Palm sugar findings

So, I'm glad you asked that question- it made me want to look it up! I actually hadn't really heard of palm sugar. I read a couple articles, and interestingly enough, according to what I read, it seems to be a good substitute for refined sugar, and even superior in some ways than a few other sweeteners. Apparently, palm sugar is also known as "coconut sugar" because it comes from the blossoms of coconut trees.

Palm sugar contains the following vitamins & minerals (see superfoods website cited below):

• Zinc
• Iron
• Magnesium
• Potassium
• B vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B6)
• Vit C

Although it sounds like a health food, it's still somewhat refined (which makes me wonder how many of the vitamins still remain after the processing). It's not raw, although neither are agave and stevia. On the glycemic index, it's 35, whereas honey is 55-60, and cane sugar is 68!!* So palm sugar has lower glucose content than some of the other sweeteners! (although according to Summertomato--see website #3 below--the glucose content may be low, some studies may have found high levels of sucrose in palm sugar. So, its glycemic index may be higher than is reported because the source that reported it was a company that was selling palm sugar).

As for the important stuff-- the flavor-- apparently, it has a caramel, rich sort of taste, similar to brown sugar. Sounds good to me! I'm not entirely sure of all the potential drawbacks, I only read a couple articles. But it sounds like it has promise as a good sweetener option. And though it has less glucose than some other sweeteners, it probably shouldn't be eaten for breakfast, lunch & dinner :) I'm still going to read more on the subject, and as with many sweeteners, there is so much that everyone is still learning. Oh, and all brands of palm sugar aren't created equal. See the third website listed below for a recommendation of what to look for in purchasing palm sugar. Apparently, some companies put fillers of white sugar into their "palm sugar," so beware!

In my opinion, the moral of the story is this-- we do what we can with the knowledge we have right now, and improve as we learn more. For now, there are a few discrepancies as to the actual glucose content of palm sugar, so be on the lookout for new studies reporting its glycemic index. In the mean time, we know it's less processed than refined sugar, and it sounds like it tastes good!

Don't know if this helps, but it was interesting for me to learn!!

See:
*http://www.naturalnews.com/028996_palm_sugar_natural_sweetener.html
**http://www.superfoods-for-superhealth.com/coconut-sugar.html
***http://summertomato.com/is-coconut-palm-sugar-a-healthy-sugar-substitute/

Palm Sugar?

I came across this article today, and it's the first I've heard of Palm Sugar. Does anyone else have more information on it? I'd love to try it if it's going to be good (or at least not bad) for us!

Raw Breakfasts

For those of you not quite sure, raw as I'm referring to in these recipes is simply: not-cooked; therefore leaving all the nutrients in the food...we've all seen the nasty green water after we boiled the broccoli too long, right? Some recipes are better than others, but you can search 'raw recipes' & come up with a vast amount of options.

1.) Picture 1: Flax pancakes...a base of flax meal, liquid coconut oil, sea salt & pure maple syrup (grade B is the best for you as a natural sweetener) or agave if you wish. Then shape the mixture into "pancakes" & either dehydrate for a couple hours for firmness, or immediately top it with blueberry syrup (blueberries blended with a bit of water & a couple of dates for sweetness), bananas, walnuts, & strawberries. I LOVED it, it tasted more like a dessert honestly. HERE is a recipe almost identical to the one I used.

2.) Picture 2: Oat groats....rolled oats as we know them are not oats in their true form. Who knew? Not me. The way we find them in the store they are steamed, flaked & processed, thus losing a lot of the good stuff (potassium, vitamin B, protein & loads of soluble fiber) & decreasing their shelf life. This recipe is so simple: soak the desired amount of groats over night to soften & rehydrate them (I use about 2 cups for our family of 3 kids & 2 adults). Rinse them thoroughly the next morning & put in your blender (or food processor if you like it chunkier, more like 'real' oatmeal) w/ some unsweetened almond milk, a ripe banana or 2 for sweetness (depending on the size of the batch), & vanilla (w/ no alcohol). We top it with almonds & Gogi berries (never heard of those either? well, don't get me started on those amazingly healthy & yummy dried fruit, HERE is one bitlet of info if you're interested). Voila! We all totally love it...even the babe & that is the real test.

Janey's Green Smoothies

This smoothie changed my life. I know that's a bold statement, but it's true!

A few people have asked me to post my smoothie recipe on here, and while I'm no "green smoothie girl" I do think I make a pretty mean green smoothie. Below is my "Magic bullet" size recipe.

1/2 cup vanilla soymilk or vanilla almond milk
1/2 cup chopped up, frozen greens (kale, spinach, &/or chard)

Blend well--like, for a full minute. No one wants a gnarly patch of spinach in their drink!

Add:

1/2 cup Greek or Non-fat Plain Yogurt (okay, or Vanilla or flavored if you want it sweeter, but I think it tastes better with plain...)
1/4-1/2 cup frozen fruit

Blend again. Drink!

Tips:
--When I buy my greens I soak them for at least 3 minutes in cold water and try to rinse them off really well, even if they are organic. Spinach and Kale are both in the Dirty Dozen.
--After I soak my greens I usually take out the cores and "thick" parts of the veggies, and then I chop them up, throw them in a ziploc, and freeze them. Then you can chunk off your "daily" portion when you want it without fear of it going bad. It also chops up finer if it's frozen.
--If you can fit more than 1/2 cup of greens in, do it! I have so much more energy the days I have a green smoothie.
--Blueberries cover up the "green" color
--Pineapple hides any bitterness from the "greens"
--Raspberries make it gritty because of the seeds. I avoid raspberries in smoothies even though I love them in real life.
--Peaches are divine.
--If the fruit is frozen, it makes it a frozen treat instead of a mushy drink. Also, I don't use ice because i haaaaaaate ice chunks in my smoothies. I'd rather have a hunk of frozen blueberry!

Berkeley Nutrition Course

Seth sent this link to a FREE Berkeley online Nutrition Course, and I'm excited to get some new basics of nutrition from some of the best scholars on the topic!

Sugar: The Bitter Truth

I listened to this yesterday when I was sick in bed, so I was in and out during the presentation, but I thought it was helpful to see the biochemistry of how our body processes fructose, and there were some great facts about beverage consumption and obesity. They didn't mention the Glycemic index much, which is something I'd love more information about if you have it!

Ready?

Hey!

I'm so excited to see what this becomes...talking to Jenna this morning, I got so excited at the thought of us being able to share our knowledge and information in a forum that we can all access and see. I'm definitely the newbie here, so I'll provide the forum if you'll provide the information! Lets look forward to seeing:

-Healthy Recipes
-Food and Snack ideas for kids and for us
-Nutrition facts
-Information about food choices
-Raw food ideas
-Articles or videos that are informative
-Information about cosmetics/skin care products and associated dangers
-Anything that will help us be healthier
-Our own research on all things health/body related
-Much, much, more!!!

Can't wait to see what you've got!