When people hear the word sugar, they usually think of table sugar – the white granulated substance they put in their coffee or use to make cakes. But there is also brown sugar, raw sugar, cane sugar, caster sugar, icing (powdered) sugar and palm sugar to name a few more. These sugars, also known as sucrose, are made up of glucose and fructose, and it’s reducing the consumption of the latter that the recipes on this site are catered to.
Sugar is addictive. It raises insulin levels, promotes the storage of fat, promotes tooth decay and gum disease, and has no nutrients or vitamins.
Most people know that too much sugar isn’t good for them, but if you look at the ingredients when you go shopping, sugar seems to be in everything – from flavoured potato chips, to some tinned vegetables, to most processed meats!
Fructose is also found in fruits and other sweeteners such as honey, maple syrup, golden syrup and treacle. So even if a product on the supermarket shelf says “naturally sweetened” or “no added sugar” check the ingredients carefully – you will probably find it contains concentrated fruit juice or honey, which are just as bad as plain old sugar. Fruit in its whole form still contains fructose, but you are also getting the benefits of fibre, which helps slow down the absorption of fructose and makes you feel full.
If you want to know more about the pitfalls of fructose, Sweet Poison Why Sugar is Making us Fat and the less-technical Sweet Poison Quit Plan, which includes recipes, are both highly recommended. Why not also check out Sarah Wilson’s I Quit Sugar?
Before rushing into the recipes on this site, thinking they will help you lose weight, please make sure you have kicked your sugar / fructose habit (read any, or all, of the above-mentioned books). These recipes do contain sugar, in the form of glucose and, in some cases, small amounts of fructose. Eating too much of them will have the same effect as eating too much of anything, however if you have removed added fructose from your everyday eating plan, your in-built calorie counter will tell you when you have had enough. Just remember: sweets are treats.