Choices. If I had my choice every day, I would choose
a big fat cheeseburger, huge pile of fries, and a chocolate shake for
dinner. Every day. For breakfast I'd eat some sort of cream
cheese filled pastry, or a morning roll from Marcina Bakery with my
coffee. I would snack through the
morning and afternoon on fruits and veggies, and maybe have a sandwich on some
sort of heavenly bread, and maybe a chocolate chip cookie. At ten o'clock every night, I'd dig into a
pint of Ben & Jerry's.
Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of eating those things ever, let
alone every day. I can't eat any gluten
or sugar. My life sucks. That's not true. Some days, it feels like my life sucks. My life is actually very healthy, now that I
have eliminated those two things from my diet, and I have every reason in the
world to be grateful for my health, my life, and the heaps of blessings I
receive every day.
But here's the
deal. Sometimes, all I really want is
ice cream.
My husband, Nate,
has a genetic muscle disease, and his body is unable to burn carbs for
energy. His body burns protein for
energy, requiring a diet of 160g of protein per day. Animal protein, nonetheless. Other than making sure he gets enough
protein, he can eat whatever he wants.
It's super complicated, but that's all you need to know right now.
As you can imagine,
choosing what to eat isn't as easy for us as we would like it to be. But we make it work, and I am constantly
striving to be more creative in the kitchen, and add some sort of flavor to our
lives. We eat a lot of meat, dairy,
fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds. The
result is a very healthy diet. A side
effect of this healthy diet, is days where nothing sounds good, all I want is
chocolate chip cookies or Ben & Jerry's, and a big fat burger on a gluten
saturated bun with a large chocolate shake.
On those days where
all I really want is ice cream, I can get really grumpy about my dietary
restrictions. Sometimes to the point
where if I see someone walking with ice cream, I really just want to hit them
with my car. Okay, not really, but you
get the point. A lot of health fanatics
say that once you eliminate processed foods (especially sugar) from your diet,
you no longer crave unhealthy things.
Okay, I'm going to hit those health fanatics with my car (again, not
really). The truth is, for the most
part, you get used to the fact that you can't eat anything with sugar. But there are always days when you really
just need something sweet, and an apple just isn't going to cut it. So what do you do? I can tell you what I've done. Sometimes, I've just eaten the sugar, and
felt terrible for days. Sometimes, I
just refrain, and remain really grumpy about the fact I can't eat what I
want. But there are occasions, where I
find a happy medium. There have been
many experimental failures, a few tolerable
options, and occasionally something that makes me feel like I am normal
human beings with a normal diet.
At the end of the
day, it's all about choices. We can
choose to eat the right way. We can
choose to give in to cravings. We can
choose to be happy about it, or mad about it.
And today I chose to start sharing our experiences so that maybe you
might be able to laugh at some of the humorous happenings in the kitchen, and
maybe even give you a few more choices, to make your life a little bit
easier.
Here's to
choices.
Hi, I'm a cousin of Melissa Maurer's, and she has recently directed me here. I'm studying nutrition and herbal medicine, and am also gluten-free and dairy-free (mostly), with low-soy and low-processed sugar as endeavors not related to allergy. I commend you on your blog, your efforts, and your creativity!
ReplyDeleteI'm curious about your sugar thing, and likely crave more details than the average reader would find palatable. I also have some ideas of my own, since I've eaten no-sugar previously (briefly), when I went on a Candida yeast overgrowth dietary cleanse a couple years ago. For two months, I ate absolutely no sugar sweeteners whatsoever, with limited stevia usage; for the first of those two months, I also ate no fruit or starchy veggies such as potatoes and carrots, no beans, and few grains (only in very whole state, unground). Yeast feeds on sugar, and if out of balance in your system (not enough good bacteria), will overtake what bacteria you still have and give you many problems. To combat this, I had to stay away from anything that fed the yeast, i.e. that is sugar or turned to sugar quickly in my system.
I nearly went insane with the sugar cravings, and found ways to get my "sweet" on that didn't involve any actual sugar molecules coming in. Partly because my taste buds changed as sugar detoxed out, and I could actually taste things properly without sugar being needed, and things started tasting sweet to me that previously had needed sugar, or more of it.
I still like to use some of those recipes, and am just NOW, though it has been several years since the yeast cleanse (it's not totally in check, but much better now), and even longer since I switched to gluten-free/dairy-free, just now being able to let go of some of these sweet needs. Yes, you do lose the sugar cravings, but it takes a looooong time to lose the social/emotional craving to eat something sweet, which is psychological, and that's a lot harder to lose than the mere physical craving. The physical cravings go up and down, they come and go, but the mind-set change can be a years-long process. But don't give up! I feel better now than I ever have, I know that I am further along now, when I feel like I could just "take or leave" some of this stuff I feel so obligated within myself to buy and eat, even though it makes me feel icky (coffee shop drinks much - I looove going into the coffee shop, an walking out with a grande something-or-other in my hand, but find that once I'm in there, nothing is going to make me feel ok, and when I ask my stomach, it doesn't want anything there - ok, that sounds really weird, but I promise I'm not out of my mind!).
Back on track. I'm curious about your agave use. I know that it's low on the glycemic index - is that why you use it, even though it's still almost pure sugar like most other sweeteners (other than artificial ones)? Does it bother you less than things like raw honey and maple syrup? Also, are you aware of the effect that eating high quantities of fructose alone has on your liver and pancreas? I notice that you do not use stevia in any of your recipes, although it is a natural sweetener that does not contain any saccharides, sugar molecules, and is not in the same category as the aptly-hated artificial sweeteners.
You have not addressed any of these things in your posts so far, likely because most people are not as insanely curious about little nitty-gritty details as I am. So I would love to hear your thoughts on them! I started a blog once, on my food adventures, but only got as far as one post, and I'm not sure I even remember how to log in anymore, it's been so long. So it's exciting to see other people doing things like this, because I love to participate with people along our journeys and share knowledge. :)
-Lydia
Oh, and I forgot to share a couple of my things I used to make without sugar: ok, so cashew butter tastes pretty sweet for having no sugar in it, and when I was in the throes of sugar cravings, I just at it out of the jar as is. I also put unsweetened chocolate on it, in small amounts. I know this doesn't go over with other people, I just had it myself in emergencies. And since it's mostly fats, it satisfies with very little consumed.
ReplyDeleteHowever, making cookies with nut butter, an egg, and a little stevia was beautiful. Also, meringues, made with beaten egg whites and stevia and baked, were delicious, and I didn't even taste the stevia! You could add coconut flakes to that and make macaroons - it's all protein and fiber, and yet tastes like a cookie! I'm sure David would taste the absence of sugar (it is a distinct flavor, actually, and we know when it's missing or different), but I wouldn't be surprised if he at least ate some. Kay, now I'm curious...
Hi Lydia! It's great to "meet you." I love your intense craving for more details. I'll try to answer as many of your questions as I can, let me know if I leave something out! First, agave nectar. Yes, I use it because of the low glycemic index, even though it has high levels of fructose and is still pretty much pure sugar. I am hypoglycemic, so I have to stay away from things that are high on the glycemic index. I have been researching maple syrup and raw honey recently, because I been hearing that even though they are higher on the GI, they are healthier for you than agave nectar. I also hear that they don't affect blood sugar as much as other sugars, but I don't have any personal experience with this. I know that there are fruits that score very hi on the GI (dates score 108), and I don't restrict my fruit intake at all. I just feel SO terrible when I eat sugar, I'm a little hesitant to experiment with things that may or may not affect me negatively...
ReplyDeleteI've also started experimenting with coconut sugar, which is also low on the GI, but haven't had many successful baking experiments with it yet. I'll keep trying. :) As for Stevia, I have tried it a little in the past, and have made things like hot chocolate with it, and it works very well. I didn't notice any effect on my blood sugar. I'm still researching it, because I'm always a little wary of any "no calorie, no sugar" sweeteners, and question what they must be doing to my body (like aspartame and Splenda). I know it's supposed to be "all natural," and comes from a plant...and in a different category than Splenda and aspartame, but what exactly makes it in a different category? What do you know about stevia? Have you heard of any negative affects it has had on people's health?
I'm intrigued by the cashew butter, I will have to give it a try! I JUST got a food processor. It came in the mail two days ago, and I haven't even had a chance to take it out of the box yet. I can't wait to see what kind of things I can come up with, now that I have this lovely new addition to my kitchen. When you make cookies with cashew butter, are your only ingredients the nut butter, egg and stevia?
I'd love to see some of your recipes!
Hi Bethany! Yes, I made the cookies with just those ingredients, but without sugar as a bulking agent, the texture comes out differently. Alternately, you can use Truvia brand, which uses erithritol, a sugar alcohol (which is natural-ish, and good for blood sugar issues), as a bulking agent that has the same volume as sugar. Or you could use a combination of a reduced regular sugar and truvia or stevia (which is usually what I do, because of the flavor). You can also add vanilla, any other spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom...
ReplyDeleteStevia is a plant, and the name means "sweet leaf." It has things that taste sweet, we taste it on the sweet portion of the tongue, but it contains so sugars. It also tastes bitter at the same time, and it took awhile for the industry to make it with a nice flavor. It comes in powder and liquid forms. Liquid is more pure, powder forms have a carrier (the powder), usually highly processed maltodextrin or something, but Truvia brand uses the sugar alcohol instead and I trust it more. I personally use the liquid, which is strongest, but simplest as far as processing. You can chew the straight leaf from the plant, or add it to stuff, to sweeten it, straight from your garden. You can also make the liquid extract yourself, like you would any plant extract (tincture), like vanilla. That should tell you something about the nature of stevia. The artificial sweeteners, like aspartame and sucralose, are chemically engineered in a lab, do not occur anywhere in nature, and you can't make it at home from you garden if you wanted. Stevia is the only 0-cal/0 sugar sweetener that is NOT artificial, but I usually recommend it as a sweetness booster rather than the primary sweetener, allowing you to cut the sugar in a recipe in half, or even down to a quarter. Then you still get the nice taste of your preferred sweetener, especially if you use honey or maple syrup (they have a strong flavor to cover the stevia a bit) without having to use very much of it to have your desired sweetness. As far as I know, there are no negative effects of stevia, though I would recommend the liquid stuff instead of the highly processed stuff. However, artificial sweeteners will wreak havoc on your insulin function and can cause diabetes. Ironic, isn't it?
Coconut sugar is one of my favorites, although I don't usually bake with it (seems too precious! heh). I use it for black rice pudding (black rice cooked in coconut milk with a little bit of coconut sugar - doesn't take much - and coconut oil), and to sweeten things where it only takes a small amount, since it's pricey. Have you seen coconut syrup? It's made from the sap of the coconut tree, and is mostly inulin. It has a sweet/sour flavor that is very nice, and can be used to sweeten just about anything, I think. I bought some a couple years ago, but haven't used it much. It is VERY sticky. :P
I would highly recommend raw honey and maple syrup over agave, although you may want to try cutting them with the stevia so you don't have to use as much to get your sweetness. Agave can also push you towards diabetes. Also, try swishing the sweet foods in your mouth for awhile (er, chew until it's a liquid and there are no chunks left, chew 2 or 3 times longer than you normally chew), thoroughly mixing with saliva, before swallowing. There are enzymes in saliva that break down sugars and starches that don't survive the acidic environment of the stomach, that are just as important to digestion. I've heard that this really helps people with blood sugar issues tolerate the sugars they eat.
Thank you for the nicely detailed explanation! I'm so sorry to hear about your food troubles. Have you had this all your life, or is it a recent acquisition? If you can find Juniper berries anywhere and add them to your daily diet (smoothies, cereal, yogurt, all alone, whatever, just don't cook them), maybe a tablespoon a day, they might help with the hypoglycemia. Juniper berries have historically been used to treat malfunctions of the pancreas (hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia, diabetes...).
ReplyDeleteGood luck with this next bit, I hope the cookies turn out well! You can experiment, too - most of this stuff I either make up or adapt to my own needs/desires/what I have in my kitchen at the time.