I'm using this as a reminder to myself - it's better to eat non-sweet things, even as treats. Not just in terms of weight, but in terms of how I feel in myself!
It also emphasises for me why I don't want to follow cookbooks like Deliciously Ella. She's still working on the basis of making yourself sweet treats and finding "substitutes" for unhealthy things. I don't want to "allow myself" sweet treats if they're going to make me feel ill in the long run, and hide the fact that really I just shouldn't be overdoing the sugar, no matter what the source. I mean, I just hopped over there, and she's touting a "healthy" version of salted vanilla almond butter cup chocolates!
It's true...I was just talking to someone about this! I see a lot of sweets that are 'paleo friendly' and I try to make lower sugar, lower carb versions of desserts if I make them for family. But the truth is it's better to avoid them most of the time and not try to 'paleo-fy' desserts. I definitely have gotten sick eating too many dates, or coconut-covered dates (a tasty treat). I think it's misleading because we think it's in its natural form so it won't be as sweet! But it's kinda like how you find out that juice has more sugar than cola! It adds up quickly. I was realizing recently how I'd been having bits of sweets here and there all the time, and it was making me feel awful. A friend of mine who teaches traditional food cooking and GAPS diet says that if you are going to eat anything sweet, it is best to add a healthy dose of fat to it, because the fat slows the absorption of the sugar. So, whipped cream, nuts, etc, are not the enemy. But I do think that, as you pointed out, it's usually just better to avoid the sweets.
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I hadn't heard the suggestion to add fat to the sugar, but fascinating that it matches my experience of feeling better when I eat more nuts and less dates :) And yes, I think the problem is in our ideas - feeling we "ought" to be able to eat "normal" foods, when actually eating sugar is a very new and unhealthy development.
DeleteMy mum recently looked at a cookbook her mum had given her when she first left home, and compared some of the recipes to a much more modern cookbook that had the same "staples". The new versions had about twice as much sugar!
Kxxx