My friend Sarah came over for dinner last night, and after making some yummy stuffed sweet potatoes from this new cookbook, I wanted to whip up a quick and easy dessert, which is what prompted me to make these brownies!
I love that these are no-bake, made with heart healthy, brain boosting walnuts and antioxidant-rich cacao powder, and topped with crunchy cacao nibs.
I find that Amazon has the best deals on cacao powder and nibs, so I’ve linked out to them below in the ingredient list. Viva Labs is one of the brands I love!
These are easy to make…and easy to eat 🙂 Make them this weekend!
In a food processor, blend walnuts, cacao powder, salt and cinnamon until nuts are finely ground.
Drain dates and squeeze out excess water. Add dates, vanilla and toasted coconut to food processor. Process until mixture sticks together. If needed, add 1 tablespoon of water at a time to make brownies more moist.
Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper. Press brownie mixture into the dish. Sprinkle with cacao nibs and press nibs into brownies.
Put in freezer for 30-60 minutes to firm up and then cut into 20 squares.
Refrigerate brownies in an airtight container for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 2 weeks.
One of the things I love about this blog is that it gives me the opportunity to share fun and exciting info and inspiration with you guys. Today’s post is no exception!
It also gave me a community of people who love food, health and healing as much as I do!
Meet, Meghan!
The creator and rock star behind the program is Meghan Telpner (more about her here). Her philosophy has inspired and is aligned with so much of the way I eat and how I live.
She has this unique way of presenting nutrition and healthy living in a way that makes it really fun, approachable and not at all intimidating, which is something I’m passionate about doing as well. Both of us want to take the “fear factor” out of eating well and make it accessible, so it’s something WANT to do instead of something we feel like we HAVE to do.
If any of you have come to a class or workshop I’ve taught, you’ve probably heard me declare it a “judgment-free zone” and Meghan takes the same approach, which I LOVE!
Both Meghan and I are happy for you to start from wherever you are on your journey and just make a few small changes, one step at a time. And neither of us will ever preach one kind of eating to you. We’re not pro-vegan, or pro-meat, or anti this or that. We really want people to pay attention to their food, skip the processed stuff and learn how to listen to their bodies to figure out what they need.
Meghan’s newest booksums up everything you need to know to live a vibrant, awesome life into one entertaining read.
Over the years, I’ve been following Meghan’s advice and have noticed for myself how much better my moodis, bettersleep, fewer colds and flus and overall a better outlook. What I’ve learned is that health becomes this bonus of just following this rule-breaking way of living. I feel like the “UnDiet” lifestyle inspires me to live in a way that lets me feel alive and not filled with guilt or restriction.
I choose to live this way and am pumped to share everything I learn with all of you, so you can have your best life ever, too! That’s why I’m SO excited to tell you guys more about this cookbook put together by my teacher, Meghan.
The UnDiet Cookbookstarts by Meghan telling her own story of how she healed from an inflammatory autoimmune disease that her doctors told her was incurable. From there, she breaks it down: why calories don’t count, how to eat real food, why we might want to kick-it gluten-free (with evidence based research to back it all up), and then we dive into 130 simple, delicious, beautiful and health supportive recipes.
The cookbook includes:
Over 130 gluten-free + dairy-free recipes (the oat-mazing berry banana muffins are AMAZING…seriously, you need them in your life!)
Guidelines for stocking an UnDiet pantry
Delicious recipes for DIY beauty care
UnDiet on the road: travel tips
UnDiet Entertaining menus for every kind of event
UnDiet Health Tips
Cooking Tips
Healthwashing Alerts
85 mouthwatering, vibrant photos
The UnDiet Cookbook is on sale today and when you buy the book, she’s also giving away some pretty cool presents (more on those here). If you’re curious about this book, you can get instant access to your Sneak Peek.
Stay tuned for a few posts from me in the coming weeks giving you even more sneak peeks at the yummy dishes I’m creating from the book! I can only share one of the recipes though, so you’ll have to get the book if you want to know how to make everything 🙂 It will be well worth it!
Because of the nature of my job, I’m on the road a lot and don’t always plan out every single meal.
There are times when I need something to hold me over between meals that will have the pick-me-up, energy-boosting combination of clean protein, fiber, healthy fats and low sugar.
As best as I can, I also make it a priority to stick to the same standards in my snack food as I do with my meals.
I like to think of snack as a TIME vs. a particular type of FOOD (thanks, Dina Rose!). That helps me prioritize health and feeling good whether I’m snacking or sitting down for a full meal.
Here are some of the standards that are important to me whether I make it myself or buy it in the store:
Real (the ingredients are actual food, not chemicals, and I can see them when I look at the product)
I forget exactly when it happened, but one day I was at Whole Foods in Baltimore before heading to a meeting, and I was hungry. I didn’t want or have time for a full meal, so I went to the bars section.
One of the things I’ve noticed is that a lot of the bars have over a dozen ingredients and contain ingredients that I can’t readily identify as food OR they have as much sugar as a candy bar, so I tend to steer clear of them.
I saw a new bar that had been added to the shelves, so I turned over the packaging to check out what was in it, and this is what I found:
14 grams protein
7 grams fiber
12 grams fat
9 grams sugar
15 mg sodium
Since (real food) protein + fiber + fat = sustained energy (and that’s what I was looking for!), I decided to try it.
These bars are gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, non-GMO, and locally made in Olney, Maryland! I could also identify all of the ingredients as “food,” which isn’t always the case with bars.
While most bars list whatever sweeteners they use as one of the first three ingredients (because those bars are more sugar than anything else), Ever Bar has sweeteners as their last two ingredients, and the primary ingredient in every bar is organic hemp seeds.
Packed with mineral-rich, plant-based protein from hemp seeds, almonds, and sesame seeds, Ever Bars are one of our healthy snack staples. They’re a bit chewy, compared to some other more crumbly bars, but even that varies based on which bar you purchase.
I’d recommend starting with the AlmondCranberry followed by the BlueberryCashew and then the GreenPower bar. I find that is the best progression in terms of taste based on what most people are familiar with when it comes to bars.
Here’s what the 3 bars look like…up close and personal 🙂
I served the Almond Cranberry bars at a workshop for a client about How to Eat Healthy on the Go, and everyone loved them. The following week, some of the workshop attendees told me they had already gone to the store to purchase their own 🙂
I had the opportunity to meet some of the team members who are behind Livity Foods and Ever Bar when I was at the Natural Products Expo East in Baltimore. They were so nice and had a super cool display.
I love meeting the great people behind the foods I eat!
Livity Foods is based in Olney, MD. Here’s what they have to say about their bars (and one of the reasons I stand behind them and buy their stuff!):
Ever Bar, handcrafted in Maryland, has ingredients that look like they did when they came from the earth; they are the bar’s source of sustenance as well as flavor and energy.
Working in an environment not based on social hierarchy or a one-way chain of command, but exchange and contribution. The company is structured, but open to participation by everyone involved. This, we believe, is conducive to a cohesive and multi-skilled work dynamic, but is also an end in itself, a desirable social model which embodies effective human cooperation.
To order bars directly from them and to learn more about them, check out their website.
Disclosure: I received free bars in exchange for writing this review, but I loved the product and what it stood for before this opportunity arose! All opinions are my own, and maintaining the integrity of all content on this site is of utmost importance to me. I will never promote products I don’t love and use myself! 🙂
If you missed two of my most recent posts about the love fest I’m having with sunflower seed butter, check them out here and here.
As I’ve been mentioning, I’m super excited to be teaching a workshop called Yummy Snacks for Healthy, Happy Kids on September 16th at the Institute for Integrative Health in Baltimore. The workshop is capped at 30 people, so make sure you sign up ASAP if you want to come!
It’s going to be awesome 🙂
One of the snacks both kids and adults eat a lot of is granola bars. This recipe puts a spin on the traditional bars because you don’t have to bake them (huge time saver!) AND they’re nut-free, so they’re school-friendly.
Bonus!
I like to test out recipes with my friends and family, so I brought my first batch of these to my church small group and they were GONE by the time we left. I had a group of moms and their kids sample them a second time, and everyone loved them. Some people had seconds (always a good sign in my book!)
Optional: Preheat oven to 350F and put oats on a baking sheet for 15 minutes until lightly toasted. If you’re short on time, skip this step, but it does add an extra crunch.
Put dates and water in a food processor and pulse until dates combine into a paste. You may need to stop and scrape down the sides during the process. Roll into a ball (it’ll be sticky!) and set aside.
Combine sunflower seed butter, honey, vanilla, cinnamon and salt in a small saucepan on low heat on the stove and stir until combined. You can add the date paste ball to the pot so it melts a bit or just add it in at the next step.
Put oats, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and raisins in a large bowl. Add date paste ball and sunflower butter mix to bowl and mix with your hands until everything is combined. In an 8×8 dish lined with parchment paper, press oat mixture evenly and flatten on top. Put in fridge to set about for about 30 minutes.
Remove bars from dish by pulling up on parchment paper. Cut into 16 squares. Enjoy!
When I was a kid, I loved everything about going back to school.
From our annual trip to JC Penney to buy fall clothes (which was kind of irrelevant because we wore uniforms) to hitting up Staples for our back-to-school supplies, I was in heaven.
I was a picky eater as a kid, so I brought some interesting lunches to school like carrot sticks, yogurt, fruit and crackers or chips, since I didn’t like sandwiches.
I know other parents struggle with feeding their kids healthy food, so I’m here to give you options for them and you!
As I’ve been gearing up for a cooking class I’m teaching about Yummy Snacks for Healthy, Happy Kids on September 16th, I’ve been doing lots of research and recipe testing to make sure the workshop and recipes are awesome. Click here to register (we’re capping the class at 30 so make sure you sign up soon!).
After finding out that a lot of schools now have peanut and tree-nut restrictions these days due to increased concerns about food allergies, I started testing out more recipes made with seeds instead of nuts.
My friend, Missy, a rock star mama of three, tried the original version of these a couple of weeks ago. She loves sunflower seeds and since they’re made with sunbutter and sunflower seeds, she was a fan.
You can leave them as sunbutter bites, and they taste great!
But, she offered one suggestion to make them irresistible to kids.
Dip them in chocolate.
That’s how I came up with these Sunbutter Buckeyes.
All they needed was a little hint of chocolate to turn them from Bites into Buckeyes 🙂
My friend Tim and Katie’s son, 20-month old son, Jack, tried these the other day and his smile afterward was all the approval I needed!
I’ve since taste-tested them with over a dozen moms and kids (from 18 months to 8-years old), and they were a hit.
You’ll love them, too! 🙂
Ingredients
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds, unsalted
1/3 cup shredded coconut
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup Medjool dates, packed and pitted (about 10 dates)
Combine pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, coconut, salt and cinnamon in a food processor until it reaches a fine meal.
Add dates, sunflower seed butter, and vanilla, and run food processor until all ingredients are combined.
Roll dough into tablespoon-sized balls and put on parchment paper in refrigerator to chill.
Make your own double burner to melt the chips. Fill a small saucepan with 1 inch water and place a small glass bowl on top. Set the burner to medium low heat. Put chocolate chips and coconut oil in the glass bowl and stir until melted.
Remove bites from fridge and dip halfway into chocolate. Set on a sheet of parchment paper and put in fridge to harden (about 10 minutes).
As a blogger, I’ve gotten some neat opportunities to learn about certain trends and products before they hit the mainstream.
One of the most fun things I did last year was attend the Natural Products Expo in Baltimore (I’m going back this year!).
I got to meet the creators of some of my favorite products, including Brad from Brad’s Raw Foods (kale chips!), Mamma Chia herself and the maker of Hilary’s Eat Well (our go to veggie burgers…that taste great!).
Since changing my diet over the past few years to dairy-free and gluten-free, I’ve had to completely overhaul our pantry.
Over time, we’ve found new staples to use in recipes and as go-to options when we’re in a pinch and need something to hold me us between meals.
When the team at Two Moms in the Raw contacted me to review a recipe in their cookbook, I asked them about any upcoming product releases.
Until that time, they used agave as their primary sweetener, which I’m not a huge fan of (see this post for why), so I never bought their bars.
I was excited to find out they were on the verge of launching their first line of paleo-friendly bars, sweetened with coconut nectar instead of agave. I couldn’t wait to try them!
Let me tell you something.
These bars are delicious.
And that’s coming from someone who’s had her share of granola-type bars over the years – from Kashi to Fiber One and Nature Valley to Special K.
Once I started paying closer attention to the ingredient lists in the food I was eating, I realized that none of those bars fit the bill. They were full of processed, non-food ingredients and were usually loaded with sugar.
I focus on getting as much of my food as possible from whole, real, food sources, and that includes convenience foods. We don’t have to lower our standards and expectations just because we’re not making them ourselves.
The good news is that it’s easier than ever to find nourishing snacks on the go.
With flavors like Gotta Getta Gojiberry, Cranberry Crush, Blueberry Burst, Charming Cherry Chocolate and Wow Cacao Nib Nut Bar, Two Moms in the Raw got creative with their newest line of nut-based bars.
Shari, the founder of Two Moms in the Raw, started making raw foods after being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. She found that a natural path to wellness (including a raw food diet) worked best for her health. She couldn’t find any raw snacks that tasted good, so she made her own.
The nut bars are 100% organic, gluten-free, dairy-free, non-genetically modified, vegan, paleo, mom-made, raw and sprouted. PHEW! That means that a lot more people can enjoy snack bars like this again 🙂
To be completely honest, I wasn’t expecting them to taste as yummy as they do. They’re crunchy, subtly salty and just sweet enough.
In short, they’re AMAZING. You need to try these bars!
I’ve used them as a snack between meals and have taken them on hikes with me. They’re a great snack to have when you’re on a road trip, traveling, or on vacation.
Just to give you an idea of the purity and integrity of the ingredients, the Charming Cherry Chocolate Bar is made with almonds, walnuts, pecans, chia seeds, hemp seeds, cacao nibs, cherries, vanilla, nutmeg, sea salt, and coconut nectar.
All food. All real. All organic. All ingredients in my pantry 🙂
I’ve bought these bars locally at Whole Foods, MOMs Organic Market, and The Fresh Market. I also found them in Green Goddess Natural Market when I was on vacation in the Adirondacks this summer.
Another option is to go to Two Moms in the Raw’s website to order them directly or punch in your zip code in the upper right corner of their website to find where they’re sold near you.
I’m going to be sharing more reviews of products we use regularly in our house and on the road because I get lots of questions about that and want to help you out!
Stay tuned for reviews of more of my favorites in the future, and if you end up trying these bars, let me know. I think you will LOVE them (and so will your kiddos!).
Disclosure: I received free nut bars in exchange for writing this review. All opinions are my own and maintaining the integrity of all content on this site is of utmost importance to me. I will never promote products I don’t love and use myself! 🙂
If you’ve been following me on Facebook and Instagram, you’ve probably caught on to the fact my go to ingredient at the moment is sunflower seed butter.
It’s the closest thing to peanut butter in terms of taste and texture and is school-friendly, since it’s peanut and tree-nut free.
As I’ve been preparing for the Yummy Snacks for Healthy Kids workshop in Baltimore on September 16th, two things I’ve been doing intentionally are making sure I have some allergy-friendly options AND recipes that kids can help make, too.
My friend and mother of three kiddos, Missy, told me that one of the keys to getting kids to eat food is to let them be a part of the process. All of the recipes I will make (including this one!) are recipes that kids can help prepare, too.
I saw lots of examples of this snack on Pinterest but wanted to make it nut-free and school-friendly and put my own spin on it.
Whether you leave it as a solo slice (pizza-style) or put two apple rings together (sandwich-style), this snack is easy to make and super versatile.
It could be made with nut butter instead of sunflower seed butter, and the possibilities for toppings (or fillings) are endless!
Ingredients
1/4 cup sunflower seed butter
4 teaspoons hemp seeds
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 apple, cored and sliced
Topping ideas: Blueberries, shredded coconut, Enjoy Life chocolate chips, chopped nuts, raisins, goji berries, etc.
Directions
Combine sunflower butter, hemp seeds, and cinnamon in a small bowl.
Remove core from apple and cut apple into 1/2 inch discs.
Spread sunflower butter on each apple slice and put toppings on one slice. Make an apple “sandwich” by pressing the remaining slice on top. Repeat until the apple is gone! 🙂
If you haven’t already, make sure you sign up for the Yummy Snacks for Healthy Kids Workshop on September 16th!
Now that I’m back from vacation and through the craziest part of the summer, I’ve been spending some time back in my happy place…my kitchen.
I’m gearing up to teach a cooking class in September called Yummy Snacks for Healthy, Happy Kids at the Institute for Integrative Health (click this link to register!) and have been doing lots of recipe testing and experimenting.
My friend, Lindsay, contacted me because she found out that her son’s kindergarten is completely peanut-free.
Like most kids, he loves PB&J, so she was looking for another option.
Meet sunflower seed butter AKA sunbutter :)
Just like its peanut and tree-nut cousins, sunflower seed butter is made by grinding up sunflower seeds until they’re smooth and creamy.
It tastes WAY more like peanut butter than almond butter does, so if you’re not a huge fan of almond butter, give sunflower seed butter a shot!
I decided to upgrade the basic sunbutter, as it’s commonly called, by adding in some hemp seeds and cinnamon.
Let’s take a look at each ingredient in this quick, easy, and tasty recipe.
These little guys don’t get enough love, but they should! Here’s why…
Good source of magnesium to calm our nerves, muscles and blood vessels
Anti-inflammatory, containing heart healthy fats and vitamins
The detoxifying and cancer preventive mineral selenium
Rich in compounds called phytosterols that promote healthy cholesterol levels
You can find sunflower seed butter at Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Wegmans, MOMs Organic Market, most Giants, The Fresh Market, and any natural food store. It’s also sold online at Amazon and Thrive Market.
Hemp Seeds
In case it’s crossing your mind, these hemp seeds won’t give you the “high” you’re thinking of, but they DO have lots of other benefits. They’re a great source of plant-based protein, high in healthy fats that naturally balance hormones and promote heart health, and rich in fiber to keep us feeling full and satisfied.
Cinnamon is a naturally sweet tasting spice that helps us regulate our blood sugar, which is key for sustained energy. Check out the top 10 proven health benefits of this super spice from the folks over at Authority Nutrition.
Servings: 2
Ingredients*
1/4 cup sunflower seed butter
4 teaspoons shelled hemp seeds
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (add more to taste)
Note: If your sunflower seed butter is salt-free and sugar-free, add a pinch of fine grain sea salt and 1 teaspoon of maple syrup for a touch of sweetness.
Directions
Stir all ingredients in a bowl with a spoon until combined. Use as a spread or dip for celery, apples, pears, Mary’s Gone Crackers pretzel sticks or sandwiches. It’s versatile and delicious! Make a double or quadruple batch to have on hand throughout the week.
The next post will cover another fun way to use this dip, so stay tuned!
**Remember, if you want one of the 30 slots for the Yummy Snacks for Healthy, Happy Kids workshop, click here to register and get more info!**
I’d love to hear from you! What was YOUR favorite snack at school when you were a kid?
In this fourth and final post of the Sweet Tooth Truths series, I’m going to give you the scoop on natural sweeteners. From agave to yacon syrup, we’re going to take a look at some of the most common natural sweeteners and what we know about how they impact our bodies.
One of the common questions that stood out during the Sweet Confessions talk was, “How much sugar should/can we eat?”
Regardless of whom you ask, the main thing to keep in mind is that we don’t want to eat a lot of sweeteners, even if they are from natural sources. They’re meant to be used in moderation but aren’t an essential part of our diet.
They just happen to taste really good and make food more enjoyable 🙂
Dr. D’Adamo rounded out his presentation making this point about sweeteners in general:
So keep that in mind as you read through this list of sweeteners and what’s recommended for each.
If you want to get even more detailed information about each of these sweeteners and others not covered in this post, check out this website. It’s an excellent resource!
Agave
The Basics: Indigenous to Mexico & South America, agave is the slow boil of sap of the agave plant. There are many species, but it’s usually derived from “Blue Agave.” Tequila is fermented agave. Agave is marketed as a “low glycemic” sweetener because its glycemic index (GI, which measures the impact of a carbohydrate on our blood sugar) is 15, but it’s primarily made up of fructose, which can be tough on our liver and favors fat storage.
Where to Find It: Syrups, cereals, nutrition bars
The Controversy: Most modern agave is highly refined, full of pesticides, genetically-modified and has minimal antioxidant content. “Raw” & organic agave is less refined and likely more nutritious but we want to limit consumption even if it is raw and organic for a number of reasons:
Very high in fructose (up to 90% fructose compared to HIGH fructose corn syrup which is 55% fructose!), which is primarily metabolized in the liver
Increases triglycerides (fat in our blood) and VLDL (dangerous cholesterol)
The Basics: Obtained from South American shrub yerba dulce, stevia is an herb that has been used for thousands of years for sweetening. It’s nearly calorie-free and is 100 times sweeter than sugar but can have a slightly bitter aftertaste.
Where to Find It: Truvia, PureVia, SweetLeaf, stevia extracts, flavored water, diet soda, yogurts
The Controversy: In the 1990s, it was rejected by the FDA, Canada and Europe for use as a sweetener because of concerns over reproductive problems in rats and hamsters, but it has been used in South America and Japan for many years. In 2008, the FDA classified stevia as GRAS (“Generally Regarded as Safe”), and the food industry started including it in beverages and marketed it heavily as a natural alternative to artificial sweeteners.
The other compound in stevia has not been linked to tumors or reproductive problems in rats over several generations. However, those studies were funded by the food industry and can be found here and here.
Choose your stevia wisely. As always, read labels, choose organic if possible, avoid additional ingredients (for instance, Truvia contains erythritol and natural flavors and Stevia in the Raw contains dextrose and maltodextrin), and use stevia in moderation until more is known.
Honey
The Basics: Honey is made when bees collect flower nectar, combine it with salivary enzymes, and store it in their hives. Honey has been used as food & medicine in Ayurveda, traditional Chinese Medicine, and by the Greeks for over 5,000 years.
There are many varieties of honey, including clover, buckwheat, manuka, thyme, lavender, etc. The color varies by the nectar of different plant sources. There are also several forms of honey, including liquid, creamed and honeycomb.
Where to Find It: Cereal, granola, yogurt, nut butters, nutrition bars
What Science Says
Honey has multiple health benefits, including the following:
Traditional or creamed is not likely to have any health difference but is traditionally easier for teas, and creamed honey is easier for spreading
Other Natural Sweeteners
Blackstrap Molasses
“Unsulphured” blackstrap molasses has the most antioxidants and potassium of any natural sweetener and come from cane sugar manufacturing. It’s also very high in iron, so it’s sometimes used as a supplement for people who have anemia—Phillips (2009) J Am Diet Assoc. 109(1):64-71. Be aware that, despite its health benefits, it has a GI of 55 and is 30% fructose, so it’s not suitable for diabetics and should be used in moderation, as with all other sweeteners.
Maple Syrup
This natural sweetener comes from the sap of maple trees. Rich in antioxidants and high polyphenol (protective nutrients in plants) content. Dark maple syrup is high in magnesium, potassium, etc. (Theriault (2006) Food Chem 98:490–501). Its GI is 54, and it is about 35% fructose, so use it in moderation.
Make sure you are buying PURE maple syrup (not Log Cabin or Aunt Jemima, which are usually full of high fructose corn syrup). We prefer Grade B maple syrup, as it’s darker and richer than Grade A.
Coconut Palm Sugar
With a look similar to brown sugar, coconut palm sugar comes from the flower blossoms growing on palm trees, which produce a liquid nectar. It has a low GI (35) and low fructose content (<30%), so its use is encouraging but does not yet have much supporting science. Also, even though it contains more vitamins and minerals than white sugar, it doesn’t contain any fiber and is essentially pure sugar, so enjoy it in moderation.
The plant is native to southwestern China, where it has been known for hundreds of years and used for medicinal purposes. It’s used as a natural, zero-calorie sweetener with a glycemic index of 0, so it’s suitable for diabetics. It’s about 300 times sweeter than sugar.
A natural sweetener made from the root of the Yacon plant in South America. It contains fructooligosaccharides, which promote the creation of beneficial bacteria in our digestive system, and helps to “bulk up” our stool to remove waste from the body.
Several studies have shown Yacon syrup to be effective as a weight loss tool, but it’s very expensive (about 30 times as much as sugar!), so it’s not widely used.
Dates
Usually dried or in the form of date sugar or date paste. They’re a better option than other sweeteners because they are a whole food and are high in tannin antioxidants. Like most dried fruit, they are high in fructose, so moderate your consumption. I prefer Medjool dates to Deglet dates because they have more of a caramel texture and work better in recipes.
Berries
The best “sweetener” for many health benefits, including fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals. Enjoy a variety because different berries have different nutrients.
So, there you have it! Those are some of the top natural sweeteners to include in your diet. It’s ideal to eat them in moderation, but food is meant to be enjoyed, and they make food more enjoyable for sure 🙂 Didn’t see a sweetener you’re curious about on the list? Check out this guide or a FULL list.
If you want to go back and check out the previous posts in this series, here they are!
In Part 1 of this series, we learned why we can’t get enough of sugar and just how much we’re eating. In Part 2, we talked about the secret to cutting sugar cravings and having all-day energy, something most of us have struggled to do in the past.
Today, we’re going to take a closer look at artificial sweeteners, so we can get clear on why so many people are concerned about consuming them.
In the final post (yup, I had to add a Part 4!), we’ll focus on the best options for natural sweeteners. These are the types of sweeteners that I use in sweet treat recipes featured on my blog, so many of them will be familiar to you 🙂
After I finished my portion of the Sweet Confessions presentation, Dr. Chris D’Adamo, an epidemiologist and nutrition researcher, who serves as the director of research at the University of Maryland Center for Integrative Medicine, taught us all about the skinny on artificial and natural sweeteners.
He started off his talk explaining that the hormone insulin is secreted by the pancreas soon after the sweet taste is experienced on the tongue, whether the substance contains calories or not.
It expects glucose (energy!) to hit the bloodstream, but it gets none. This may result in increased appetite soon after.
So, despite our best efforts, when we’re ordering diet sodas, teas and juices, we’re not doing ourselves any favors.
As Dr. D’Adamo was presenting information about artificial and natural sweeteners, one of the phrases he said throughout his portion of the talk that I thought was key was this:
Keep that in mind as you read about these sweeteners.
Our goal is to minimize and, ideally, remove these artificial chemicals from our diet because they don’t support health, but Dr. D’Adamo stressed the importance of not letting an occasional ingestion make you feel like you’re doomed.
That’s not the goal!
He walked us through each of the most common artificial sweeteners and why we want to be aware of and concerned about them. For each sweetener, I’ve included what it is, where we often find it, and why it’s controversial.
Feel free to share this information with anyone you think would benefit!
Acesulfame Potassium (AKA Ace-K)
The Basics: FDA-approved in 1988 and 200 times sweeter than sugar.
Where to Find It: In thousands of products, including sodas, fruit juices, sports drinks, alcoholic beverages, dairy products, ice cream, desserts, gelatins, jams & jellies, baked goods, chewing gums, toothpaste, mouthwash, pharmaceuticals, yogurt, cereals, processed fruits & vegetables, salad dressings & sauces, condiments & relishes
The Controversy: Most safety testing was done in the 1970s but was poor quality. The mice studies haven’t been of sufficient length, and the minimum toxic dose and maximum tolerable dose haven’t been evaluated. Ace-K hasn’t been thoroughly tested in humans.
Two rat studies suggested that it might cause cancer. It was for those reasons that in 1996 the Center for Science in the Public Interest urged the FDA to require better testing before permitting ace-K in soft drinks. In addition, large doses of acetoacetamide, a breakdown product of ace-K, have been shown to affect the thyroid in rats, rabbits, and dogs.
Aspartame
The Basics: Discovered in 1965, it’s nearly calorie-free and about 200timessweeter than sugar.
Where to Find It: Thousands of foods, including Nutrasweet, Equal, diet soda, “sugar-free” products, cereals, low-calorie drinks, etc.
The Controversy: The FDA concluded there was no conclusive evidence of human harm and approved it in 1981. Yet 75% of food additive-adverse events (the most common of which is headaches) reported to FDA are linked to aspartame.
Because consumers have caught on to the dangers of aspartame, the food industry has been renaming it, so make sure you read your labels!
“Neotame”: FDA-approved in 2002 and 13,000 times sweeter than sugar
“Advantame”: FDA-approved in 2014 and 20,000 times sweeter than sugar (!)
For more info about aspartame and its impact on our health (so important to share with anyone drinking diet sodas or juices!), check out this free documentary on YouTube:
High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)
The Basics: There’s a lot of controversy around this man-made liquid sweetener extracted from corn stalks that has been added to our food since the 1970s. Many have identified HFCS as one of the drivers of the obesity epidemic. It’s a very economic sweetener, about half the price of sugar. It tastes just like sugar, browns when heated and provides color in baked foods, thickens and stabilizes processed food and extends shelf life. It’s great for the food industry, but not so great for us.
Where to Find It: Soda, juices, salad dressings, bread, candy, ketchup, syrup, snack foods
The Controversy: The debate includes one group of people who advocate for banning HFCS entirely because of concerns about it being a poison to the body. The Corn Refiner’s Association argues that HFCS is “natural,” since it is originally derived from corn and, therefore, safe. But Robert Lustig and other researchers say, “It’s terrible, but so is all added sugar.”
HFCS consumption is concerning for the following reasons:
Alters the production of appetite-related hormones that tell us when we’re hungry and when we’ve had enough to eat. This means fructose intake can lead to poor appetite control. Fructose has also been linked to increased triglycerides (fat in our blood) and VLDL (harmful cholesterol), two major risk factors for heart disease.
Fructose is also the primary sugar in fruit, but, unlike HFCS, the fructose in fruit is packaged in the presence of other nutrients like fiber, vitamins and minerals, and water, so our body responds to eating a handful of berries differently than drinking a can of Coke. Fructose is more concentrated in dried fruit, so pick fresh fruit as often as possible, especially berries, stone fruits (apricots, peaches, cherries), and citrus as your preferred fruits.
Are you concerned you might be consuming too much fructose? Ask your doctor to order a serum uric acid test. If you’re above 300 µmol/L (5 mg/dL), consider lowering fructose intake and retest. This test is also used to diagnose gout.
Saccharin
The Basics: Discovered in 1878 as a coal tar derivative (serious yuck), it’s nearly calorie-free and 300timessweeter than sugar.
Where To Find It: Sweet ‘N Low, cookies and baked products (heat-stable), diet soda, jams and jellies, toothpaste
The Controversy: It’s been under scrutiny since it was introduced in the early 1900s. The main controversy was in 1972, when a study linked it to causing cancer in lab animals. The FDA removed the warning label in 2000 and removed it from the U.S. carcinogen list in 2010, but saccharin is still banned in Canada.
The Basics: FDA-approved in 1998 and 600 times sweeter than sugar. Its claim is that it’s “Made from sugar, so it tastes like sugar.” It’s often used interchangeably with “Splenda,” but they’re not the same thing. Sucralose itself is essentially calorie-free, but 99% of Splenda packets contain dextrose and maltodextrin, which are sugars that negatively impact our blood sugar. So, technically, Splenda is not calorie-free or sugar-free.
Where to Find It: Splenda, foods with Splenda label, baked goods, sugar-free candy, chewing gum, diet soda, low-sugar nutrition/snack bars, pharmaceuticals
The Controversy: Since it’s one of the newer sweeteners to hit the market, it doesn’t have many human studies and there are no long-term human studies. In a Splenda-manufacturer-funded study, which reviewed over 100 studies, the FDA determined no conclusive evidence of human harm.
Here are some of the reasons you may want to think twice about that yellow packet:
The Basics: Occur naturally in some fruits. On the label as maltitol, erythritol, xylitol, sorbitol, mannitol, isomalt, etc.
Where to Find Them: Sugar-free candies, chewing gum, low-carb & diabetic-marketed foods, baked goods, toothpaste, etc.
The Controversy: Overall, they are less risky than artificial sweeteners, but often have laxative effects. Most increase blood sugar and may damage gut bacteria that’s essential for optimal health.
The best options for sugar alcohols are erythritol (no impact on blood sugar and only 60% as sweet as sugar) and xylitol (inhibits oral bacteria growth, protects against cavities BUT is lethal to dogs in small amounts). Make sure you check labels because they are often combined with other more harmful artificial sweeteners.
In the fourth and final post of this series, we’ll take a look at natural sweeteners, which ones are the best choices, and why. I learned a lot and know you will, too 🙂
Resources to Learn More About Artificial Sweeteners
Chemical Cuisine(search by ingredient for safety online or on the free app!)
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Yield: 20 servings
Just like its peanut and tree-nut cousins, sunflower seed butter is made by grinding up sunflower seeds until they’re smooth and creamy.
Where to Find It: Syrups, cereals, nutrition bars
