Healthy Sugar vs Sugar Free: Is that the right question?
Sugar is sugar. I’ve said it myself, many times. But is there a difference between added sugar in food, and the sugars in heavily processed foods? Or is it best to be sugar free? Is difference between healthy sugar vs sugar free the question we need to be asking?
*NOTE: There’s an awesome cookie recipe at the end of this post – be sure to check it out!
Added sugar is a hot topic. And for good reason. Issues with food labelling make it challenging to understand just how much sugar is in our food. And as we face an epidemic of global obesity in children, it’s understandable that parents have concerns around the amount and type of sugar their children consume. The conversation surrounding healthy sugar vs sugar free diets is complected and at times quite heated.
But does it make a difference? Where the sugar comes from? One topic widely addressed is the difference between added sugar, and sugar that occurs naturally in fruits and vegetables.
There might be some things to consider beyond the sugar type and content. What else is in the food? What other ingredients are present?
Do the other ingredients matter?
Why does this matter? Have you ever eaten an entire sleeve of cookies (guilty here!), a bag of potato chips, a fast food meal? If so, you might have had the experience of eating a quantity that should have filled you up. There were certainly more then enough calories. But it didn’t. You could (and maybe did?!?) eat more.
The reason this can occur is called satiety. Which is essentially feeling full after eating. Foods rich in micro nutrients tend to have a higher nutrient density – a higher ratio of nutrients to calories. Heavily processed junk food is very high in calories, while being low in nutrients. For this reason it has a low satiety; you can eat a lot of calories but you will not feel full.
So, what’s the verdict on sugar free vs healthy sugar?
How does this impact sugar in your food? In your kids food? Healthy sugar vs sugar free? It all comes down to managing moderation. I think many of us agree that one or two cookies are ok, but the entire package is not. But if we are constantly fighting the desire for more, we are fighting a loosing battle. Willpower is not the answer to a healthy lifestyle. Relying on willpower sets us up to fail as we are never satisfied and always facing restriction. However, one or two cookies that are made from a range of wholefoods containing a rich range or micronutritents is a completely different story.
Sugar is sugar. Well, that is not necessarily true, there are different types of sugar. However regardless of the type of sugar the importance of nutrient density is the same. The higher the ratio of nutrients to calories, the greater the satiety – the more we will feel full after eating.
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Nutrient Density and Wholefoods
So what am I getting at with all these technical terms and external links to reliable sources? It’s that we don’t need to demonize sugar. It doesn’t have to be about healthy sugar vs sugar free. We just need to eat it with real food. My understanding, from everything I have learned about sugar, is that in moderation, it is a healthy addition to the average person’s diet. We don’t need to be scared to add a tablespoon or two to a recipe. But we do need to look at what we are pairing it with. It matters what the other ingredients are. In some cases this is called food synergy. But the point is, for good health it is important to eat a variety of wholefoods. And that can include ones containing sugar.
The take away
Eat wholefoods. The higher the nutrient density the better. If you want to add some sugar, and if there is no medical reason restricting you, do so without feeling any guilt.
And if you are looking for a nutrient dense cookie to try, have a crack at these ones! They are a favourite around out place.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Mint Cookies
My husband and son are mint obsessed. When given the choice, the flavour is always mint.
Even when I want chocolate peanut butter cookies….
For the whole family to enjoy, so chocolate peanut butter mint it is!
What it means to eat healthy is a big topic. For us, we try to keep it pretty simple. Eat as much real food as possible, as close as possible to its natural (eatable!) state. Stay away from additives, processed, and refined where it is reasonable to do so.
But….
Never at the expense of the enjoyment of eating food. As a busy active family we need to be able to make food we enjoy and nourishes our bodies. The entire point of food is to nourish our bodies, to allow us to participate in the activities the nourish our souls. And sometimes (often!) those two things overlap, what nourishes our bodies and what nourishes our souls.
Such as….
Cookies!
Eating well allows us to play together as a family, to adventure and explore, to travel.
It certainly allows me to follow my passions, even though these days I am pretty stretched for time!
Eating healthy is important. But it is one part of the bigger picture. In a society where we are a bit obsessed with how and what we eat, that singular focus can make us unhealthy. The distinction that healthy eating is PART of a healthy lifestyle and not the sole component was the key to a healthier direction for my family.
With all of that in mind, please enjoy these simple and easy cookies. There are many ways to substitute ingredients to meet your families needs.
INGREDIENTS
> Oats 1 cup
> Sunflower Seeds ½
> Almonds ½ cup
> Dates ½ cup regular dried (sulphate free if available)
> Maple Syrup 2 tbsp
> Peanut Butter 2 tbsp *
> Cacao powder 1 tbsp
> Dark choc chips or slab of dark chocolate ⅓ cup **
> 1 egg
> Pinch of salt
> 4 drops peppermint oil ***
*if your peanut butter contains salt, omit the pinch of salt.
**whatever kind of chocolate or chocolate substitute is your preference
*** if you are not a mint fan, 1 tsp of vanilla bean or extract
INSTRUCTIONS
1) Place oats in your blender or food processor and coarsely chop.
2) Add remainder of ingredients, excluding the chocolate chips and egg. Blend in high setting for 15 seconds.
3) Add egg and chocolate, blend on low setting to combine (if you are using Thermomix, reverse blade direction for this step).
4) The egg makes the mixture sticky. I found the longer it sat the stickier it go, so get the dough into balls quickly and place on a greased pan. Flatten slightly as these will not rise very much.
5) Cook at 190 for 10 minutes in a preheated oven.
Enjoy 💙
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