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Q: Hello, everyone. This is Trevor Justice with the Vegetarian Health Institute. Our guest expert tonight is Elaina Love. How you doing, Elaina?

A: Doing great. Glad to be here.

Q: I tried to summarize today’s topic in a few words. But I couldn’t. It’s the longest topic title so far. It’s replacing the sugar usually called for in recipes with blended fruit or low glycemic sweeteners. So that’s what we’re going to talk about today.

A: It’s one of my favorite topics.

Q: So let me pull up the questions that have come in. We have a lot. Before we jump into them, I just want to do a quick recap. So Elaina is mostly into raw foods. Maybe I should let you speak for yourself.

And tell people what your experience is with baking for your kids. And then the kinds of foods you mostly make so people can understand today’s topic in context.

A: Basically, my experience stems back at least 25 years. I’ve been making gluten-free cooked and raw vegan foods. I started out with cooked organic gluten-free foods. And learned how to make a lot of things with other kinds of flours.

Early on I got off of gluten because of health reasons. I noticed I felt better when I wasn’t eating foods that had gluten. Then cutting out the white sugar and replacing it with fruits, maple syrup, honeys, and whole foods sweeteners. I did a lot of baking.

Then about 13 years ago, I got into raw vegan foods. So started replacing all the cooked things with things like dates and nuts and lower sweet items as well. Figuring out substituting things. Talking about fruits for sugars and all the different things.

My first recipe book was actually this cookbook that I found. I said: well, if I’m going to be vegetarian. I better get a cookbook. I found this book. And it was all about using sweet potatoes in place of grains even. And sugars and whatnot.

1 I’ve had a lot of fun experimenting over the years. I really consider myself an expert more in the raw food recipes. As you said, I still have kids in my life. We are always creating different recipes. I feel like I have a good expertise in the wide range of experiences and knowledge when it comes to making these kinds of foods.

Q: I think about. If I had to guess, I’d say at least 80% of our students are primarily cooked food folks. So lets make sure that we talk about using. It’s easy to use low GI sweeteners like Xylitol in place of sugar in baked goods. Because it’s dry powder just like sugar.

But I think that is what most fascinating to me and some of our students is how can we replace sugar in baked goods with blended fruit purees or applesauce. Do you want to give us kind of a quick summary of how that’s possible. You can replace sugar with fruit purees or mashed bananas or applesauce.

A: It’s the thing you will want to think about when you’re replacing. You want to get the concept down. When I teach people, I kind of like them to have the concept in their minds. Once you have the concept, you can figure out a lot more stuff on your own.

Think about a banana bread. When you’re making banana bread. You’re actually using a lot of bananas for the foundation of the bread as well as the sweetness of the bread. You will see that kind of bread doesn’t call for a whole lot of extra sweetener.

The reason for that is when you cook something down like a fruit. A banana, an apple, a peach. What happens is you’re cooking all the water out and you’re leaving behind the gumminess of the fruit. Like when you make it into a jam how it gets gummy. You’re leaving behind the sugars. So anything you’re making. It’s going to take a little longer to cook.

Or you’re going to have to take out some of the water out of the recipe if you’re substituting. Let’s say you’re taking a mainstream item and trying to switch it over. You’re going to have to take out a little bit of water and add the fruit. Now white sugar is going to be sweeter than the apple.

So there’s rules of thumb with this. It’s just kind of guidelines because every fruit is different. We can just say like a green apple would have a way different sweetness than a red delicious apple. Some bananas, depending on their ripeness, are going to be way sweeter than others. Any kind of fruit you get. Depending on whether it’s in season or not.

It’s always going to be up to the chef to decide do you need a little more sweetener. It’s guidelines and rules of thumb. Especially when you’re dealing with fruits. It’s not hard fast rules. What I kind of use as a rule of thumb with this. If I’m replacing. Let’s just say apples as an example.

I’ve got a recipe like a sweet bread like zucchini bread. Usually you add sugar to that to make it taste sweet even though it’s like banana bread. If using apples or applesauce in place of the actual sweetener. It would be like double the amount of fruit to the amount of sugar. Two cups of pureed apples versus one cup of sugar. And then you also want to cut back on the water.

2 Q: So if it calls for one cup of sugar. You would replace that with at least two cups of pureed apples. And you would also reduce the amount of water or whatever other liquid is in the recipe.

A: Right. Like as you were saying. Some people are doing cooked foods anyway. So they’re going to buy applesauce versus whole fresh apples. Applesauce is going to be a little bit more sweet because it’s already been cooked. Than fresh apples. Most people are going to use applesauce than fresh apples. Does that make sense. Do you want me to clarify that?

Q: Obviously folks into raw foods are also into whole foods. Which is why Elaina is saying if you’re a raw foods person. You’re not going to put something like applesauce that’s already been cooked and processed.

The apples you take fresh and put in a blender or vita mix food processor will be closer to the original whole food. Plus there will still be some Vitamin C in there. Where I doubt there’s any in applesauce cause it’s such a heat sensitive.

A: I really doubt it. Yeah. Think about it. If you’re buying applesauce. One, you’re probably paying more money. And two, it’s been sitting in a clear glass jar in a grocery store with the UV lights shining on it. So all the nutrients that are in there are getting exposed to light constantly.

So you’re really not dealing with such a high quality. And sometimes the apples that get made into applesauce are not the best apples. They’re the ones with bruises and the ones that nobody else wants. Of course it’s been pasteurized to kill any bacteria. But how good quality are they really? You might be better off.

I’ve always just made my own applesauce. Pureeing it, putting a little cinnamon in. It’s fresh applesauce and that’s so much more delicious even if you’re not into all raw foods. It’s a great substitute. You’re going to notice more vibrancy from your food.

Q: More vibrancy. Let’s cut to the questions here. We have a lot today. The first one is from Ann Marie. She says: Dr. David Servan-Schreiber in his book, Anticancer: a New Way of Life, suggests agave as a sugar replacement because of its lower glycemic index. Now I want to let you know, Elaina, that we just had a whole bunch of new students enroll starting last Wednesday. So they haven’t seen or read our previous lessons.

A: Well, this is good. Because we need to educate everybody. This is perfect. This is a great question as a first question leading into talking about sugar. Do you want me to go ahead and talk about it. Or do you want to say something first?

Q: Before you do. Since she’s bring up questions about a few sweeteners, let me just finish her question. So this particular author recommends agave as many of us did 5-10 years ago when we didn’t know about its danger. Then she’s saying a lot of our suggestions include Stevia.

Whereas her macrobiotic teacher has suggested brown rice syrup. Which is also Meredith McCarty’s favorite. And I’ve been using a lot lately. Let me cut to the chase. Stevia has a strong flavor. What do you think would be the best for jams that she’s making fresh from berries and things like that.

3 A: Okay. She’s right. Stevia is a strong flavor. And it also is very concentrated. Jams do usually need something sugary to add. So brown rice syrup is actually a really good sweetener because it doesn’t have a strong flavor like maple syrup, honey or other things.

So it is actually a really good sweetener as far as a neutral tasting sweetener. And it’s from a whole rice so you are getting nutrients from it. Whereas you’re not from things like agave as we know. Because it’s been so processed down. Other sweeteners I would use.

You could use honey in a jam. But like I said you’re going to get a very strong honey flavor in that. You can also use. Rapadura is a whole food sweetener which comes from cane juice. That’s in the dried form so it would be a little closer to sugar as far as texture. With rapadura, it’s not as sweet as sugar is. Which is probably a good thing.

What I would do if I was using rapadura or something like a sugar. Even coconut palm sugar is very similar in its consistency to sugar as well. It’s like a brown sugar. It’s a whole food sugar from coconut palms. You could bump up the sweetness with even a couple drops of Stevia.

And the reason I’m so into promoting Stevia, as I mentioned earlier, and other alternative sweeteners. Is because even if it is a natural sweetener. We still are asking a glycemic load to our pancreas. We still are increasing the insulin levels in our body. Which lead to death and aging.

It’s really all about. Yes, these things taste better than Stevia. But in the long run, what is going to be better for our health? And I think that’s why people are signing up for. Most people go vegan and go into health.

I would say 80% because of health reason versus animal rights. I’m not sure what the statistics on that are. So trying to at least look at why we’re using so much sweetener and cutting back a little bit and adding Stevia.

Q: Just a few years ago, some of these newer low GI sweeteners were not even on the market. Which I’m going to let you talk about in a second. But at the time it seemed like Stevia was the only zero glycemic index sweetener. And agave was very low on the glycemic index. It’s about 10-15 out of a scale of 1-100.

So it seemed like those were the only two choices for diabetics or people with blood sugar concerns. But why don’t you quickly fill in about some of the other zero glycemic sweeteners we talked about on our last call.

A: Yes, there are several now and a lot more coming on the market. The reason, Trevor, I believe so many are coming on the market is because diabetes is rampant. It’s something that really needs to get addressed. What happens whenever there’re health challenges out there in this world. People come to the aid of the needs of what people have. And they’re needing these zero glycemic sweeteners.

One of them that we’ve been hearing about for quite a while is called Xylitol. That comes from two sources. The original comes from birch bark, which I love. It’s a great sweetener. It’s about $6.99 a pound so it’s a little more pricy than other regular sweeteners like brown rice sweetener.

4 The second form of Xylitol comes from corn. I’m not as keen on things that come from corn for several reasons. The genetically modified organisms in corn is very high. And we don’t have many long-term studies that shows what happens when we’re using the genetically modified organisms. We haven’t been eating them long enough to know what the real effect on it is.

One country said they’re watching American children to see what happens. Like they’re using us as guinea pigs. That’s kind of scary. Corn is less of a choice. The other sweetener is a new one that has recently come out on the market. It’s called Erythritol. That one comes from either corn or cane sugar. It’s called a sugar alcohol. It’s not sugar or alcohol although it’s derived from a sugar. It’s zero glycemic and zero calories. So that’s another great sweetener.

The difference between Xylitol and Erythritol is not really much difference at all in how it looks or tastes. The difference is the effect on the gut. I’ve noticed for me personally and I’ve heard other people say that Xylitol can actually give you cramps in your gut after eating too much. But the Erythritol doesn’t have that side effect. So that’s another bonus. And it’s a little pricy. I think it’s up to about $12 a pound. So it’s double the price.

Then another new sweetener I’m actually selling on my website now is called Lakanto sugar. It’s been created by a company in Canada. It’s a combination of the Erythritol that I just talked about and it has a fruit in it that’s a zero calorie, zero glycemic fruit called lo han guo. What lo han guo in with the Erythritol is it helps balance the sugars in your body even more. So it can be a little more healthy for you.

So the two I’m using these days. I’m switching back and forth between the Erythritol, Lakanto and Stevia. I use those to make chocolates and all kinds of yummy fun treats. I rarely use any other sweeteners anymore.

Q: So the great thing they have in common is they’re all zero or very low glycemic index. They’re all white powders so they resemble sugar in that way. You can substitute them in a one-to-one ratio.

A: I’ve noticed they’re just a little sweeter than sugar. So I was telling a client today about ¾ of a cup to 1. Even though it says one-to-one, they are quite sweet.

Q: Okay. Of course, Stevia you would not do one-to-one.

A: No. That would be like 300 to one.

Q: Stevia is 300 times sweeter than regular sweetener. That would be very small. So you don’t really have to use Stevia if you want a zero glycemic sweetener. You can go with Xylitol. Which I’ve been using a lot with no effect on my gut. But some people have cramps or diarrhea.

Then the second one you referred to, Erythritol, is sold in Whole Foods. And it’s called Organic Zero. Organic Zero is the brand name it’s sold under. That’s a good one. Then there’s the one. Lakanto. That you can buy on Elaina’s website. Which is www.purejoyplanet.com.

5 A: And I do have the Organic Zero on there and all different flavors of Stevia. Just for those people who are into. For those who have diabetes or Candida. It’s good to have the options available. The other thing I want to mention before we move on is there are two other zero calorie, zero glycemic sugars that I don’t recommend.

That’s Sorbitol and ______-itol. The name has gone right out of my mind. Those can cause explosive diarrhea and severe cramping. If you’re reading something and it says Sorbitol. I would really avoid that. It’s not real good.

Q: This next question is. Marilyn, I see your question. But it’s off topic for today’s call so I’m going to skip it. If you’re a new student, you will be getting the Vitamin D lesson pretty soon. Randy. She says: how is it that some people say some fruits are not good for you and lead to insulin resistance and an acidic environment in your body. Yet some fruits are considered alkaline. Other people say fruits are great for you. He’s trying to reconcile all the conflicting information he’s heard about fruits.

A: There is a lot of conflicting information. Let me just start by saying fruit is an amazing food. It’s full of Vitamin C. It’s full of nutrients. Fruit is amazing. But the problem with fruit is that: one, it’s picked unripe. So think about peaches or even bananas. They’re going to pick them while they’re still green and ripen them with gas or even ripen them on the shelf.

But they’re not really ripening. What they’re doing is rotting. They are slowly decomposing. The fruit was acidic when they picked it because it was green. It didn’t get a chance to fully alkalize on the tree. Have you ever had an orange and it starts to mold and rot. If you had your own orange tree and you let it sit until it was fully orange and pick it.

You can let it sit for weeks and it will never mold. The reason for that is because it has come to full maturity on the tree. So we are living in a society where we are not able to have fruits fully ripened. If you are somewhere where you have neighbors with fruit trees or you have your own. Great. You’re picking tree-ripened fruit which is completely different than store bought fruit.

Q: What about farmers markets for fruit?

A: Farmers markets are great. They’re a great source. You’re getting local produce. You’re getting to go to a farmer. Most of them are getting harvested that day or the day before. They’re up at 4 a.m. picking their fruits. They’re very close to being picked so that’s a great source. The other thing I do want to say about fruits is there is so much hybridization that has gone on over the years.

Our original fruits are very different than those we have now. Most of them have been bred for sweetness. It’s not that fruits are bad or wrong. It’s just that our bodies are really only able to handle so much fruit at a time. And yes, it is great to have fruit when there’s fiber in it and we’re eating lots of greens. We’re balancing it out with healthy grains.

But if you’re eating fruits and you move on to something else sugary like cereal or you’re eating fruits on your cereal. And cereal can be sugary and so can milk. There are so many things we’re adding to our diet. We don’t realize it turns into sugar in our bodies. We’re just overloading our pancreas. So by cutting down on fruits. Not cutting them out. Is just one way to look at how much sugar you’re actually putting in your diet.

6 It’s not to eliminate fruit. There are also some fruits out there that are great to have. They’re not going to increase the load on your pancreas. Like berries – strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blue berries. Great fruits that are wonderful.

Lime and lemon juice that you can turn into sweet by adding Stevia and a little carbonated water to make it like sodas. Those can all be alkalizing even though they’re acidic on your tongue. They’re still alkalizing and cleansing even in the body.

Q: Obviously, some fruits are sweeter than others. So some of the high GI fruits are dates and watermelon. Some of the medium GIs are raisins, pineapples, mangos, figs and bananas. But there are also some fruits that are low GI. Believe it or not there’s a pretty long list if you look on our GI list, which was lesson 33. We have some of the common fruits that are low GI are strawberries, prunes, plums, peaches, oranges, kiwi, grapes, grapefruit, dried apricots, cherries and apples.

In terms of a sugar high, I don’t think you need to worry so much about those from a GI standpoint. Now I have a question for you Elaina. I buy a lot of fruit at a local place called Berkeley Bowl. Which I’m sure you’re familiar with. And I buy fruit that’s not ripe yet. I’ve bought peaches there that are still too firm to be eaten out of the box. Bananas that are green. And I’m sure other stuff. Mangos that are still really hard. I just let them ripen on my counter. And they don’t rot. So how does that relate to what you just said about the fruit not being good if you buy it before it’s ripe?

A: If you were to test your pH on a regular basis. Let’s just say that you’re a fruitarian and the only fruits you were getting were fruits like stuff you bought from the store. You’re not going to get super alkaline on those fruits because they’re not super alkalizing.

However, if you’re adding greens, green juices or other fruits that are alkalizing. Maybe you’re even making a blended smoothie in the morning that has parsley and pears and other things. You’re kind of balancing out the alkalinity. So I wouldn’t really worry about it.

I feel as a raw foodists I get plenty of alkaline things from all the greens. I have two huge salads a day. I drink green juices. I blend greens into my smoothies. You just want to make sure you’re getting those green foods that alkalize you if you’re only buying store-bought fruit. Does that make sense?

Q: I understand. So one of the outcomes of this conversation is. Obviously if you’re near a farmers market, then it would be optimal to buy your fruits from the farmers.

A: And get to know your neighbors with fruit trees.

Q: Then again, I don’t think there are some fruits like bananas. I don’t think anyone is going to be able to buy at a farmers market because they’re not locally grown.

A: You are right. And to be honest. I know a lot of people don’t want to hear this. Bananas are something that you should not have be a regular part of your diet. One, they’re not local. They’re completely not on this continent. There

7 are some that grow in Florida, but we rarely get the Florida ones. Two, they are super high glycemic. Which means they are going to add a lot of sugar to your body.

Three, they’re gassed and always picked unripe. Four, most of them are not fair trade. I know there are some bananas that have fair trade stickers on them. They’re just not an ideal food. It’s nice to have as a treat every once in a while. But I’ve kind of eliminated them from my diet for all the above reasons.

Q: The next question is from Sharmayne. She says that the type of low glycemic sweetener you recommend depend on what type of recipe you’re making. It sounds from your description more like they’re all pretty much comparable. It’s just a matter of do you want to pay more money to get the Erythritol or do you want to pay less money and get the Xylitol. Which might give you GI problems.

A: Right. Or might be derived from corn.

Q: Might be derived from corn. But you can check that out.

A: I really do want to say, too. Everybody’s got a different level of fastidiousness or whatever you want to call it. I’ll spend any amount of money to have the top best thing. Other people are I’m on a budget and I just want to make sure I feel good. That’s why I kind of give you the range. It’s just really for you to decide.

Q: Elaina, you talked about some of the pros and cons before. There’s something I meant to say and didn’t. I forgot. First of all, there is Xylitol made from non-GMO corn. When I was at my local store. I was reading the back of the Xylitol packages. One specifically said this is from non-GMO corn.

Some people have GI problems from Xylitol but some don’t. I don’t. You do. So you just have to try it and see. It does have a lot of health benefits. Including it seems to be good for dental health and strong teeth. We talked about that. I have to pull up the lesson where we actually did that.

A: Well, especially if it’s in the form of gum or toothpaste where it’s actually on your teeth. Because if you’re just eating something with Xylitol, I don’t know how much it’s going to help your teeth. But for sure if you’re using it as a gum or toothpaste.

Q: Right. We talked about the extra unusual benefits of Xylitol in lesson 34.3. Next question. Lenore says: I’m not clear about which Erythritol is the best one to choose. The one made from corn or the one from cane sugar.

A: I think we just covered that one.

Q: We talked about that with Xylitol. But this is Erythritol. Does Erythritol also come from corn?

A: Yes. The Xylitol is either from birch bark or from corn. Erythritol is either from corn or from cane sugar. They both can be from corn. I always choose the cane sugar or the birch bark depending on what. I just always choose the non-corn one.

8 Q: Even if it’s non-GMO corn. You still don’t like it?

A: There’s a great website for those of you who haven’t heard of it. It’s called www.cornking.com. They do this 72- hour challenge. They dare you to go 72 hours without corn. It’s almost impossible because corn is in everything. Corn is in canned coconut milk that you buy. It’s crazy. That’s one reason. We’re so inundated with corn. I kind of think if I can get away from corn, I will. Also, corn is what is called a stored grain. It’s stored out in silos out in the Midwest or whatever. There’s rain happening. There’s a lot of things going on. So you end up getting a moldy product. A lot of times what you’re eating that is making you react to corn isn’t so much the corn. It’s the mold in the corn. So that’s just another factor. I’m not saying that Erythritol has mold in it if it’s made from corn. But it’s just a factor to think about.

Q: I understand. If you have a choice, why not get the one that’s not corn. The next question I can answer. It’s from Didier. She says: what do you think of agave nectar? So we covered that in lesson 34.2. I refer you to that lesson to read all about it. The next question is from Jacqueline. I’ve found that mint and powdered vanilla work very well for giving blended fruits and smoothies a sweeter taste. Is there any other spice that can also be used?

A: That is a great question. And I have lots of answers. Cinnamon is one of my favorite spices to use to make things taste sweet. You can just take anything in a beverage you’re making like almond milk or other kind of milk. When you add cinnamon in it, it bumps up the sweetness a bit. Also, nutmeg is another wonderful spice for adding more sweetness to it. Those are my two favorites. Sometimes a little bit of ginger can make things taste a little sweeter.

Q: Great, so cinnamon and nutmeg. Next one is Sharmayne says: Is the Xylitol made from birch bark marked differently than the one made from corn. I can answer that. I was at the store the other day. I noticed one brand specifically said it was from non-GMO corn. Another one didn’t say where it was from. So it was my intention to call the company or go to their website and ask them that question. Hey, where does your Xylitol come from? And that’s how I’d recommend finding out if it’s not already indicated on the bag.

A: The other thing about that is usually if they’re proud of it. They’re going to brag about it. The one kind of Xylitol. There’s one brand out there that’s in a cylinder and it’s brown. That’s kind of the original Xylitol. That’s the one that’s from birch bark. It will say proudly that they make it from birch bark on the canister. If it doesn’t say it’s probably. They’re going to brag about something that they’re proud of. If it has the highest quality ingredients, it’s going to say so on the label.

Q: Well, Xylitol is a popular topic. Here’s a question from Lenore. She says I’ve made raw chocolate truffles with Xylitol. They tasted gritty. I even blended the Xylitol first. Is there a fix for this.

A: Well, that’s what I was going to recommend. Blend it until it becomes a full dust-like powder. That seems to really work for me. Maybe she didn’t blend it quite long enough. It really should look like a fine powder by the time you’re done blending.

Q: Do you recommend blending it in a specific appliance like a Vita Mix or a food processor.

A: I blend mine in a Vita Mix that I’ve dried out with a towel or make sure is exceptionally dry. Also, I have. It’s a coffee grinder. But I call it a spice grinder. You can put at least a cup of that in there and just push the button until it

9 becomes a powder. And you want to let it sit for a minute after you finish powdering it. If you take the lid off right away all the dusty smoke from the powder is going to be flying out.

Q: We have Lillian asking: what would you use if dessert-making is your business. Something not to expensive on one hand but definitely not something that gives your customers diarrhea or cramps.

A: I would say if dessert-making is your business. Then the Xylitol. Like you said, Trevor, most people are not reacting to. Some of us who’ve been born with problems in our GI tract are a little more sensitive. I would say she is probably going to be fine with using the Xylitol. I know it’s a little less expensive than the Erythritol. \

Then what I would do. Especially if you’re on a budget. Let’s just use for example. If you’re a baker, I probably don’t have to give you the exact formula. Just cut your Xylitol back to ½ or ¾ of what you would normally use. And then bump up the flavor with a little powdered or liquid Stevia.

You’re not going to taste that but it allows you to use less of the other sweetener. That’s usually how I use Stevia in recipes where I know there are people that don’t like Stevia are going to be tasting it. I just use it as a bump. So you can save money that way. You’re not adding all the Erythritol or Xylitol in.

Q: So if her recipe calls for a cup of sugar. Instead of doing a one-to-one ratio and replacing it with a cup of Erythritol or Xylitol. You could do just half a cup of Erythritol or Xylitol and then do a very small amount of Stevia to bump up the overall sweetness.

A: Yeah, maybe a quarter teaspoon. And 1/8th to ¼ teaspoon of Stevia.

Q: In Lillian’s case. If dessert-making is her business. Why not just use some of the traditional sweeteners like honey or maple syrup or rapadura?

A: It sounds by her question though that she was interested in offering people a low glycemic recipe. And what I would do. I’m having food booth at the 4th of July. A big festival we’re having in Patagonia next weekend. So what I’m offering is regular pies. I’m making coconut cream raw pies.

And then I’m offering a low glycemic pie. Obviously it’s low because it has strawberries in it. I’m going to charge more for it. So what she can do is charge more for those people who are really interested in the zero glycemic or low glycemic desserts. It’s a different audience. I’m one of those people who would be willing to pay twice as much for something that is not going to spike my blood sugar.

Q: That’s a good idea.

A: You’ve got a niche market there so go for it. And you know what you’re going to notice? This is what I’ve noticed. Most people go for the better one.

Q: Elaina, slow down with your talking to make sure people can understand. Most people go for the better one.

10 A: They’re willing to pay more is what I’m saying. So if you can offer both, you’ll be able to find your market. What people are interested in.

Q: Bobbie is asking a question. She says the lesson on Xylitol makes it sound like a miracle panacea for all kinds of things. Now she is referring not to the lesson that you contributed to but lesson 34.3 by Sherill Sellman. So let’s see what her question is. How much needs to be consumed to have a positive dental effect? Chewing gum 12 hours a day?

You know what, Bobbie. We did receive your questions that you posted online. I forwarded them to Sherill hoping that Sherill would actually answer your questions. And I haven’t heard back yet. I need to check in again. I don’t have the answer to that myself. Do you, Elaina? How much Xylitol you need?

A: I don’t know we can ever call anything a panacea for sure. I think there’s always going to be some people who react to things. And other people that don’t. The Xylitol I think I was saying. If you are just eating it, you’re not going to get big dental effects. Chewing gum.

I think one little piece of gum a day is fine. Like you could do it after a meal. That’s going to clean your teeth off and you’re going to get the good benefits. A lot of the toothpaste out there now are promoting that they have Xylitol in them. They switched over from the old saccharine or whatever they were using. Now they’re putting Xylitol in.

Q: There’s a suggestion that www.globalsweet.com has birch Xylitol that’s made in the USA. They also make a premium birch Xylitol. Someone else is asking: how can you tell if your cinnamon or nutmeg is gluten free?

A: I’ve never heard of cinnamon or nutmeg having gluten in them? Have you, Trevor?

Q: No, I haven’t.

A: I know people who are celiacs. And what celiacs means is if you have any kind of gluten, you have a strong reaction. I’m not saying this is true. And I’ve never heard that cinnamon or nutmeg is something you need to worry about. You could probably call the company and say: are your spices manufactured in a facility that also manufactures gluten products. I guess you’ve got to do your research.

Q: So the question is are your spices manufactured in a facility that also manufactures gluten products. And that would really only be a concern if it’s a celiac.

A: Yes.

Q: Lenore is recommending that we try using fresh or dried Stevia leaves which have no aftertaste. I know she grows it herself in her kitchen. Lenore, if you want to remind us where you buy the seeds, that would be really great.

A: I do have a website for everyone to go to. It’s another great source for the powdered Stevia leaf. It’s the whole leaf that’s green and it’s been powdered down. You can use that as a sweetener. And the name of the website where I find the highest quality spices is www.mountainroseherbs.com.

11 Q: Since we’ve only got about 20 minutes left. A lot of these questions are good and they’re about is this sweetener good or is that one good. But I want to make sure that we complete the discussion that’s relevant to this lesson on if you’re making a recipe. Obviously if you’re replacing sugar with one of these low glycemic sweeteners.

It could just be one-to-one or 75% of the original sugar. But is there any more that you want to say about using blended fruits or even could you talk to us about how does one make fruit purees if they didn’t want to use apples for some reason. If they wanted to use dates or figs or dried cherries.

A: If you want to use dried fruit. Okay. Here’s a way to make a dried fruit paste. You want to take let’s use raisins for an example. I’m going to take one cup of raisins and fill the cup container with the raisins. Then you just want to fill in the cracks with water.

You don’t want to make the raisins swim with water because what you’re going to have is this really sweet water that you’re not going to have anything to do with and you’re going to end up losing a lot of the sweetness in the water. So just enough to cover. That plumps up the raisins but you’re not going to have a lot of water. Or dates or whatever dried fruit you’re using like dried cherries for example.

Then put it in a food processor. Like a Cuisinart with a big blade. Then just turn on the blade with the escalature on the machine. And then let it puree until it becomes a gooey jam-like paste. That’s really a great one-to-one ratio for sugar right there. Dried fruit is so sweet. Cherries are less sweet than dates or raisins.

Q: Would you want this paste to be the same consistency as apple butter. Would that be a good measure?

A: Yeah. Maybe even a little less thicker.

Q: I think all this information came from you. Although we had a couple of other contributing authors like Meredith and Sherri. It says here raisins have a strong flavor and sweetness so they work well in sweet breads, cookies, homemade raw fudge and chocolate clusters. Was that your suggestion?

A: That was my suggestion, yes. Because they have a tangier flavor than dates. Which is more of a mellow, almost neutral buttery flavor. Does that make sense when you think about the difference in those two flavors.

Q: Raisins have more acid than dates.

A: Exactly.

Q: So if you used raisins in something like a sweetbread or cookies. Would you make the raisin paste first or would you just use the whole raisins?

A: If you want it to be sweet throughout. You’d rather make a paste. If you put the whole raisins in, you’re only going to get the sweetness when you bite into the raisin.

Q: Right. Like oatmeal raisin cookies.

12 A: Yes. This is a great example. So let’s say you are going to make oatmeal cookies and you’re going to want to use raisins as the sweetener. You could just puree the raisins first and use that in place of the sugar. You’re going to get a raisin flavor without the actual raisin bite. You could put some walnuts in there if you want a little crunch or chunk in there.

Q: In that case, the raisin would make raisin paste using the process you explained. And you could do that same approach with dried cherries? To fill a cup with dried cherries and then fill in the cracks between the cherries with water. Do you let them rehydrate for a little while before you put them in the food processor?

A: Maybe 1-2 hours depending on the softness of the fruits. I’ve gotten dates that are so dried that they’re almost like an overnight soaking process. Some that are so plump that you really don’t even need to soak them. Like the really fresh medjools. You can puree them without even soaking them.

The other thing I do want to say if you’re using cherries is they do have quite a strong flavor and they’re not usually as sweet. You can do half dates and half cherries. Also dried cherries are quite expensive so you could substitute. You can get dates as cheap as $3.99 a pound if you do your homework and look around.

Q: Was this your suggestion that dried cherries are good in desserts that have chocolate or carob?

A: Yes.

Q: Like they can be used in raw carob brownies. And it says to chop them well before adding to a dish. This is what we just discussed. Soak them for 2 hours then drain and pulse in a food processor.

A: Right that was my suggestion. Because dried cherries are quite large usually. If you just put them in a recipe whole they’re going to be big chunks. They are 3-4 times the size of a raisin. And I do them in my raw carob brownies. They are super fun.

Q: So any of these dried fruits. If you would turn them into a paste. Then you could substitute them in a one-to- one ratio usually? Or are some different because they’re less sweet.

A: I believe dates, apricots, raisins, dried bananas, dried mangos or things that are already really sweet. Dried cherries and figs I notice aren’t quite as sweet. So you can do half dates/half figs; half dates/half cherries. Or even half of another kind of sweetener like brown rice syrup. You can do combinations. Like I said, those aren’t quite as sweet. The lesser sweet fruits. And dried berries aren’t going to be real sweet.

Q: Let’s check the questions again and see what else has come in. Lenore says seeds can be bought from Johnny’s seed catalog. You can also buy the plant at a good nursery. Okay, so there you go. I’m imagining that if you buy the seeds from Johnny’s, you get some sort of instruction as to how to grow them. How deep the soil needs to be. What they look like. Maybe Lenore can let us know.

13 A: I see a lot of people growing them in pots. Sort of like you would do an herb like basil or other herb like that. Something you can kind of cultivate. I don’t know if they do well in direct sunlight. I guess Lenore can tell us.

Q: Did you mention lo han yet?

A: Lo han guo. That’s what’s in the. As far as I know. Unless someone out there has information on this. You can’t get lo han guo by itself as far as a sweetener coming from China. It still hasn’t been made totally available. And the only sweetener I’ve seen that’s available with the lo han guo is the Lokanto sugar which I was talking about earlier. That’s a combination of the Erythritol and the lo han guo together. It looks more like brown sugar and I really like the taste of it.

Q: Good. Let me see if I have any comments on the recipes from this lesson.

A: Can I talk quickly about a couple of other sweeteners that came to mind while we’ve been talking. Yacón root syrup. It’s a deep rich brown. It’s more expensive but it’s also very low glycemic.

Q: Yacón.

A: It’s from Peru. South America.

Q: Very expensive.

A: Very expensive so it could be something you could use in the place of maple syrup. It’s got a somewhat similar consistency and flavor. It’s got inulin in it and it has fructooligosaccharides. Which actually helps feed the good bacteria in your colon. So if you’re taking probiotics. This is going to help feed the probiotics in your gut. It is expensive so it’s more like a little drizzle you put on things. Like adding it to your oatmeal or something.

Q: I would just use a different sweetener. It’s so expensive.

A: Well, we ought to let people know it’s out there.

Q: I think we have enough choices as it is from everything we’ve talked about. I think the key now is if a recipe calls for sugar. How do they replace that with one of the healthier sweeteners.

I actually had a phone call with Dr. Ritamarie. Who was giving her own run down on sweeteners. We used with her permission a lot of that content in lesson 34. She is really a big fan of using fruits as a sweetener. She said for a while she was lured to using agave nectar because she could use it in her white frostings without discoloring them.

A: Yeah, me too.

Q: But once she learned everything that we talked about in lesson 34, she stopped using agave. But the thing I just want to relate to everybody is that the reason Dr. Ritamarie and a lot of raw food people like fruit as a sweetener. And even Dr. Klaper says this and he’s not really primarily raw.

14 He thinks all the other sweeteners are just processed crap. Fruit is the only one he can get behind because it’s the whole fruit. It’s got fiber, minerals, vitamins, the bioflavonoids, the phytonutrients. It’s the reason I want to participate in this lesson. To show people if they want to go that route how they can use fruit.

A: I’m right there with you. Unless you really have some strong sugar problems. Most people will be fine using fruit.

Q: Earlier someone asked about brown rice syrup. You said that could be a good option. I just wanted to relay from Meredith McCarty’s book Sweet and Natural. She says multigrain syrups like brown rice syrup provide a slow but prolonged source of energy that is common and soothing. Because they’re partly a complex carbohydrate. And that’s kind of unusual among many sweeteners.

A: That’s a good point.

Q: Let’s see what other questions have come in.

A: Also, while you’re talking about that. I want to say. From someone who’s been experimenting for a long time on my own body. I want to talk about from my own personal experience. Really, just try different things and see how your body feels. I noticed for me that dehydrated cane sugar. In the form of sucanat or rapadura. Which is pretty much like brown sugar but really rich in all the molasses and everything. My body does not react to it.

However, other sweeteners like honey, my body does. And the brown rice syrup I’ve been okay with and also maple syrup in small amounts. But not in a lot of amounts. So really just start to get used to if you do take sugar out for a week. By only eating whole fruits and Erythritol or Xylitol and then add something back in like maple syrup or brown rice syrup and just see how your body reacts.

You could get a blood sugar spike and then be tired afterwards. The only way to know how your body is reacting is to eliminate it for a week. There’s no other really way to know how your own body’s working because we’re all so different.

Q: As I’m thinking back to the recommendation to go to a farmers market. I want to point out. And I’m going to give out a URL address here. In lesson 18 which is on how to save money on health food and organic produce we recommend farmers markets.

We actually have a technique for getting stuff half price or less at farmers markets. Right now all I want to do is give out the website address where anyone can type in a zip code and find out what farmers markets are near them. Let’s see if I have that handy here.

A: I’m on this www.globalsweet.com and I remember the other sweetener we really want to avoid as far as the zero glycemic sweetener and that’s malitol. They have it for sale on the site. In Spanish the word for mal means bad. That’s one of the worst ones as far as gut reactions in sweeteners. I wouldn’t use that.

Q: I’m not finding this link. Go to Google. Type in find local farmers market and I’m sure you’ll find it there. Lenore chimed in with a couple of points. Stevia grows just like herbs and likes the full sun and it’s easy to grow. You can grow it

15 the same way you would grow basil or anything else indoors. She has a question: do we need to grind Lakanto or Erythritol to use them in a raw recipe and not have a gritty quality?

A: Yes. I always grind mind. And here’s what I do. I grind the whole bag all at once. I open the whole thing into a blender. Make sure there’s no water or drops of water in the blender. I puree it or really grind it until it becomes a powder. Then add it all back into the bag. Close the bag. Then even if you go to make a recipe. Even if it’s a tablespoon. It’s already ground. It’s really easy and saves you a lot of time.

Q: This question wasn’t quite on topic. But let’s go ahead and look at it. Randy. What do you think about the bags that preserve fruits. And I assume he’s talking about the green bags that I recommend in lesson 1. He wants to know: do they cause a chemical reaction? Do you have an opinion on that?

A: As far as I know from everyone that uses them. And Cherie Soria at Living Light uses them. They are supposed to neutralize the gases in fruits and vegetables that break them down. I don’t know if that’s a chemical reacting with your food. I can’t speak on that.

I know a lot of people swear by them and they really do preserve the foods quite a lot longer. Personally I don’t use those. I try and buy my produce as fresh as possible and I use glass jars. If you look in my fridge. Half of the time I’ve taken things out of bags and stuck them in glass jars. Glass as you know is safe.

Q: I’ve been using the Debbie Meyer green bags for years. They are pretty amazing at how long things last. What happens is that fruits and vegetables, as they ripe, release a gas called ethylene gas. When they’re in a compartment like a crisper or a paper bag or anything like that.

And the ethylene gas is hanging around. In the presence of the gas they just release, it makes them ripen even faster. So all these bags do is absorb and remove somehow the ethylene gas. The fruits and vegetables are not stuck in an environment with a lot of ethylene gas making them ripen too fast. If you don’t want to use those for some reason.

The other thing we recommend in lesson 1 are the extra light produce preserver discs. Which are these green discs. They last for about 3 months each. If you put them in your crisper, they will also absorb the ethylene gas from anything that’s releasing the gas.

A: Fresher is better really is general. Like you were saying. If you can buy your produce on a regular basis, keep it fresh.

Q: Three people chimed in with the name of the farmers market website. It’s called www.localharvest.org. That’s where you can type in your zip code and find whatever farmers markets are near you. That’s great. Thank you, guys. I appreciate it. Any closing thoughts, Elaina?

A: I just want to say take this information. Try it out. If you’re curious about things. The best thing I always tell my students is get in the kitchen. Start making stuff. Start experimenting. And you’re going to come up with your own ideas. And you’re going to find what works for you. I feel like I have become such an expert because over the years I’ve

16 tried everything. I’m open to suggestions. And I’m open to see how my body feels on things. There’s going to be new products that keep coming along. Just stay open minded and do your research.

Q: Right. I was using agave for years. Now I’m using either brown rice syrup in things where a liquid sweetener works. And Xylitol for other things. Like if I want sweetener in my tea, I’ll just use Xylitol. It dissolves and it doesn’t have the gritty quality.

A: And I add Stevia. I like all the flavored Stevias. We all have different tastes.

Q: The great thing is that we have lots of choices. It’s not like there is only one thing that we have to use. There are so many low glycemic sweeteners now. Whether it’s Stevia, which was the original one. Or Xylitol or Erythritol or Lakanto. All these zero glycemic sweeteners if you have hypoglycemia or diabetes or just want to make sure you don’t fatigue your pancreas and wind up with some sort of blood sugar disorder.

A: Exactly.

Q: Well thank so much. Go ahead.

A: There’s a lot of great books out there that you can read. Some of Gabriel Cousens’ books Diabetes; The Cure for Diabetes. Then there’s another new book I just discovered. It’s not really a health food book. But it’s called The Belly Fat Cure by Jorge Cruise. He talks about the whole blood sugar insulin levels and how that adds to belly fat.

How when we increase our insulin levels. A lot of people are talking about that. You can even do a Google search on insulin levels and sugar and you’re going to be amazed at what’s out there. The new information coming through.

Q: If people are concerned. Not just about their outward looks. But their inward health. What would you recommend reading to learn about the impacts of too much sugar. Whether it’s from maple syrup, honey or dates.

A: There is one great book which was my first favorite book by Donna Gates called The Body Ecology Diet. It’s not a raw food books. It’s totally got cooked foods. It’s not even a vegetarian book although there are a lot of vegetarian options in there. The second one I would recommend is Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine by Gabriel Cousens. Those are both available on www.purejoyplanet.com.

Q: Which is your website.

A: If you’re going to get it, you might as well pay shipping once.

Q: Thank you very much, Elaina. I really appreciate your time.

A: Thanks. Have a good night.

Q: Thanks everyone else for participating. We’ll see you next week.

17 A: Okay. Bye bye.