- Healthier Sweetener Resource
List
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- Before detailing the sweetener resources,
there are two general points that are very important to consider.
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- General Sweetener Points
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- 1. I believe that it is helpful to get
comfortable with a number of different sweeteners. You can focus on one
or two main sweeteners and use others to add a little variety to your food.
For healing and disease preventation it is preferable to use the safer
sweeteners listed below in relatively *small* amounts and primarily not
near mealtime.
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- 2. I believe that while it is very important
not to be too restrictive in a diet, it can be helpful to use sweeteners
that contribute to health-building.
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- I am a big believer in gradually and
comfortably moving towards a healthy diet and lifestyle. See the Food
and Nutrition article on the main web page for more detailed information:
http://www.holisticmed.com/
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- 3. Toxic sweeteners to avoid: neotame,
aspartame, sucralose (Splenda), acesulfame-k (Sunette). Use saccharin,
cyclamates and sugar alchols only as transitional sweeteners to those mentioned
below.
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- NOTE: If you are a diabetic, it is important
to work closely with your healthcare practitioner when you change your
diet. Diabetics can safely use STEVIA (listed below) and usually small
amounts of LICORICE ROOT and FRUCTOOLIGOSACCHRIDES. Some diabetics who
are allowed to use small amounts of and also use small amounts of Sucanat
or Florida Crystals listed below. Please consult your healthcare practitioner.
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-
- Specific Sweetener Ideas
(some ideas excerpted from my resource guide)
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- 1. Sucanat -- Whole cane sugar with
water removed. You can get sucanat products mail order from Purity Foods
(800/997-7358). Nutra Cane (603/672-2801) distributes sucanat in the US.
Also, a company called Florida Crystals seels this product. Still sugar
as far as diabetics are concered, but it contains a small amount vitmins
and minerals which helps reduce some of the negative effects found in long
term use of white sugar.
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- 2. Barley Malt -- Sunspire (510/569-9731)
sells a malted barley product. Some people are sensitive to barley malt.
However, they may have been sensitive to the malt because MSG is often
hidden in the "malt" in processed foods.
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-
- 3. Stevia -- From a South American plant
called Stevia. It is 300 times sweeter than sugar so it is used in extremely
small amounts. It is used by diabetics in many parts of the world. You
can purchase it from:
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- Produce ala Carte 3425 Foothill Blvd.
La Cresenta, CA 91214 818-541-0492 Liquid, capsules and bulk Stevia
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- Cheryl's Herbs 836 Hanley Industrial
Court St. Louis, MO 63144 (314) 963-4449 (800) 231-5971 (314) 963-4454
(FAX) email: pawgep@aol.com
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- Consumer Direct 640 South Perry Lane
Suite #2 Tempe, AZ 85281 (800) 899-9908 (602) 921-2160 Sells liquid concentrate
of Stevia from Paraguay.
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- Body Ecology Diet 1266 West Paces Ferry
Road Suite 505 Atlanta, GA 30327 (404) 266-1366 (800) 896-7838 Sells Stevia
powder from China. *** Sells *New* recipe book by Linda Bonvie ***
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- Sunrider Distributors (SunnyDew - sold
as a dietary supplement) (my favorite for taste)
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- U.S.A. 1625 Abalone Avenue Torrance,
CA 90501 310-781-3808
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- CANADA Sunrider International Canada
1438 Broadway Street Port Coquitlam, B.C., Canada V3C 5W2 604-464-5018
604-464-5888 (Fax)
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- EUROPE HEADQUARTERS Sunrider Europe,
Inc. First Floor 195 Knightsbridge London, SW7 1RE United Kingdom 44-171-838-0900
44-171-838-0991 (Fax - Distributors)
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- AUSTRALIA Sunrider Australia 810 Princes
Highway Springvale, Victoria 3171 61-3-9263-9999 (Main Phone) 61-3-9263-9933
(Distrib./Orders)
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- Please see the following web page for
offices in other countries: http://www.holisticmed.com/sweet/sunrider.html
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- Richters Herbs Goodwood, ON L0C 1A0,
Canada Tel +1-905-640-6677 Fax 640-6641 Info: info@richters.com Catalog
Requests: catalog@richters.com Sells stevia plants
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- Stephen J. Marsden Herbal Advantage,
Inc. Route 3, Box 93 Rogersville, MO 65742 Phone: 800-753-9199 or 417-753-4000
Fax: 417-753-2000 Email: Herbal@dialnet.net http://www.HerbalAdvantage.com
Sells stevia powder, extract, and plants. (Can ship same day small orders
or up to hundreds of pounds.) Dealer inquiries invited. Custom bottling
and labeling available. Free Catalog of herbs and spices.
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- The taste of stevia can vary considerably
from one vendor's product to another due to different growing conditions,
processing, etc. Please try products from several vendors until you find
one that you like the best.
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- 4. Fruit Juice
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- If you shop at a natural foods store,
you will notice that many products are sweetened with fruit juice. R.W.
Knudsen sodas for example taste almost as sweet as junky soda, but are
made with fruit juice and carbonated water. So you get the vitamins and
minerals and avoid the junk that usually comes in typical sodas. (I know,
a little bit opinionated.)
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- Natural jellos can be made with water,
fruit juice and agar-agar as another example of using fruit juice as a
sweetener.
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- 5. Honey -- It may have contaminents,
however, especially if it is imported. Be certain of the source and quality
before using it regularly. Honey should never be given to infant and very
young children.
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- 6. Rice Syrup and Yinnie Syrup are often
found at natural food stores.
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- 7. Licorice Root
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- Licorice root is one of the most commonly
used herbs in the world. No serious adverse reactions have been published
about licorice root. *Single* chemical extracts have caused serious adverse
reactions on occassion when used in medicine or candy, but the whole root
does not cause these serious reactions. A single chemical extract of glycyrrhizin
from licorice root causes the blood level of this chemical to rise dramatically.
This does not happen to when whole licorice root is taken in reasonable
amounts. (See Environmental Health Perspectives, Volume 102, Supplement
9, November 1994, 65-68.) See the book, "The Scientific Validation
of Herbal Medicine" by Dr. Daniel B. Mowrey for a more detailed dicussion
of licorice root.
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- Most herbalists believe that it is wise
to avoid excessive and long-term use of licorice root. Many herbalists
believe that long-term use can cause water retention and hypertension in
some people. I use it in tea and herbal formulas often, but it *always*
comprises less than 25% of the formula or tea (usually around 10%).
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- Licorice root is safe for diabetics,
but I would *not* use it as a primary sweetener. Stevia is a better choice
for diabetics, in my opinion. As an example, you may want to consider
using stevia and also use fruit juice, small amounts of licorice root in
tea, amasake, etc. so that you get variety in your diet. Licorice root
is best used in small amounts to give herbal teas a sweet taste.
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- 8. Amasake -- Made from sweet brown
rice, brown rice and koji (starter). The koji breaks down the polysaccharides
in the rice to disarracharies giving it a very sweet taste. Most natural
food stores have amasake drinks which you can try -- or you can make it
yourself. Try to avoid drinking too much of the amasake drinks made with
almonds or nuts as they can be hard on the digestion.
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- 9. Other herbs -- There are a number
of plants which can be used as a sweetener. Stevia is just one of the
more popular ones. There are other herbs which are sweet and safe for
everyone which will be added in the future as they become generally available.
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- 10. Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) -- Another
very useful product for Candida overgrowth patients as it supports the
growth of beneficial bacteria. It is a little expensive to use in large
amounts. You can purchase it from:
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- Allergy Research Group/Nutricology P.O.
Box 489 400 Preda Street San Leandro, CA 94577 (510) 639-4572 (800) 545-9960
(info) (800) 782-4274 (orders)
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- 11. Gradually reduce or eliminate:
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- White Sugar Brown Sugar -- Brown sugar
is usually white sugar mixed with molasses or sprayed with caramel coloring.
Raw Sugar -- Raw sugar is often white sugar with coloring. Fructose --
Betware the "natural" products with fructose. It's not much better
than white sugar (IMO). D-tagatose -- Far safer than neotame/aspartame,
sucralose, etc., but best used as a transitional sweetener to healthier
ones listed above.
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- Corn Syrup Dextrose Artificial Sweeteners
(Nutrasweet (aspartame), Equal, Spoonful, Neotame, Sunette (Acesulfame-k),
Splenda (Sucralose), Sweetener 2000 / NutraSweet 2000)) -- Avoid these
like the plague. Please don't become a guinea pig for another poorly-tested
toxic sweetener only to find out years from now that it contributed to
the destruction of your health.
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- Important Note: MSG (Monosodium Glutamate)
has some of the same toxicity mechanisms as the toxic sweetener aspartame.
In order to cut out MSG, you need to remove foods with the following ingredients:
- Monosodium glutamate - hydrolyzed proteins (any type of hydrolyzed protein)
- autolyzed yeast - yeast extract - caseinate (in many cases) - "Natural
Flavors" MSG that occurs naturally in tomatos, cheese, etc. is absorbed
and metabolized differently (safely) due to other factors in the food.
See the following web page http://www.holisticmed.com/msg/ for more
information.
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