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Is Honey Good For You?

by | Aug 28, 2019 | Blog, Videos

Honey is an amazing natural sweetener and we constantly get the question “is honey good for you?”

The answer is more complicated than a simple yes or no and deserves to be explored.

Whenever we are determining whether or not we should we be consuming a certain food, we have to turn to the consumption concept.

This concept makes us think about what it would take for us to harvest the certain food in nature.

Nature has a way of tempering our consumption of certain foods in many ways.

When it comes to honey, you may have to fight off some beers and an entire colony of bees in order to get your hands on a small amount of honey.

This tells us that we’re not meant to be consuming large quantities of it.

Think of the thousands of bees it takes in order to create just a small quantity of honey.

Harvesting honey also means that we’re taking that food source from the bees.

It is necessary to consider the health of the bees when it comes to honey consumption.

If we are to completely rob them of their food source, they won’t be able to pollinate the plants that we need to grow for a food source.

Are bees dying off?

Our future is closely linked to the bees and we cannot forget this when it comes to the harvesting of honey.

The current bee crisis threatens the pollination of future food harvests and we must pay attention to the causes.

Currently, entire colonies of bees are dying off at an alarming rate because their immune systems are being weakened.

Entire colonies of bees are dying off at an alarming rate because their immune systems are being weakened.

The pesticides used in GMO farming make their way into the bee colonies as those bees pollinate the crops.

The class of pesticides used are decimating bee colonies and threatening our future food harvests.

Another factor to consider is the massive amount of electromagnetic frequencies that may be affecting bee hives.

A study was conducted in India that showed how the presence of a cell phone near a beehive caused the colony to decrease in size dramatically and also cause the bees to stop producing honey.

This study was conducted in India that showed how the presence of a cell phone near a beehive caused the colony to decrease in size dramatically.

It also cause the bees to stop producing honey.

Beyond the environmental impacts, most of the commercial honey products on grocery store shelves are supplemented.

Commercial honeys are often packed with high fructose corn syrup and other processed sugars.

Large manufacturers do this to cover the cost of production.

Is Honey Healthier Than Sugar?

If it’s a commercial honey product – say no to it.

If it is wild, organic and you know that the bee farmer is responsibly taking care of bees – go for it!

The price will inevitably be steep so you won’t want to consume mass amounts of it.

If you don’t want to go that route, consider turning to coconut palm sugar or an all natural maple syrup.

At Sweet Freedom, we choose the more natural sweeteners as those are the ones our bodies have evolved to consume.

Natural honey is rich in antioxidants and the more natural your source of honey is, the more nutritious and delicious it will be.

But remember, eating too much honey can have negative health consequences.

Keep your consumption of honey mindful of how much you’d be able to source yourself in nature.

Zuudles (Zucchini Noodles) Dressed with Glory Dressing

Zuudles (Zucchini Noodles) Dressed with Glory Dressing

by | Mar 16, 2019 | Recipes, Videos

Do not be fooled by the simplicity of the ingredients— this zucchini noodles vegan recipe will blow your mind!

The magic is in choosing the best quality you can find, making sure it is organic and minimally processed.

Variations and additions

  • Try different colored zucchini in combination or alone.
  • Cucumber works well for a salad and a lighter more hydrating salad.
  • Raw yams and sweet potatoes work for more of a starchy salad.
  • Add cherry tomatoes sliced in half and whole fresh basil leaves.

The things we wish we knew when first picking up this game changing grater….

Tips for easy washing up

Simply rinse the back and front under a gently running tap of warm water and give it a shake and all the vegetable bits will be removed. This is important because if you leave it to clean until the vegetable bits are dried on, it will be more difficult to clean. 

Watch your beautiful self

This is a grater and even with the recommended safety handle it is important to respect that if it can cut tough veggies like beets you want to use caution when grating. You can order the safety handle or cut resistant gloves. In any event, protect yourself by being slow and cautious as you’re grating.

Wacky Unwanted Tip: Don’t be fooled by the color of this grater, it is not recommended for grating oranges.

Zucchini Noodles Vegan Recipe

Ingredients

  • 4 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar Raw
  • 4 Tbsp olive oil Cold-pressed organic
  • 2 Tbsp Miso paste make sure it is raw, lighter-colored
  • 4 Small Zucchini Julienne Vegetable Slicer

Instructions

  1. Grate 4 Small Zuccchini on your new Julienne Vegetable Slicer
  2. Blend in high-powered blender. Drizzle and coat salad. Feel free to lick fingers
  3. Toss all ingredients with the Glory Dressing.

All or Nothing

by | Mar 15, 2019 | Blog, Videos

As humans, we love when things fall neatly into one of two categories. This is why some people feel as though they should be either ON sugar or OFF of sugar. The reality of the situation is that no matter how hard we try, we are far more complicated than an ON/OFF switch.

When it comes to healing from sugar addiction, we refer to it as a journey. This means that at one point during the process you may feel as though you need to be 100% void of any sugar intake and at another point you may feel as though you can definitely handle having a piece of cake at a birthday party.

The point is that it’s not going to always be a black and white scenario. Working through the grey areas is how we heal from sugar addiction.

It is important to realize where you’re at on your journey and to be honest with yourself in that assessment. If you know that you can’t handle being around sugar at a certain point of your journey, be kind to yourself and try to avoid those situations.

Once you’ve built up your confidence and want to try and challenge your progress in a smart way, you can consider letting sugar play a certain role in your life. Sugar isn’t going to go away completely, so you might as well equip yourself with the best possible tools to handle its presence.

If you’re on the Sweet Freedom journey or you’re looking to start, here are some points we want you to remember along the way:

  • We are complex living beings that are set up to be addictive. This works really well when we’re sourcing our food directly from nature but can becomes a major issue with our modern way of eating.
  • There are spaces and times in life where it is not helpful to have an all or nothing mentality. Depending on your physiology, level of addiction and general phase of life, this will look different for everyone.
  • The key is to be kind and compassionate to ourselves and recognize that this is indeed a journey. We can make that journey a lot sweeter by judging ourselves and those around us a little less.

Grief – The Sweet Freedom Approach

by | Mar 15, 2019 | Blog, Videos

Grief is an inevitable part of life. It would be impossible to remain joyful and happy through every experience that humans are exposed to in a lifetime. The process of learning how to cope with grief and the stress of moving forward is essential to survival.

In many cases, sugar can be an extremely easy route to take when we are grieving. Unlike alcohol and drugs, using sugar to cope is abundantly available and socially acceptable. It feels like a natural step to use sugar in order to cope and no one will question you if that is your way of coping.

If you are experiencing grief for any number of reasons, it can be extremely easy to “just one” it into a full blown sugar problem. Grief can come in many different forms and we all experience it and deal with it in our own unique ways.

Turning to sugar can seem both harmless and helpful and sometimes it may be necessary to allow yourself that sweetness in the short term, but a continued habit will only prolong your grief.

When you know you are grieving, consider taking these steps to help you through the process:

  1. If you feel like something sweet – try fruit first.

Eating something sweet can provide us comfort in difficult times. The key to not going overboard, however, is to upgrade the items you use to cope. Try a fresh seasonal piece of fruit as a source of sweetness. If this won’t do it for you then allow yourself to enjoy the sweetness of a homemade treat. Rather than going out and buying a highly processed package of peanut butter cups, make your own and allow yourself to enjoy and indulge in that sweetness. It is important to recognize that in the long run, turning to sweets to cope with grief will no longer serve you. Allow yourself the sweetness but don’t let it determine your grieving process.

  1.  Get out in nature

It is natural to want to remain sedentary when you are grieving. Cozying up on the couch or lying in bed can seem more comforting than heading out for a walk. Just like the sugar piece, you can absolutely allow yourself those moments. The key is to know that getting up and getting your body moving after is essential to moving through the grieving process.

  1. Don’t judge yourself

Everyone moves through the grieving process at different paces and in different ways. Don’t let anyone tell you that you aren’t grieving properly and remember that you might do and feel some weird things during the grieving process. Allow yourself to have these thoughts and work through them. It is important to let your body and mind move through the process and grieve in your own way.

Grief and pain is inevitable in this life, but suffering is an option. If you are using sugar heavily to cope with grief, then suffering is likely. Do what you need to do to move through the grief and then shorten the time and intensity of your recovery by getting off of sugar.

Getting Friends and Family to Give Up Sugar

by | Mar 15, 2019 | Blog, Videos

You know that feeling when you start something new and you’re beyond excited about it? Have you ever had the urge to get your family and friends on board because you want them to experience that same excitement only to be met with resistance.

As humans, it is natural for us to want our loved ones to experience joy and enlightenment. Often times when someone decides to make a healthy change in their life and it affects them positively, they run to their family and friends to tell them about how good they feel.

The desire to have our loved ones feeling as great as we do can have the opposite effect we want it to, however. If you are constantly trying to push a change on someone, it doesn’t matter how well-intentioned you are – you may very well be met with resistance.

If you really want your loved ones to make a change, let them come to you. By treating yourself as your own responsibility and living the healthy changes that you want to see, they will be drawn to your positivity. When they are ready to make a change, they will come to you.

So what’s the best way to navigate these waters and get our family and friends to hop on board when you want them to experience life from a healthier lens? Here’s our Sweet Freedom strategy to getting your family and friends to give up sugar with you!

  1. Cook for them!

Pick a Sweet Freedom recipe you really love to prepare and make them a meal. Make sure you’re doing this from a place of love and serve it to them without any investment. Cooking your loved ones a meal is not about tricking them into being healthy, it is about sharing a meal and being present with one another.

  1. Get centered and certain about your choices

This piece is about being 100% accountable to yourself. No one else is responsible for getting you off of sugar and keeping you off of it except for you. When you are accountable to yourself and make changes accordingly, the people around you will be able to tell the difference and they will come to you when they want to make similar changes.

  1. Offer up the 7 Day Eat Less Sugar Challenge!

Getting off of a sugar as a group can be helpful. Offer to do this challenge with a group of your loved ones with no expectation of their participation. If they want to do it, great! If they don’t, you try it and show them how great you feel by focusing on yourself rather than trying to force a change on them. 

The Best Back to School Brain Tool

by | Mar 15, 2019 | Blog, Videos

We’ve been sold on the idea that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And by “sold”, we mean that breakfast cereal companies have turned a massive profit off of pumping our children with sugar first thing in the morning on a daily basis.

It is common to try and fill their bellies before school but there are several issues with this picture of a standard child’s morning routine and cereal plays a huge role in that.

  1. The child may not be hungry

If a child isn’t hungry in the morning, the best option may seem to be to entice them with colorful, sugar filled cereals. But the reality is that children have an innate set of hunger signals that they should be listening to. By trying to override those hunger signals and just “get something in your stomach” even if you’re not hungry, we’re teaching children to ignore the natural cues for hunger that their body is communicating to them. If your child isn’t hungry in the morning, try packing a snack (fruit/oats/homemade granola) that they can take with them and eat once they’ve had a chance to wake up and get ready to accept food

2. Filling their bellies is different than nourishing them

It is often seen as an act of love to send a child off to school with a full belly ready for the day but we know that what really matters is what you’re filling those bellies with. Nourishing a child with quality food should be the focus rather than just making sure that their stomach gets filled up.

The difference here is that by shifting focus from getting them to consume anything from a quantity standpoint to providing quality nutrition we will start to see the difference in their health, their demeanor and their ability to thrive.

3. The sugar content in cereals is diminishing their health, not helping them grow

The amount of sugar found in cereals marketed to children is staggering and actually contributing to health conditions that many children are dealing with. In a standard box of cereal, there are 12-20 grams of sugar per every 100 grams. That means 20% of what your child is eating as part of a daily morning routine is all sugar and most of it is refined sugar that is an addictive chemical in their bodies. Visit theEnvironmental Working Group to find out the biggest sugar offenders in the industry.

This sugar consumption is causing widespread issues with their developing gut biome as well as their brain health. Getting rid of the highly processed cereals and sending your child to school with a belly full of fruit can help with everything from their quality of sleep and instances of bed-wetting to their happiness levels and ability to concentrate in school.

Being educated about what you put in front of your child and teach them to consume is the single best thing you can do for your child’s health and development especially as they get back to school.