Many of us have a sweet tooth and enjoy a bit of dessert on special occasions. Unfortunately sugar comes in so many forms and disguises that it can often sneak into our diet unnoticed, raising our calorie intake and expanding our waistlines! The majority of adults in the UK consume too much sugar – and don’t get me started on the sugar intake of children! Drinking sugary drinks like pop is probably one of the biggest offenses, and as it’s a drink – it’s something some of us consume without even realising we’re drinking amounts of calories that would horrify us if we realised how much extra we’re taking in!

So is sugar is in disguise – how can I tell if I’m eating it?

In order to identify excess sugar in your diet it’s important that you read labels! It won’t necessarily say ‘sugar’ either so watch out! Below is a list of some of the many disguises of sugar – you can bet that if you see a word with ‘-ose’ on the end, it’s a sugar!

Corn Sweetener, Corn Syrup, Dextrose, Evaporated Cane Juice, Fructose, Fruit Sugar Concentrates, Galactose, Glucose, HFCS (or High Fructose Corn Syrup), Invert Corn Syrup, Invert Sugar, Lactose, Malt, Maltose, Malt Syrup, Molasses, Rice Syrup, Sucrose, Syrup.

Now these sugars might be hidden in the foods that you buy, so checking the labels aside – the best way to ensure that you avoid eating sugar you didn’t plan for in your daily calorie intake is to cook from scratch using natural ingredients.

Now foods such as fruit do contain sugar naturally, but these sugars are better for your body and easier for your body to recognise and process. Also when you eat fruit you are also giving your body fibre to aid the digestion process and slower releasing energy than the quick burning sugars in cakes and biscuits.

Now I’m certainly not saying you should never have sugar – never have a dessert or a sweet snack. If you fancy something sweet the best idea is to choose healthy options, make it yourself and try healthier recipes and alternative ways to sweeten baking and include what you are eating in your daily calorie intake.

Choose fruit, fruit smoothies, yogurt or dark organic chocolate for a special treat. Use natural sources of sugar to sweeten foods – try honey, agave nectar or maple syrup. Unfortunately there are plenty of evils and endocrine disrupters in artificial sweeteners – so always go for the natural option if you can!

Why not try the recipe below and make healthy ice cream using natural sugars!

Honey and Chocolate ice cream

Ingredients:

8 oz honey (or agave nectar)
2 oz unsweetened bittersweet chocolate
250ml Skimmed milk
240ml cream
40g Dutch process cocoa powder
5 egg yolks
pinch of salt

Melt the chocolate and honey together over low heat, stirring constantly. When melted, pour into a large bowl.Combine half the milk and half the cream in a saucepan. Whisk in cocoa powder and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.Pour mixture over the melted chocolate and honey and stir to blend well.Put the egg yolks in a medium bowl.Combine remaining cream and milk in saucepan. Add pinch of salt and heat over medium flame until warm.Take a cup of warm milk and pour over the egg yolks, whisking well. Transfer mixture into the saucepan with the rest of the milk and cook until mixture thickens or reaches 175 F (80 C).Pour the custard through a strainer onto the chocolate mixture. Whisk well.Chill thoroughly for several hours in the refrigerator.Pour into ice cream maker, or whisk thoroughly, add to a container suitable for freezing and put in the freezer to set.

Enjoy!

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This entry was posted on May 31, 2011 at 6:13 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Posted in Recipes, Weight Loss Strategies by Jango | No Comments Yet