Splenda pt 2

Hi Patricia,

Gosh, where to begin. You are great to be asking questions. All of this will probably be an evolution -- so no worries if you take it in steps. To change your baking, I suggest Laurel's Kitchen cookbook as a start. I would also do a lot of experimenting -- with flours (whole wheat, rye, soy, corn.....) and with sweeteners -- honey, raw sugar, barley malt syrup and rice syrup; the last two I don't know that much about. If you really want to get into this, you will probably start buying things plain -- and sweetening them yourself. Plain yogurt has no sugar or sweetener. Plain soymilk is sweetened; one must buy unsweetened to have a pure product. For salting, you can buy sea salt; it is very good tasting (milder with more of a mineral flavor). I would buy unsalted butter and use sea salt. If at all possible, I would use natural alternatives for sweetening. If I were you, I would really begin to look at labels; the more ingredients, the greater chance of junk being prewsent. I am lucky. I have worked in the restaurant business for years, so I am used to NO prepared or preservative-driven foods; mayonaise is made to order for the guest. Needless to say, my thoughts and habits are really patterned (but I still have colon cancer - so, go figure!)
I am even luckier to work for a chef who is dedicated to everything being organic or naturally-grown. We have our own farm!! Okay, back to the posting, You are a wonder to make your own breads; your house must smell heavenly! If you cannot, there are very good artisan bakers who deliver daily to grocery stores. They normally use excellent ingredients. I have gone off of the sweetener subject, but I think that once you begin to look into Splenda....you might broaden your eating/cooking/baking changes. Believe me, it will be worth it. And the other thing is this: with all of the research I do, the bottom-line is that a plant-based diet with loads of fruits and vegetables and whole grains is key. i look for the best products available. But, I am human. I still eat chocolate - but the poorer brands have added junk. So I buy bittersweet (less sugar) by a great producer (Valrhona is one).....and I enjoy it. If you have a weakness, go for it - just in smaller quantities. How does that sound? Take care and all the best - Maura
BTW - chemo ruins all of our natural flora and yogurt may not replace all of it; you may want to shop for a good probiotic supplement.

chynabear said:

Thanks, Maura. Actually, I'm glad that you went off of the subject. You added some great thoughts to my process.

Since coming to this board sometime in the beginning of July, I have drastically changed the way I (and my family) eat. After I finished chemo (in mid-April) I thought I was just going to move on with my life. Wrong! I was very depressed after finishing chemo and I cried myself to sleep most nights because I was so scared. That was if I could even find sleep. I had little energy and still felt bad. I began to recognize that I was scared because off of chemo I felt vulnerable and thought I wasn't fighting the cancer anymore and it was just going to come back. I found this board and among other things, it has taught me that I can still fight through nutrition (and excercise). I picked up "Beating Cancer with Nutrition" and my journey to better eating was started. I owe a lot to you, and scouty, and I'm sure I'm missing a few and I am very sorry. I started with the main stuff that I KNEW was either off limits or limited quantities and added lots fresh fruits and veggies. I even started juicing daily although I purchased a centrifuge and not a masticating juicer because I didn't know any better at the time. It still does a very good job, though.

I have started reading labels and eliminating things with anything hydrogenated or with sugar and a few other things. I'm not all positive on all of the labels, but it's a start.

I now shop primarily in the produce section. It's amazing that I used to feel the need to wander down every isle and scoop product after product off of the shelf into my cart and now I avoid it for the most part. Also, I try to use fresh herbs instead of the typical spices. As for salt, we've always used sea salt so that isn't a big change.

Now, I've gone off of subject! I live in a small town now and it is very difficult to buy organic fruits and veggies, but I do my best. Also, it's hard to change the budjet to reflect health food stores. Mainly, I have had trouble trying to figure out what to use that (a) works well in baking and (b) isn't horribly expensive to purchase.

I didn't realize that plain yogurt isn't sweetened. I guess I always look at the fruit yogurts. How easy it would be to just add your own fruit.

Sorry for the rambling message. It's been a long day. )

Patricia

So thrilled that you are excited about making changes. I am sure that everything you did helped you recover from chemo more rapidly. Eating really well can be expensive......adding supplements on top of that and we are spending A LOT on our own care. But it is also incredibly empowering - and addictive!!
My juicer was a gift and it isn't so hot....but it will be fine for a little while. I read or heard a great statement recently about our diets: that a human's intestine is really long because it is meant for a predominantly plant-based diet. Animals with a shorter intestine (I think a cat was mentioned) can digest large quantities of meat much better. I found it interesting and am really trying to use it as a guide in planning my meals. And I doubt that having part of the intestine resected by our cancer gives us a break!
Glad I could help out with the yogurt info; oddly, it (the brand) is one of the only things I buy that is non-organic.....but it is milder and tastes better than any brand I have found. My only consolation is that I buy nonfat - and the hormones/pesticides normally cling to the fat-portion.....so I'll hope for the best. If you come across any good info, could you please post it? I know I would love it, and I am sure others would as well. All the best - Maura
Haven't figured out the insomnia thing yet......for me, the health-food store remedies have been sorta hit 'n miss.....more miss
This is really off the subject, but I was using alpha-lipoic acid to cleanse/protect my liver after chemo, and I recently ran out. Running out of it coincided with my neuropathy coming back like MAD. I just did a yahoo search and it is listed as a great remedy - and now, I certainly confirm it. My hands and feet are really bothing me; I'm off for more in the am. Take care.

Have you ever thought of buying Stevia. It's a natural plant based sweetner. I've been using it for about a year now and my family doesn't even know it. It works in cooking or just to sweeten up something. It comes in a liquid and powder. I usually buy it at any natural food coop or grocery store.

Brenda

Hi Patricia,

Sorry if I repeat anything anyone else has said. I only have a minute and no time to read everyone's replies.

I have not had a snitch of sugar for 23+ years. You REALLY don''t need it in anything. I have baked bread, banana and otherwise in all these years. In fact I have a superb recipe for banana bread!! :-)

For bread I use either honey or barley malt. Sometimes even rice syrup but usually the honey. It all technically turns into "sugar" in your system but it's about the insulin response. Some are slower on the rise but sugar shoots your blood sugar up right now! This perpetuates an elevating insulin level creating inflammation which results in diseases ie cancer. I'm not doing a great job explaining this.

As you cut down on the sugar you will find your taste buds will change.

You will find sugar in everything so I suggest you frequent a co-op or Whole Foods. But even there you have to read the labels and you find cane juice in everything. (dang) but you can find more alternative items with no sugar, no hydrogenated oils, and with whole grains.

You can find plain dannon yogurt with no sweetener (get it for my diabetic hubby) at a regular grocery store, and of course organic is best. You can add your own fruit and a little honey or maple syrup if you really must have the sweet. But getting to the point where you don't have to sweeten everything is really attainable. Honestly. Since I have been doing it since I was 20 years old.

If you want to salt stuff try Braggs Amino Acids.

If you do a search on Dr. Mercola's website you may find some good info (research) on Splenda.

I really believe that Splenda will be like Nutra-Sweet (aspartame--which can cause mental retardation) and will be found some day to be as insidious.

As for bread, I love sprouted bread called Ezekial. No sweetener. and you can get it salt free too.

hope this helps.

peace, emily