12 Steps to Whole Foods

Recipe Ingredients
Stevia. Stevia is fairly new to the U.S., but has been used in other countries for a much longer time. It is an
herbal sweetener 100 times sweeter than sugar which has no impact on blood sugar. No complaints have been
documented or studied regarding its use in food. You can purchase it in liquid or powdered form. It is generally
refined from the plant version (the more unprocessed versions not tasting very good), and I use it in a limited
way, mostly just a pinch in a blenderful of green smoothie.
Sucanat. This is the brand name of dehydrated cane juice, the same as white sugar but without the nutrition
removed and the product bleached. It is brown and granulated, more coarsely than white sugar. This sweetener
is perfect for baking, as the taste is familiar and neutral and can be used in a 1:1 ratio when sugar is called for.
However, don’t consider this product’s superiority to refined sugar to be a free license to indulge in it in an
unlimited way. It is still a concentrated sweetener (or “added sugar”) and should be used sparingly. Raw
coconut palm sugar is nutritionally superior to Sucanat.
Non-Whole-Foods Sweeteners to Avoid
Fructose. Some people feel that fructose is preferable to other sugars and tastes better than many other options.
Derived from fruit, it may have a slower effect on blood sugar, but it is a very refined sugar and is probably not
the best option for baking. I do not use it.
Maltitol and other sugar alcohols. These have a much higher impact on blood glucose than most people
think (about as much as a white potato), and they cause gastric distress. These are chemical sweeteners rather
than whole foods and should be avoided.
Splenda and NutraSweet (aspartame). These are the very worst of the sweeteners and should be avoided
completely. I would rather feed my family sugar than these neurotoxic chemicals. More is known about
NutraSweet, for which more side effect complaints have been made to the FDA than any other of over 4,000
food additives. Splenda is newer but it, too, is a “fake” or chemical sweetener and will likely be as problematic
as its predecessors aspartame and saccharin were.
Xylitol. I avoid using this refined sugar made from birch trees and corn cobs. It does have the glycemic
index of sugar, however, and is therefore preferred by diabetics. Stevia and agave have low glycemic indexes
as well, but may not be as easy to bake with because stevia is so concentrated and agave is a syrup. Virtually all
corn now grown in the U.S. is genetically modified.
Other Unfamiliar Ingredients
Agar powder. Tasteless dried seaweed. Used as a thickener. Can be found online and in health food stores and
Asian markets.
Arrowroot. A natural, plant-based thickener for sauces, found in health food stores.
Bragg Liquid Aminos. Much less expensive than Nama Shoyu, this product has 16 amino acids and thus adds
protein to foods. The product uses non-fermented, non-genetically modified soybeans, and no salt is added.
You can find it at health food stores or online.
338 12 Steps to Whole Foods
© Copyright Robyn Openshaw