Sound too good to be true? Nope, it’s real. My big “aha!” discovery is how to make healthy desserts with no blood sugar rush or added pounds. Let me explain how this is possible. Easy! Simply follow my recipes, using original, unrefined, low carb, low glycemic Paleo ingredients like coconut, almond flour, and chicory root sweetener. We can enjoy whole food desserts without guilt or deprivation, because they’re nutrient-dense and healthy. Try it and you’ll see that it works. Read below why it is so effective.
Dr. Joseph Mercola says: “It’s the kind of carbohydrates you consume, not the number, that shows up on your bathroom scale. Contrary to popular belief, overweight people don’t eat more carbohydrates than those of normal weight. However, it was discovered that overweight people were more inclined to eat an excess of refined carbohydrates such as white bread, pasta, and sweets, which trigger a rapid spike in blood sugar.
The culprit of weight gain, refined carbohydrates, can be found in processed foods high in sugar. Refined carbohydrates add on extra pounds by causing a quick surge in blood sugar. Any sugar that’s not used immediately turns into fat.”
These Mayan Chocolate Brownies will WOW your taste buds without adding to your waistline.
Dr. William Davis, MD, Cardiologist and author of best selling book Wheat Belly says: “Elimination of wheat is a powerful strategy for regaining control over your health, appetite, and weight. But it is not the whole story.” Most gluten-free diets include higher levels of flours. Unfortunately most of these are loaded with carbohydrates, even higher levels than wheat. In order to lose weight we have to “lose the carbs”. Reducing carbs helps to break the roller-coaster of blood sugar and insulin-resistance.
Dr. Davis condemns gluten-free foods made with high-carb flours like rice flour, cornstarch, cornmeal, tapioca, and potato flour. He recommends no more than 15 grams “net” carbs per meal. Better yet, forget high carb flours altogether, and use the most delicious and lowest carb flours such as shredded coconut and almond meal. Compare for yourself below.
If you’re watching your weight, and want to enjoy your treats, there’s no need for high-carb flours. My recipes use low-carb coconut butter and almond meal, for the most luscious and delectable desserts you can imagine. Check out the sweet recipes on this blog, or my books Paleo Desserts and Good Morning Paleo. These yummy treats do not cause weight gain. See the flours comparison graph and charts below. Which flour will be your new favorite??
The Best Flours for Weight Control are Almond meal/flour, Shredded coconut (or coconut butter), Coconut flour, Fava bean flour, and Garbanzo flour. The Worst Flours for Weight Control are Expandex, Tapioca flour, Arrowroot, Rice, and Potato Flour.
What about Sweeteners?
My advice is to choose a natural sweetener that you like, which has zero carbs and does not cause a glycemic rush. There are just handful available. Top marks go to Just Like Sugar Table Top natural chicory root, and PureLo, Lo han Sweetener by Swanson.
Take a look at the chart below for a comparison of carbs in sweeteners. For more details, see my researched articles here: What are the Best Paleo Sweeteners?, and 325 Sweeteners, Which is Best?, and 5 Top Paleo Sweeteners.
1. Raw honey is the best Paleo sweetener.
Yes, raw unprocessed honey is a true Paleo sweetener. But wait a minute – not every day! Honey is very high in carbs and calories, and it gives a nice big blood sugar spike. It contains about 50% fructose, 44% glucose, and 1% sucrose, which is surprisingly close to table sugar (see chart). For these reasons I reserve honey as a rare Paleo treat.
2. Chicory Root Fiber
There aren’t many brands of chicory root sweetener out there. Just Like Sugar Table Top is a natural chicory root sweetener that can be measured cup for cup like sugar. With zero-calories and zero-carbs, it does not affect blood sugar or insulin response. It gently sweetens everything without a sugar spike, or a drop soon after. There are three varieties of Just Like Sugar: 1) Table Top 2) Brown and 3) Baking. The Table Top version gives the best flavor and texture in baked goods. The Brown version has an additional ingredient of concentrated steam from molasses, which is dehydrated to create a brown sugar flavor that’s healthy and non-glycemic—an amazing invention! I use both Table Top and Brown varieties. The Brown has a rather strong flavor, so I like to mix them half Table Top, and half Brown. I do not recommend the Baking version, as it has a higher fiber content, is measured by weight, costs more per sweetness, and cannot be used cup for cup like sugar.
Just Like Sugar, both Table Top and Brown, can be found at vitacost.com or justlikesugar.com. It is expensive, but not nearly as expensive as diabetes.
What are the ingredients in Just Like Sugar?
Just Like Sugar is made from crystal chicory root that is 96% dietary fiber, mixed with calcium, vitamin C, and pure orange peel. Chicory root fiber is high in fructo-oligosaccharides, which taste sweet but do not affect blood sugar or cause weight gain. A natural pre-biotic, chicory root inulin helps to promote healthy intestinal flora. By itself, chicory root is about 30% as sweet as sugar. It becomes as sweet as sugar with the addition of powdered orange peel, a highly concentrated sweetener that is six hundred times sweeter than sugar. Just Like Sugar, both Table Top and Brown, can be found at vitacost.com or justlikesugar.com.
3. Lo Han Guo
PureLo Lo Han Sweetener by Swanson is made from luo han guo, a sweet Chinese herb. It was raised by monks for centuries, so it is often called “monk fruit”. After much research, I have not found a reliable source for 100% lo han guo. I trust PureLo by Swanson Vitamins, which is mixed with inulin powder and is approximately six times sweeter than sugar. It has a gratifying sweet flavor and no aftertaste. Even better, it has zero carbs, zero calories, and contains no sugars.
Find PureLo online at swansonvitamins.com or amazon.com. Use 1/6 the amount of sugar called for in a conventional recipe.
That’s it! The secret to enjoying sweets without blood sugar rush or weight gain is to use original low-carb ingredients. My books and blog are filled with luscious treats to make at home. If you follow my recipes, you’ll find it works! Click here for a list of ALL my guilt-free sweets on this website.
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