Looking to cure a sweet tooth! - Raw Food Chat

raw4me · 08-01-2006

I kid that I don't just have a sweet tooth, I have sweet teeth. So eliminating sweets, or finding alternatives, has been a challenge for me. I've been 90% raw for the past year and tried a lot of things to curb the sweet cravings, especially after dinnertime. I have tried fruits early in the day, but I'm not a big fruit person (prefer greens). I have relied a lot on dark chocolate, but I just realized how much saturated fat is in a serving of dark chocolate, even the organic kind by Green & Black's. I'm curious what others do to satisfy sweet cravings?

Tappy · 08-01-2006

I would really try the smoothies in Victoria Boutenko's book. I'm not a fruit person either but last week reading her book has been a huge learning for me 'Green For Life'. I suggest the smoothies because when I was raw for 3 months last year, I would feel exceptionally low in spirits in the afternoons and I too have a sweet tooth, which I wasn't able to satiate at work due to otherwise I would have had cacao stuck in my teeth so had to wait until the evening.

Victoria Boutenko & her family were raw for 7 years but they started feeling heavy and lacking in energy after meals. She was in dire straits over the whole thing and looked at what chimps eat - they have 99.4% genes the same as humans. She, contrary to what she had expected found their diets are 50% fruit, and almost 50% greens - kale, leaves etc. They only sometimes eat small mammals but Jane Goodall of the major worldwide chimp institute says they go months without eating these mammals without any ill effects.

MY POINT IS - MAYBE THE SUGARS YOUR BODY NEEDS AND THE ONLY WAY YOU'LL LET IT GET IT ARE THRU CHOCOLATE SINCE YOU DON'T LIKE FRUIT. ThESE smoothies are amazing - like for instance a large handful of kale which, meets all the dietary requirements for a human, with 1 mango, 1 banana, 2 cups of water. Done. There are many amazing testimonials in the book, and Victoria and her family's problems resolved as a result of the inclusion of these tremendous huge servings of greens with a bit of fruit in. She found fruit took away the unpalatable chlorophyll hit that was undrinkable without it. Chimps she says are found to wrap fruit in leaves sometimes too.

I love books and this is handsdown the best book I have ever read.

I feel fantastic now with this new way of eating as before when I just used to eat avocado salads and some cacao.

Have you tried cacao on it's own!!?? not Green & Blacks? From rawfood.com !!!!!??? ))

greenbunny · 08-02-2006

The first question that comes to my mind is "how often do you eat?". Understanding blood sugar fluxuations is one of my hobbies. Cravings for sweets often will come when blood sugars plummet. Plummeting blood sugar can happen because one doesn't eat often enough, one is actually thirsty, one doesn't have enough salt (which is needed if eating a lot of greens) or minerals or one doesn't eat the necessary fat or protein for their particular metabolism. In the wild fruit is eaten whole, not liquidated. Liquidated fruit makes the sugar go into the blood stream quickly and hence raises blood sugar levels quickly. If your blood sugars are erratic, a big shot of sugar will just keep your levels erratic. I find the idea of getting to the basic imbalance more empowering. Why are you craving intense sugar to begin with? What is your body really needing? Chimps don't have blenders. They also don't have dark chocolate. Drinking smoothies, eating medjool date treats and drinking high sugar fruit juices can quench that need, but licorice tea, cinammon and stevia are herbs that actually will help to restrengthen the adrenals and pancreas to heal what creates the craving as long as you also eat often enough, drink enough water and get enough minerals and eat enough protein and fat to balance sweet foods. What happens is that the adrenals get weakened by years of a SAD diet and high sugar foods. They just stop having the ability to regulate the blood sugar levels effectively. The way to heal is to have very consistent blood sugar levels and how you do that is by having complex foods that the body needs to work at to get the sugars out and some foods that last a long time and give long term sugar supplies like protein and fat. They take longer to break down. The proper mix is the ticket. The herbs help to regain organ strength.

Well, that's my little blood sugar post. Hope it's helpful.
Greenbunny

raw4me · 08-02-2006

Wow, I really appreciate these very thoughtful responses. I will check out Victoria Boutenko's book. I, too, love books. I'm hooked right now on Living Cuisine by Renee Loux Underkoffler.

I have tried smoothies in the past with so-so results. They usually make me too full. And I worry about getting too much sugar. Is that crazy? I'm 5-2, 110 pds, so I worry about putting on weight. But obviously crashing on a sweet binge (sometimes happens when I turn to white chocolate!) is too much sugar, too.

I wonder about my blood sugar, too, as greenbunny points out. I eat at noon and at 7 p.m., that's it. Maybe I should spread things out more. I like to rest my digestive system, though, so that's a tough call.

I wonder, too, how psychological my cravings are. Having dessert, treating myself--those things go way back to my SAD days and I thought they made me happy (I know better, but it's hard to break from a mind-set and not feel like I'm doing without).

greenbunny · 08-03-2006

Once you get your pancreas and adrenals healed up you can rest a lot without cravings and without doing yourself more harm. When coming off a regular diet or any diet that still has sweeteners and/or caffeine (chocolate has lots of caffeine btw) I need to eat sometimes 6 times a day to keep my blood sugars up but when I've gotten clean I can go days without eating much of anything with no bad effects - just good. Let your digestive system rest at night and keep the day eating easily digestable foods (all properly prepared raw foods are easily digestable) because resting your digestive system when you adrenals have run out of power and are demanding sugar is not necessarily healthy.

passionforliving · 08-03-2006

Another Victoria gem is the fact that the mineral calcium is very sweet, and if you are craving sweets, it may be you are low in calcium. Victoria states that she cured hers with sesame milk - very high in calcium. Works like a charm!

greenbunny · 08-04-2006

That's another fascinating piece of information Passionforliving. Is sesame mile made the same way almond milk is?

My 80 year old mother takes way too much calcium since she has osteoporosis and I would love to find a more easily assimilated alternative for her.

I find that more often I want magnesium rather than calcium because most good diets have more than enough calcium - but not enough of the supporting mineratls like magnesium. Is their a good source that you know of for magnesium?

greenbunny

passionforliving · 08-04-2006

Sesame seeds are high in both calcium and magnesium! And in the correct ratio/proportion! (Of course! Natural foods are balanced!)

Well, sesame milk is simple.

I use UNhulled sesame seeds, because they are alkaline, whereas hulled become acidic (most nuts and seeds are).

I soak a cup of seeds overnight in purified water. The next morning, pour off the soak water (soak water has the washed off enzyme inhibiters, you don't want to consume them).

Then I put the soaked seeds in the blender with a couple of cups of fresh, purified water, and whiz it up. If you wish, you may add a date or two for sweetness, but soon you won't need it because you will have corrected your calcium imbalance. Then use the milk in your smoothies.

Another trick - Make sesame cream (tahini) with soaked/sprouted unhulled sesame seeds; same process, less water. Use in your salad dressings. SUPER YUM!

greenbunny · 08-05-2006

Thanks Passion. Didn't know hulled nuts were acidic. I will make sure to eat more of them. I'm usually too alkiline. I just don't eat anything acidic at all and do so much meditation that I can get way purple on those little saliva tests. I also think the hulled seeds come out smoother. I used to love tahini. When I ate sweetners I used to make hailva for everyone with raw honey. That's a real treat for sweet tooth people. Basically just what you wrote with the honey mixed in.

Hey listen, without my vitamix, will a regular old blender do to make the milk?

Is there another live food with magnesium that isn't so balanced? I get enough calcium. Don't crave dates really. Just eat one every once in a while to put some chocolate on and mush into chocolate paste. Don't drink smoothies much anymore either. Too sweet. I'd rather eat the fruit whole these days. When I eat dates it's really the cacao I want - but it's usually a hormonal thing. What I feel I need is the magnesium. I need more magnesium than the usual balance. I don't want more calcium per se. Just the magnesium. Every once in a while I feel a distinct desire to pop a magnesium pill. I never want caclium. I've read that older women need a higher rate of magnesium to calcium than others. Maybe that's it. Who knows.

Thanks again,
greenbunny