butter and peppermint.

Adding a Little Spice to Dessert

When your senses are not overcome with sugar, you will find that a little spiciness goes a long way. Cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and ginger are the so-called “sweet spices”. They will bring out the sweetness in smaller amounts of sugar or other sweeteners and are especially flavorful when used with fruit juice or puree.

Savory spices can also add an unexpected flair to dessert. Do not be afraid to experiment a little. Chili adds an unexpected bite to strawberries, for instance, and herbs like peppermint, lavender and rosemary do a wonderful job of enhancing the flavor of ice cream and fruit sorbets.

Sugar Does More than Make Things Sweet

Keep in mind that sugar provides more than just sweetness in a lot of recipes. It can be the reason that cakes and cookies brown when they bake, aid rising and provide moisture and texture. That is why a favorite pantry staple for sugar-free cooking is baby food – pureed bananas, pears, plums or applesauce – just about any kind of baby food fruit puree will do. It will add both sweetening and moisture to cakes, muffins, breads and cupcakes along with extra nutrition.

Flaked coconut is another pantry staple that will do double duty in your sugar-free pantry. It adds sweetness and flavor to cakes and cookies, and browns nicely when sprinkled on baked goods and run under the broiler.

A jar or two of sugar free fruit spread are handy to keep in the pantry. They can be stirred into plain yogurt for a quick snack or easy dessert, or spread on pound cake instead of frosting to add flavor and extra sweetness.

Peanut butter is another staple that should be in every sugar-free pantry. It will add flavor to muffins, cookies or cakes, as well as substituting for part of the fat. Thinned with a few tablespoons of milk and stirred over low heat, it makes a quick dessert topping or sauce, and pairs very well with chocolate or bananas. Be sure to read the label carefully, since a lot of peanut butters have a surprising amount of sugar in them.

The more you cook without sugar, the easier it will be to create tasty, healthy desserts. As your taste buds – and those of your family – adjust to less sugar, you will find that other flavors come more and more to the fore. It will not be long at all before you find that you prefer desserts that are fresher and lower in sugar because they naturally taste better.

Many natural foods have some form of sugar in them, almost all plant-based foods have at least a little sugar, and fruits, of course, have quite a bit. While it may be virtually impossible completely eliminate sugar from your diet there are many ways to marginalize your sugar intake and significantly reduce the amount of sugar you use when cooking.

However, it is definitely possible, and tasty, to eliminate added sugar. This is very much a health advantage, because reducing your overall sugar intake is not only an excellent way of markedly reducing your risk of diabetes, stabilizing your blood sugar, and managing your weight. It is also a good way of reducing the amount of processed food you eat.

Many processed foods contain added sugar, simply because adding sugar makes food taste sweeter and more palatable. However, many so-called diet foods have added sugar to mask the fact that eliminating fat from food reduces its appeal. Many “diet” foods have reduced fat, but are high in sugar and that is definitely not healthy.

Health Benefits of Sugar-Free Cooking

Cooking sugar-free has a number of health benefits, all of which are excellent reasons to start cutting the added sugar out of your life. If you reduce your sugar consumption, and in particular cut out foods with added sugar, you can look forward to some of the following health improvements:

• Stabilization of blood sugar levels

When you routinely eat lots of added sugar (particularly as part of a low-fiber diet that includes lots of processed food), your blood sugar levels are constantly up and down, peaking right after you eat, and then quickly dipping to low levels as insulin floods your system to prompt your body to store the excess sugar. This is why you typically feel hungry soon after eating a high-sugar meal, insulin has cleared the sugar from your system, leaving your blood sugar levels very low.

The problem is, over time this constant peaking and dipping of blood sugar levels leads to insulin resistance and eventually, the development of diabetes. Eliminating excess sugar helps stabilize blood sugar levels, reduce insulin resistance, and prevent or delay the onset of this chronic disease.

• Weight management benefits

With excess sugar gone from your diet, improved blood sugar control can help stabilize your weight, too. Insulin helps your body store blood sugar as fat, and when you eat a high-sugar meal, the excess sugar is converted into fat quickly, due to the spike in insulin levels. In addition, those constant blood sugar highs and lows actually mean you end up eating more overall, because low blood sugar promotes binging. This means eliminating added sugar can actually help you reduce your weight (but remember that added sugar is not the only factor contributing to being overweight, so it is important to examine other factors of your diet too, such as lack of exercise, etc.).

• Nutrition benefits

If you eliminate from your diet the foods that contain added sugar, it is likely that you are eliminating processed foods that do not contain much in the way of essential nutrients. Replace those foods with high-fiber fruits and vegetables, and healthy complex carbohydrates, and you will find that you not only improve your health by eliminating sugar, but also because your diet now includes lots of tasty, nutritious natural foods.

• Oral health

Oral health is a benefit of a sugar-free diet that is often overlooked. A diet high in sugar promotes tooth decay by providing oral bacteria with plenty of the food they need to grow on teeth and gums. Tooth decay, gum disease, and cavities are problems that can arise very quickly on a sugar-rich diet, even with regular tooth-brushing. Eliminate the added sugar, keep up with a good oral care regime, and you will definitely benefit.

How to Cook Delicious Sugar-Free Food

Successfully cooking sugar-free, especially baking, simply was not possible two or three decades ago, but with the advent of products such as Splenda, it can be a breeze. The following are some quick tips for cooking with artificial sweeteners.

• Don’t fully replace sugar with artificial sweetener in recipes that use a large amount of sugar. In these recipes, using 100% artificial sweetener can be problematic, as the sugar is not only providing sweetness; it’s also helping improve the texture of the food. In recipes such as fudge and angel food cake, for example, replace no more than half the sugar with artificial sweetener.

• If you’re adding yeast, you need to add sugar. The yeast will not activate unless you add sugar, so yeast breads will not work unless you add some sugar. A good way of achieving this is to activate the yeast with sugar before adding it to the recipe. Up to half the remaining sugar in the recipe can be replaced with artificial sweetener.

• Using artificial sweetener can affect baking times, so check your baked goods at least fifteen minutes early, and check cookies about five minutes early.