Blue Agave, All The Rave?

4.24.11 Lately I've noticed this Blue Agave stuff all over supermarkets. It's marketed as “A Low Glycemic Sweetener," "Organic" and "Gluten Free," mais, don't fall for its appealing façade... Apparently its "high-fructose corn syrup masquerading as a health food." A tad bit won't kill you, but frequent use can cause serious damage: increased fat around midsection, greater risk for Metabolic Syndrome, diabetes, and heart disease.

Alternative Jam Session: Fruit better-than Sugar

4.17.11 Best fruit spread ever is Crofter's Organic - can't have my almond butter tartine without a little bit of sweetness. My two favorites are Superfruit Asia and Europe. They taste like real fruit and are not masked by excessive amounts of sugar. Educate yourself about sweet fruity spreads here.

Red Serendipity Berry: A healthy alternative for HFCS?

4.16.11 Randomly picked up a 1970's edition of the Guinness Book of World Records. Under "Sweetest Substance" the Red Serendipity Berry from Nigeria is listed. Said to be somewhere between 1,800 or 5,600 times sweeter than sucrose (table sugar). I immediately thought "perhaps a natural substitute for HFCS?" Read this research article if you have access. If not read more here: "Because it's much sweeter than sucrose, this is an important substitute for cyclamate in diet food and beverage industries". Poor Red, its Wiki page is so short.