Sweeten your life with nature’s treasures

We are our chemistry. One of the key components of this statement is we are also our blood sugar levels. Sugar/ sweet cravings are a basic instinctual drive. Using nature’s sweeteners can aid us in satisfying our cravings. Let’s explore this idea.

Honey- an incredibly balanced sweetener brought to us by the wisdom of the bees. An average worker bee makes only 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime.

It takes nectar from approximately 2.6 million flowers to make 1 pound of honey. Honey is a quick energy source and easily assimilated. I prefer raw honey for my consumption. Local raw honey can be helpful for allergy sufferers because the pollen impurities are thought to reduce sensitivity to hay fever. Think of it as natures homeopathic remedy. Organic honey is certified to be free of pesticides and antibiotics by the USDA. Try it straight, in tea with some lemon or in recipes.

Maple syrup- one of my favorites!

We frequently have a morning breakfast combination of cooked oats, Bob’s mighty tasty, gluten-free cereal and buckwheat. To this we add fresh berries typically in the form of raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries. We add in some raw walnuts and top it off with maple syrup. A very hearty and tasty breakfast.

Maple syrup has a lower score in the glycemic index and is easy to digest as compared to refined sugar. A rich source of vitamins and minerals, it is easy to digest and tends to not cause abnormal spikes to the blood sugar levels.

Brown rice or Yinnie syrup- another of nature’s natural sweeteners, this one derived from rice. This has a unique, sweet taste and we use it, particularly in a recipe that we refer to as Nookies. We add a combination of various raw nuts, seeds, raisins, other dried fruits, and sweeteners, such as rice syrup, honey, maple syrup, or a touch of molasses to a food processor. We do this to where the mix has a consistency that we can scoop it out with a small ice cream scoop and put it on wax paper on a cookie sheet and put it in the refrigerator to harden. A great natural snack.

Dates/ date sugar. Very tasty and easy to digest natural snack. Can also be added to smoothies along with maple syrup as an option to sweeten up your smoothie recipe.

E. Rosencross