Sugar & Other Sweeteners

List of Sweetener Articles

See also  Diet & Health Menu

NOTE: I am moving recipes & articles from my old Cat’s Kitchen site to this site, so be patient – I have many, many to move.

4 Sugar Alternatives That Won’t Poison You

The following is from Green Med Info (3):

  1. Stevia, from the leaves of the plant;
  2. Xylitol, a sugar alcohol derived from xylose – a crystalline sugar found in birch bark;
  3. Raw, local honey [Cat’s note: true, unadulterated honey, preferably from a local bee hive that is not near a field of canola, as that will contaminate the bee hives];
  4. Molasses – “Blackstrap molasses, known to sugar-refiners as “final molasses,” refers to the thick, brown syrup that is the end result of boiling sugar cane during the production of table sugar.”

True Sugars

  1. Processed sugars (about) (white & brown sugar, dextrose, levulose, sweet dairy whey, corn syrup, HFCS)
  2. Unprocessed & minimally-refined sugars (about) (dehydrated sugar cane juice such as Rapadura, honey, maple syrup, molasses, malted barley, sorghum, sweet dairy whey, coconut crystals)
  3. Unrefined Powdered Sugar: Make Your Own
  4. Caramelized Sugar (About): Caramel, Toffee & Butterscotch
  5. Other Sites:

See also Mercola articles:

  • “How Refined Sugar Feeds Cancer: Myth or Truth,” that I’ve saved as a pdf: Mercola Articles / Cancer > RefinedSugar_HowItFuelsCancer_MCL_120923.pdf. The following is from his “Story-At-A-Glance” [I moved his last item to beginning of list]:
    • Contrary to natural fructose (found in ripe fruits and honey, for example), refined sugars and many starches are more likely to cause gut dysbiosis that leads to the production of endotoxin. This endotoxin is one of the factors that destroys mitochondrial function, resulting in cancer metabolism (the Warburg Effect) where glucose is burned through glycolysis
    • All dietary carbohydrates are digested into sugars called glucose. Glucose, in turn, can be metabolized (burned) for fuel using two different pathways. First, the glucose is metabolized into pyruvate. The pyruvate can then either enter the glycolysis pathway in the cytoplasm of the cell and produce lactate (this is an inefficient backup pathway), or it can be converted into acetyl-CoA and shuttled to the mitochondrial electron transport chain, which results in optimal energy production
    • The Warburg Effect refers to the observation that if your body has access to enough oxygen, it will preferentially burn (oxidize) glucose in your mitochondria by converting the pyruvate into acetyl-CoA
    • The state of mitochondrial physiology that Warburg accurately identified occurs when your body has enough oxygen and the mitochondria are not maxed out, yet still uses the backup glycolysis pathway. This is also called cancer metabolism. It gives the false impression that cancer is using glucose to supply its metabolic needs for energy, but it is merely an illusion
    • The primary reason glucose cannot be burned in your mitochondria is because the mitochondria are dysfunctional. This dysfunction is the result of the electron transport chain (ETC) being backed up with an excess of electrons that are unable to flow easily through the five complexes. This condition is known as reductive stress. In this situation, your body has no choice but to use the backup system, glycolysis
  • “Honey Laundering: Is Your Honey Real or Fake?,” that I’ve saved as a pdf: Mercola rticles / Foods: Good or Bad > Honey_Real-or-FakeLaundering_MCL_120623.pdf. Here’s his “Story at a Glance” (from that article:
    • Honey is the third most-faked food in the world. Tests have revealed 50% to 70% of all U.S. honey is fake or adulterated.
    • True Source Honey, a honey certification group, was created by the businesses it certifies. According to a class action complaint, True Source Honey is being used by these businesses “to fraudulently control the market, sell fake honey at substantially lower prices than honest beekeepers, and divert sales, revenue, and profits to themselves”
    • Honey can be faked and adulterated in many different ways. Common strategies include diluting the honey with sugars or syrups, or feeding corn syrup to the bees rather than allowing them to forage for pollen
    • Inexpensive, low-grade honey can also be filtered and then dusted with high-grade pollen from another location to obscure its origin. Oftentimes, honey labeled as “local” is, in fact, cheap honey sourced overseas
    • To ensure authenticity, buy honey from a local beekeeper. You’ll typically find them at farmers markets. Also, use your senses. Many adulterated honeys will lack the floral notes found in pure honey. Adulterated honey may also have a lingering aftertaste, or will
      simply taste too sugary, and is far stickier and transparent than real honey

Non-sugar Sweeteners

CAUTION: be sure the product you use is Organic or Non-GMO Verified (symbol, right, from Non GMO Project (1)).

  1. Non-sugar Sweeteners (about) (includes xylitol and other sugar alcohols, stevia, lo han, date sugar, and artificial sweeteners). Does not yet include monk fruit – I’m looking into it.
  2. Stevia (about); a natural substitute for sugar
  3. Good, Natural Sweeteners, Other sites:
  4. Bad, Artificial Sweeteners, Other sites:
    1. Clear State of Mind (2): The following sweeteners contain aluminum which is very harmful and should be avoided:
      • Aspartame, a.k.a. Nutra Sweetener or Equal (on labels)
      • Sucralose (a.k.a. Splenda (on label)
    2. Green Med Info (GMI) articles about Splenda (Sucralose):
    3. Mercola articles

Related Sweet Cravings Articles from the EssentiaList

These articles are written by me, and available as pdf files saved on this site:

References:

  1. nongmoproject.org/product-verification/
  2. Clear State of Mind article about foods/ingredients contaminated with aluminum: clearstateofmind.com/yb/text/youthful-brain/16
  3. Green Med Info: 4 Sugar Alternatives that Won’t Poison You
    1. Stevia
      Xylitol
      Honey
      Molasses