When I first came here today, I was going to comment on my first Splenda free day. It was probably going to be something short and sweet and then done. However, I got sidetracked, which of course is one of the hazards of being online. Before posting, I wandered over to MyFoodDiary's forum and read a recent post on the "Giving Up White Sugar" thread. In one of the posts was a link to the blog My Years Without Sugar. This blog follows the journey of one person who chose to give up white sugar as a New Year's resolution for 2008. The posts are very interesting and reinforced what I've been learning about white sugar - it's toxic. From there I followed a links to other blogs such as A Life Less Sweet, Farty Girl and Food Politics. These are all interesting blogs and I read several posts in each. The blog that really ate up my time was Small Footprint Family. I think I spent a couple of hours reading the various posts. It was fascinating and sobering. First, I must reassure you that I DO realize that most blogs are comprised of a whole lot of opinions and just a little bit facts. With that in mind, I was still intrigued by the message of this blog. First, it demonizes, or at least taints, my precious agave nectar. It's not necessarily the healthy natural sweetener it's made out to be. Although it's low on the glycemic index scale, it's high in fructose which, in concentrated forms such as agave nectar, comes with a host of health concerns.
Other "facts" I learned from wandering around the Small Footprint Family blog:
Other "facts" I learned from wandering around the Small Footprint Family blog:
-Polyunsaturated fats are bad
-Soy is bad except when it's fermented, such as tofu
-Canola oil is bad (polyunsaturated fat)
From Small Footprint, I followed a link to Food Renegade where I learned that saturated fats are good for you?! Huh! Talk about renegade! Although this is a little more out there than I'm willing to go, (for now) the truth is, I've heard similar ideas before. The concept isn't as fringe as it used to be and frankly, it makes some sense. Humans evolved on a diet of mostly foraged vegetables, nuts, fruits and of course, hunted animals. Our bodies know what to do with saturated fats. Our bodies do not know what to do with trans fat or polyunsaturated fat since these are man made, processed fats. I'm not ready to run out and purchase lard or beef tallow but perhaps I'll allow myself some bacon tomorrow morning.
My journey today has given my a lot to think about and possibly more to look into. One the tree level, it reinforces my belief that food should be simple and the less processing, the better. On the forest level, it reminds me that the internet is a strange maze of opinions mixed with facts and ideas.
Oh and I went an entire day without Splenda in my iced tea.
-Soy is bad except when it's fermented, such as tofu
-Canola oil is bad (polyunsaturated fat)
From Small Footprint, I followed a link to Food Renegade where I learned that saturated fats are good for you?! Huh! Talk about renegade! Although this is a little more out there than I'm willing to go, (for now) the truth is, I've heard similar ideas before. The concept isn't as fringe as it used to be and frankly, it makes some sense. Humans evolved on a diet of mostly foraged vegetables, nuts, fruits and of course, hunted animals. Our bodies know what to do with saturated fats. Our bodies do not know what to do with trans fat or polyunsaturated fat since these are man made, processed fats. I'm not ready to run out and purchase lard or beef tallow but perhaps I'll allow myself some bacon tomorrow morning.
My journey today has given my a lot to think about and possibly more to look into. One the tree level, it reinforces my belief that food should be simple and the less processing, the better. On the forest level, it reminds me that the internet is a strange maze of opinions mixed with facts and ideas.
Oh and I went an entire day without Splenda in my iced tea.