The Halloween season is upon us and that means we will be tempted by ghoulish treats. The fact is treats do not have to be unhealthy for us. There are ways to enjoy the treats we enjoy without all of the added sugars. You can use sugar substitutes to give your sweets that delicious flavor without actually adding all of the sugars. We often hear how we need to eliminate added sugars to our diets. The fact is sugar has a calorie count of a mere 15 calories per teaspoon. This sounds low unless we realize all of the sugars we are getting from our other foods naturally. We should be getting less then 25 percent of our calories from the added sugars that we find in items such as ketchup, cookies and cereals.

There are many people that use artificial sweeteners every day. Then there are those that tried to use the artificial sweeteners and found them to have an after taste and to be frank a little lack luster. That has definitely changed in the following years after the big launch of artificial sweeteners. If we tried the artificial sweeteners of years past and have never tried them again we have to realize that, like everything else, sweeteners have changed. Sugar alternatives made from the herb stevia which is 40 times sweeter then sugar are taking the sweetener market to a whole new level. This sugar alternative is found in Central and South America. It has no calories and does not change blood sugar levels. The problem with this alternative in the beginning was it’s bitter after taste. Once that problem was addressed and only the sweetest parts of the plant were used in the making of the sugar alternatives this product took off. It is offered by Sweetleaf and Trivia and is found in stores ad online for people searching for an alternative to their sugar intake. People are using this product in their beverages and in their cereals and fruits. As of now there is not a product made to be used in baking due to the texture and color change when used for baking. Realizing there is a need for this product to make it into the baking world as well the Sweetleaf company is working on a product that can be used for baking as well. It appears we will be having coolies make from this sweet sweetener in our near futures.

If we are addressing sugar alternatives we have to also mention Whey Low. It has a quarter of the calories and it has less than one third of the glycemic index of sugar. What this means to the consumer is you are less likely to have a down crash after consumption of this product. This product is made from a blend of natural sugars. The natural sugars occurring in fruit known as fructose, table sugar also known as sucrose and the sugar in milk are combined to make this four calories per teaspoon sweetener. Each natural sugar on it’s own may be fully caloric but when combined in Whey Low they combine to make a product that does not completely absorb into the body. It is easy to see why this product is becoming so popular. It is as easy to use as sugar and you can bake with it and still keep your calorie count low. It can be used as sugar for baking except in meringues because the product browns too quickly and does not set well. Being able to enjoy the sweetness without the calories is good news for everyone.

There is a sugar alcohol that occurs naturally in berries and beets called Xytlitol. With only Nine calories per teaspoon and tasting almost as sweet as sugar this product has promise. It is partially absorbed by the body and has a low glycemic index. You can find it in natural food stores. It is so sweet it is recommended that you use only half of the amount you would use of sugar. It can also be used in coffees and teas. Chances are you have already used this product if you have used sugar free gum. It helps to prevent tooth decay by preventing bacteria from sticking to your teeth. Another benefit of this product is the fact that sugar alcohols are not readily digested by our bodies which means our bodies blood sugar levels will not raise when using this product.

Now we come to liquid sweeteners. The blending of several agave plants blend to create liquid sweeteners. You may have heard of this plant because it is used to make tequila. You can not really bake with it but it can be used in teas and coffees. Being much sweeter then honey or sugar you only need about a third to get the ratio of sweetness. If you try baking with liquid sweeteners you need to lower your oven temperature because it browns quickly. There are no benefits from this product as far as the difference between agave nectar and sugar. The calorie count is higher for agave nectar then sugar but the sweetness is so much stronger that you need smaller amounts.

Now we come to the three heavy hitters in the artificial sweeteners market that we hear so much about and here they are with their differences. First we have Sweet’N Low. It is a saccharin that has 4 calories in each fourth of teaspoon packet. That translates to 2 teaspoons of sugar. It can also be used in teas and coffees as many other sweeteners. However because of the difference it creates in volume and texture when you bake with it baking is not it’s strong point. Next we have Splenda. Splenda is sucralose which is 600 times sweeter then table sugar. A packet equals 2 teaspoons of sugar. It is actually made in a lab from a sugar molecule. It is altered so it goes through the body without absorption. There are no calories in Splenda. It is easily used in baking because it reacts well to heat. The last of the famous sweeteners is Equal. Equal is aspartame. Each packet equals 2 teaspoons of sugar. It can be used in recipes but it should be used only in recipes that call for this product specifically.

There are alternatives to the world of sweetness and now you are familiar with them on a different level so you can make good choices whether you are sweetening a glass of tea or baking a delicious sweet treat.

There is a new blog coming out about being HARD. How to get a Hard body and what it takes to get there. You will get to view videos from some of the best Hard body experts on the planet. Hard.TV will start in the next two months and I am arranging to have many professional people who income is derived from having a hard muscular body with video samples and instructions on how you can develop one. We will throw in some things like nutrition and diet planning.

Here is a nice little video that is covering the Five basic Food groups.  For some this was covered in school for many years. Sit back and get a refresher course on the five basic food groups.

WeightLossPeak.com

June 30 2010 I started my route down to fight weight. Have not been there in a while, but I made up my mind to start to do something about it.

I am not doing weight measurements, I am going by clothing sizes, because on the programs with exercise you can gain muscle so this could skew the weight numbers. Wish me luck.

WeightLossPeak.com

Would it be nice to have something that could give all the benefits of an anti-aging, renewed energy and maybe a little more vitality? Sounds good to me, this is where I say sign me up. The Sytropin HGH supplement says that it can help with wrinkle reduction, increased libido, maybe help with memory, possibility of enhancing your immune system, works on making bones stronger and more. This sounds like just the thing as the baby boom generation starts to retire and spend some more time on leisure activities.

When we give gifts we like for them to be well received and healthy. That is what makes giving fruit baskets such a great gift. You can order your fruit baskets online and have them sent to everyone from your boss to your mother and they will be enjoyed. With Mother’s Day so close this would be a good time to order your mom a gift that she will truly enjoy. So many of us do not live near our parents which makes ordering a fruit basket a thoughtful gift that she will not only enjoy getting buy eating as well. You can get navel oranges that are one of my favorite fruits. They are so juicy and sweet. I like them because of the many citruses I find them easy to eat. There is another fruit that is available only in January that is a combination fruit. They are a bell shaped citrus fruit called honeybells. That means it took two different fruits to make it. It is a combination of tangerine and grapefruit. It can be seedless and comes in a variety of sizes from mini to jumbo. It got it’s easy to peel nature from the tangerine! Can you imagine how delicious that citrus fruit is? Everyone loves fruit so for me that means if I send fruit baskets it will be a good choice. There are so many seasonal fruits that you can send fruit baskets at different times of the year and include a different type of fruit. There are choices at any time of year about the design that you want. Your fruit will be sent in a basket so it has a nice representation which makes it pretty to look at as well as delicious to eat. You can not say that about flowers!

To keep our bodies performing at their optimum performance we need to give it the vitamins it needs. we can not give it all that it needs in our diets for that reason taking vitamins is a viable option. There are liquid vitamins that you can take and get a 700% absorption rate over tablets and capsules. They are also filled with everything that your body needs to feel and look it’s best. That is all we can ask for from a vitamin. We already know our bodies are designed to fight anything that can make them sick but that can only happen if we give our bodies everything they need and that is what this liquid vitamin is designed to do. We demand so much from our bodies and this will make certain it can give us what we demand.