Sugar
Does it have sugar in it? Is agave bad for me? Honey is not vegan right? What about coconut sugar? Maple syrup? Stevia is a plant right? So many choices?!
We have made the choice here at harvest to make almost everything from scratch to avoid unnecessary sugar and processed foods. We have made the choice at harvest cafe to work with different kinds of sugars for different kinds of dishes and for different health or environmental concerns. Below is a breakdown on the sugars that we use and each individual can decide what sugar suits their lifestyle best.
Raw cane sugar
1 tablespoon 15 calories comes from sugar cane
When we eat white pure sugar our blood sugar spikes (our glycemic index goes up (GI)) and we give our body a sugar rush, fallowed by a sugar crash. Meaning there is no nutritional value from raw cane sugar.
Now looking into these alternative sugars can help us regulate that and we can enjoy sugar in a more sustainable way. But we do still enjoy the flavor of the pure sweet cane sugar from time to time. We carry raw organic cane sugar and use for some baked goods (from Mary’s secret garden) and some fruit compote and spreads. Using this sugar is truly for the taste, being aware that it will spike your blood sugar. We believe in moderation, enjoying it from time to time wont hurt you. Now, if you have a sweet tooth (like me) there is a more sustainable way to enjoy sugar daily. See facts below.
Dates
1 date 20 calories, 1 tablespoon date paste 25 calories, grown on trees in California.
We love our dates! We use them in all raw baking, some regular baking, smoothies and our vanilla date latte cashew milk.
A Date is a fruit and not really classified as sugar at all. But it has a lovely sweet taste to it so it works wonderful as a sugar substitute. We not only love our dates because of their sweet flavor but also because they are a superfood, meaning they come with great nutritional benefits. Dates are loaded with potassium many minerals, vitamins and fiber. In fact, dates have the most minerals and fiber compared to any other “sugar” we are using here at harvest. The fiber in the dates actually slows down the sugar absorption, meaning your blood sugar wont spike or crash. Our personal opinion: we see dates more as a food than a sugar due to its high fiber and mineral content.
Honey
1 tablespoon 64 calories, comes from bees.
We carry honey for an optional sweetener. Everything on the menu can be made vegan so nothing is really made with honey but we have it upon request. We love and recommend our honey in our matcha latte and our house tea. We carry different brands of honey but all are local, raw and un pasteurized. It is important to invest in a raw and unpasteurized honey to keep all the nutritional components intact. The reason honey is a great sweeter is because it is rich in Amino acids, B vitamins, Calcium, Copper, Iron, Magnesium, Manganese, Phosphorus, Potassium, and Zinc. Again a sugar that provides more then just a tweet taste, a sugar that our body can utilize.
Not So Fun fact: A study at Texas A&M University found that about 76 percent of honey on supermarket shelves doesn’t contain any pollen whatsoever. (Invest in the community, local & raw it is!)
More fun facts: Honey can help with allergies if you use local honey from local pollen your body begins to recognizes the pollen and allergies can become milder or not exist.
Agave
1 tablespoon 60 calories, comes from the agave plant.
We use agave in our vegan buckwheat waffle and in our raw vegan cheese cakes. Agave comes from a plant and it is vegan. Agave has a very sweet taste so little goes a long way. Agave is known for its low glycemic index (wont spike your blood sugar as much as cane sugar). Agave has the lowest glycemic index on the map of sugar, lower than honey. Although honey comes with other great nutritional values that help balance the glycemic index. That is about if with agave. Really no other minerals or vitamins. We like using agave for its sweet taste, low GI and for the fact that it is vegan. It is also more affordable, and has to travel a shorter distance than Maple to arrive here.
Glycemic value:
- Organic Agave Nectar 27
- Maple Syrup 54
- Fructose (fruit sugar) 32
- Lactose (milk sugar) 65
- Honey 83
- High fructose corn syrup 89
- Sucrose (sugar) 92
Maple syrup
5o calories per tablespoon comes from the maple tree.
We use maple on top of our waffles, in some of our dressings (no agave in any of our savory food) some cookies and vegan cheesecakes.
Maple is another fabulous alternative to sugar. It has a very sweet taste to it, so same as agave, a little goes a long way. Compared to agave it also contains minerals, vitamins and proteins which help stabilize the glycemic index when consuming it. Maple is especially known for its high magnesium level, a portion of ¼ cup of maple syrup contains 100% of the daily Value of manganese. Maple is an incredible sugar alternative, our only concern with maple is that it cannot be sourced locally.
coconut sugar
1 tablespoon 15 calories, coconut sugar comes from the coconut palm tree.
Coconut sugar has the same taste as brown sugar. We use it in our vegan buckwheat waffle (1/2 agave 1/2 coconut sugar) and in our chai latte.
Compared to brown sugar coconut sugar contains more minerals and vitamins, (which keep your GI from spiking and crashing). Coconut sugar also contains a fiber known as inulin. Inulin has the ability to stimulate the growth of intestinal bifidobacteria, commonly found in probiotics, which can provide an overall boost to the immune system
Side note: above you see sugars that are a better alternatives to cane sugar or processed sugar. That being said keep in mind that even though these sugars contain great minerals and vitamins, they are not going to support your daily intake of vitamins and minerals. Sugar is still sugar!
Date ball recipe:
1 cup cashews (or any nuts)
1/2 cup dates (pitted)
4 tablespoons raw cacao powder
1 tablespoon almond butter (or any nut butter)
Put all ingredients in a food processor.
Roll into balls :).
