Relishing Sweet Treats Without Guilt

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Relishing Sweet Treats Without Guilt.
New Year's is behind us. But most of us are still enveloped by the festive atmosphere sense of spiritual satisfaction and moments of joyous celebration. We have visited many friends and relative attended many parties and enjoyed lots of delicious dishes-cookies, snacks, cakes, soft drinks, candies and ice cream. Hmmm, heavenly yummy….  But oops! Did you know that consuming too much of these deliciously sweet snacks may causes our body to drown in sugar? Well, we’d better watch our intake of sweet treats. Otherwise our obsession with sweet food can contribute to health problems.

Sweet, sweet, sweet

Sugar (sucrose) is a carbohydrate that is naturally found in every fruit and vegetable. It is the main product of photosynthesis, the process by which plants transform the sun's energy into food. Sugar occurs in greatest quantity in sugar cane and sugar beets, from which it is separated for commercial use.

We can find sugar in almost every kind of food and drink. Because its use is so common, it is difficult to accept that it has a significant role in contributing to certain diseases.

Types of Sugar

Sugar is available in many forms. Because of these different forms, sugar is also used in many types of food preparation.

Granulated: Granulated sugar differs in crystal size. Each crystal size provides unique functional characteristics that make this type of sugar appropriate for a food processor's special need.

“Regular” Sugar, Sugar Fine or Fine Sugar: “Regular” sugar, as it is known to consumers, is the sugar found in every home's sugar bowl and most commonly used in home food preparation. It is the white sugar called for in cookbook recipes.

Fruit Sugar: Fruit sugar is slightly finer than 'regular' sugar and is used in dry mixes such as gelatin desserts, pudding mixes and drink mixes. Fruit sugar has a more uniform crystal size than 'regular' sugar.

Sanding Sugar: Another large crystal sugar, sanding sugar, is used mainly in the baking and confectionery industries to sprinkle on top of baked goods. The large crystals reflect light and give the product a sparkling appearance.

Brown Sugar: Brown sugar consists of sugar crystals coated in molasses syrup with natural flavor and color. Many sugar refiners produce brown sugar by boiling special molasses syrup until sugar crystals form. It is often used in tea, coffee or on top of cereals.

Liquid Sugar: Liquid sugar was developed before today's methods of sugar processing made the handling and transportation of granulated sugar practical. Available commercially only in liquid form, it is sweeter than granulated sugar.

Watch Out for the Sweets

Don't be a Sweet: Use sugar only in moderation. Sugary foods have too few nutrients and contribute to tooth decay, cough, obesity and diabetes. Further-more, they can also cause osteoporosis and heart disease.

Practice a healthy lifestyle: Christmas and New Year's parties are the perfect times to enjoy cheesecake, chocolate cookies, a glass of syrup, soft drinks or some sweet snacks. But remember; don't eat just for pleasure or to satisfy emotional hunger. In fact, no portion size will satisfy your craving. Practicing a healthy lifestyle enables you to enjoy sweet treats without guilt.

Create a healthy relationship with food: Food is meant to be one of life's pleasurable experiences. Food is not the enemy. The key to developing a healthy relationship with food is to eliminate the word 'diet' from your vocabulary. Why? Because dieting can cause food cravings.

Try balanced eating: Try to eat regularly throughout the day. Start when you are not so hungry and stop when you are satisfied, not full.

Well folks, living without sugar are impossible for us. But we might end up getting sick if we consume too much sweet food. On the other hand, if we balance our food intake, we can relish sweet treats without guilt!