GOING SUGAR FREE

Yo! I've been MIA a little lately. Mostly cos I didn't start this blog to gain a million readers,  I just wanted to have my corner of the internet where I could rag on about anything I wanted and if someone found that interesting- that would be a bonus.

So I don't talk about health stuff much but I have a pretty selective diet. As of May last year I have been sugar free. It all started cos my natural health practitioner recommended I come off sugar to help my digestion. It was pretty daunting at the time cos I had already been gluten and (mostly dairyish) free since I was 13. Also, I didnt think I consumed THAT much sugar cos I've always had a more savoury tooth. But alas, in the name of good health, I began my little sugar free adventure.

Pretty much sugar is made up of fructose and glucose. Everyone assumes fructose is the good stuff because it naturally occurs in fruit but unfortunately fructose is the bad guy. It's found in high amounts in the western diet- crackers, sweets, tomato sauce, pasta sauce, canned good etc.

What scientists know about fructose is that the body doesn't use it for energy but converts it into fat pretty much straight away. Fat doesn't make us fat, sugar does. Think about it, everything is '99% fat free' now but society is the fattest its ever been, that's because fat free doesn't mean sugar free! You could put a '100% fat free' label on a 1kg bag of sugar but once into our body, that fructose is being converted to fat. I also learnt that in the 1880's the typical australian would consume aprox 2kg sugar per year. We now consume over 50 kg a year which equates to a kilo a week! As the author of 'Sweet Poison' says 'if you eat what sounds like a healthy breakfast cereal and a glass of orange juice, you’ll consume 440grams of sugar before you even touch a chocolate bar."(David Gillespie)

Craaazzy.

SO the whole point of this post was that I was kindly given Sarah Wilson's 'I Quit Sugar' cookbook the other day and have been testing out her recipes. I wanted to share with you my favourite one from her book. Its a coconut dream. (by the way coconut oil speeds up your metabolism and is also killer for hair, digestion and memory.)

Sugar Free Raspberry Ripe by Sarah Wilson

* 1/3- 1/2 cup coconut oil
* 1/3 cup organic salted butter
* 2 tbls raw cacao, or cocoa
* 1 tbls rice malt syrup
* 1/3 cup coconut, shredded or flakes (for a chunkier version)
* 1/3 cup of frozen raspberries or any berries

1. Melt the butter and oil in a pan.
2. Stir in the cacao and syrup.
3. Arrange the berries and coconut on a sheet of baking paper on a baking tray or plate (a dinner plate creates a good shape). Pour the coconut oil mixture over the top and pop in the freezer. When firm either break into shards or cut into wedges.

So yum! and totally fructose free. Next time I make it, I'm gonna make it in a smaller baking tray so the slices are thicker.

If you wanna find out more about sugar check out the author of 'Sweet Poison' HERE.
And you can find Sarah Wilson's website HERE with links to her cookbooks too.

happy thursday x