Hi everyone,

I'm doing a special series on 'natural' sweeteners - the real truth.
This week, I will be posting 2 articles on Yacon Syrup & Mesquite powder.
I have also shared a recipe for great date paste & lots of information on Agave & stevia.

I'm curious to know what you think about it, so feel free to add comments!
www.julieslifestyle.com

Love,
Julie Van den Kerchove
www.julieslifestyle.com

Julie, I was hoping you'd give a little hint about the "truth" aspect. Are you going to talk about some possible cautions with yacon and mesquite? We all know about agave. I'm curious! Do tell!

banana who... what are your views on argave?

this is a good topic. what do people think about honey (raw and not raw) (vegan side?), date syrup etc...

Gems, I bought agave after hearing all these rave reviews. I have no issue with honey but agave dissolves really well in liquids. In any case, I found the taste off-putting. It literally reminded me of Karo corn syrup, which my mom used to buy when I was a kid. It had a very empty taste whereas honey is richer in flavor. Of course, honey has a particular flavor and agave is neutral.

Agave is considered highly processed and being compared to HFCS. I don't know if these allegations are all true, but I don't use it (I bought some recently when it was on sale, though) too often.

How do you feel about these sweeteners?

I am curious: I tried agave when it was still touted as "raw" and thought it way too sweet, like corn syrup, as banana who mentioned. Mesquite and yacon are both weird tasting to me.

I don't think there's a true raw sugar that is palatable to me, which is one of the reasons I eat so much fruit--when I do, I don't want any other sugars

Will check out the site, Julie

I have some lucuma powder that I've yet to try in the recipe that calls for it :/. They all seem a little strange to me.

I'm still at my early stages of going raw, almost a year though of transitioning. eat raw breakfast, lunch, snack mostly on friut and veg, but cooked dinner, and the odd non-raw foods.

Trying to fix digestion (ibs) stuff... so a while ago i cut out sugar, and for a year couldn't even eat fruit. But now, since transitioning to raw, i can eat fruit and honey no problem they even give me energy (before it was just a struggle).

I'm not particularly a sweet tooth, but since cutting so much out my diet, I defiantly feel I need alot of natural sugar at the moment, mainly from fruit, and sometimes dried fruit. dried fruit can upset my tummy, though it getting stronger, but i LOVE DRIED FRUIT so much! especially dates!

So natural sweeteners for me, I feel my body does need them at the moment, I'm trying to listen to my body as much as I can and give it what it needs to heal. I eat alot of fruit, at the moment I am eating honey, good honeys, and I feel maybe once I've moved more into raw my sugar cravings will reduce.

I use dates to make things sweeter, and raisins in salads. I do like argave necture and I used to have other sweeteners, but now I just want to keep it simple for my body, so just fruit and honey really.

hope this wasn't too boring to read! ha! just giving my opinion on natural sugars, and my experience.

Has anyone tried coconut nectar as sweetner? It's the only one I use, it's quite caramelly and lovely. You can get it either granules or liquid. I use Tiana organic. As far as I know it's all good! Goes particularly well with chocolate recipes. Julie will you be including coconut nectar in your articles?

I tried agave, still got the bottle in my fridge unused, not sure why but just didn't take to it. I also use dates or sun dried raisins for some things, especially my fave banana ice cream.

Thanks Gems for your experience, not boring at all. I've been going raw for about 5 months, I normally vary from about 70-99% raw, have had the odd 'relapse' but got myself back on track quite quickly as the results have been amazing on my weight, general energy, and acne (gone). Sounds like you're doing some good healing there, I'm kind of wondering what's keeping you on cooked dinners? (genuine question, not judging!)

I never actually intended to go 'raw', hadn't even heard of a raw food diet, I just decided to cut out sugar and processed foods to see if it helped my acne, and it just naturally evolved from there. I was amazed at first when I went around the supermarket reading the labels, how much sugar and salt etc. etc. is in EVERYTHING!!!

Love,
Helen x

I have tried coconut liquid and granules, it's really very sweet. I ended up giving them both away.
I am Canadian so keep a small bottle of local organic maple syrup on hand. It takes a year to use it up but when I want something sweetened that's what I use. Not very often I guess.

red ragon,

I have tried the Madhava brand of granulated coconut "sugar;" it's a fine substitute for maple sugar, but not raw.

coconut secret has a coconut syrup and granules that are completely raw. and when i eat them i don't feel messed up or weird like I do if i ate agave. The coconut syrup is produced very low temperature with minimal processing.

It says on the Tiana pack (granules) that it's raw. I will buy some syrup once I've finished the granules, as they never quite melt when making chocolate so the syrup would hopefully give a smoother texture.

Messed up an weird on agave??! Please elaborate rawlion..!

red dragon... your question about why i'm still eating cooked dinners. A few things, when my tummy was bad even eating raw veg hurt, saw a raw carrot! but all raw fruit and veg is all good now just wanted to take my time to transition as i really do feel there is alot going on inside emotionally and physically (toxic build up) so taking my time, and loving mashed potatoe! by body loves it at the moment, as i think it feels my emotional need for comfort and groundedness.

Also, I am currently working as an au pair and cook and eat with the children in the evenings. I finish my job in august, then i plan to go mostly raw also when i finisihed this job i plan to do some juice fasting, and really clear some stuff out!

i also eat maple syrup too. like with honey, just sometimes when i feel i need that boost, or to fix a sugar craving. but most days i don't have either and just eat fruit

I also use coconut crystal sugar and nectar -- this brand is really raw -

[coconutsecrets.com]

It's low glycemic and I feel fine afterward. I also use their vinegar and coconut flour.

I will use agave, coconut nectar, date paste if I am making something gourmet. I don't have an everyday, or even weekly or monthly, use for a sweetener. Just real fresh foods!

KidRaw Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I also use coconut crystal sugar and nectar --
> this brand is really raw -
>
> [coconutsecrets.com]
>
> It's low glycemic and I feel fine afterward. I
> also use their vinegar and coconut flour.

How is this being kept raw, unrefrigerated, in a bottle?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/31/2012 03:10AM by RawPracticalist.

Not exactly sure what you're asking, but I keep them on the shelf until they're opened. Then I put the vinegar and nectar in the refrigerator, but leave the crystals and coconut flour on the shelf. Actually, I guess I should refrigerate the coconut flour.

Anyone have an opinion on xylitol? I've been checking out some recipes for "make your own natural toothpaste," and it keeps popping up. FYI: I've been using plain baking soda for years and am just interested in switching it up, but not if xylitol will mess with me...

It's good for that, has natural antibacterial properties. Take care where ordering from though, do not buy product from China.
I wouldn't eat it.

Agave makes me feel jacked up or like i'm on crack. It affects my glycemic index too much. so whether its truly raw or not, I don't use it or eat it. There is also much speculation as to whether its possible to make it raw because of the sugars themselves. coconut sugar that is truly raw and the syrup work beautifully, and to me they taste much yummier than agave.
the only brand I know of is coconut secret! flour,sugar,vinegar,and syrup!! great products.
rawpracticalist-these products need not be refrigerated at all,ever. vinegar has a high acid content preventing growth. sugar and flour are both too dry to promote growth, and the syrup has too high of a sugar content to promote growth.