I've been thinking a lot about sugar today, which brought me to candy. Oh! Glorious candy!
Personally, I've always been a fan of sour candies and dark chocolate and not much in between. My sister on the other hand, as a child, would devour anything with a hint of sugar in it. As an adult, I try to limit my candy intake, for fear of that dreaded, evil sugar lurking in the shadows ready to gobble up my toned (ha!) waistline.
As I've been researching different sugars (Stevia, Splenda, etc.) I took a moment to reflect on sweetness and why we humans desire it so frantically. It's in our genes, for sure, and in today's processed world it's that much easier for food producers to put traces of sugar in so many products, often without our knowing. We're drawn to sweet. We crave it.
In this research, I learned that products like Stevia (which is derived from a green plant, like sugar is derived from sugar cane) is about 400 times sweeter than sugar, and has less environmental impact. Next I found another great product yet to hit the market: Fruit Sweetness. Also naturally derived, Fruit Sweetness has the same incredible sweetness exponential as Stevia, but it's derived from the flesh of monk fruit rather than leaves. I don't know about you, but I find all of this incredibly interesting.
Anyway, I wanted to share that little tid bit of knowledge today in hoping that, when I devour a nice piece of candy in a few years, it will lack any processed (fake) sugars and instead be sweetened only by the natural sweetness inherent in plants and fruits (as it should be).
Here's a photo I took at Dylan's Candy Bar when I was in New York last summer. Like a kid in a candy store...
Personally, I've always been a fan of sour candies and dark chocolate and not much in between. My sister on the other hand, as a child, would devour anything with a hint of sugar in it. As an adult, I try to limit my candy intake, for fear of that dreaded, evil sugar lurking in the shadows ready to gobble up my toned (ha!) waistline.
As I've been researching different sugars (Stevia, Splenda, etc.) I took a moment to reflect on sweetness and why we humans desire it so frantically. It's in our genes, for sure, and in today's processed world it's that much easier for food producers to put traces of sugar in so many products, often without our knowing. We're drawn to sweet. We crave it.
In this research, I learned that products like Stevia (which is derived from a green plant, like sugar is derived from sugar cane) is about 400 times sweeter than sugar, and has less environmental impact. Next I found another great product yet to hit the market: Fruit Sweetness. Also naturally derived, Fruit Sweetness has the same incredible sweetness exponential as Stevia, but it's derived from the flesh of monk fruit rather than leaves. I don't know about you, but I find all of this incredibly interesting.
Anyway, I wanted to share that little tid bit of knowledge today in hoping that, when I devour a nice piece of candy in a few years, it will lack any processed (fake) sugars and instead be sweetened only by the natural sweetness inherent in plants and fruits (as it should be).
Here's a photo I took at Dylan's Candy Bar when I was in New York last summer. Like a kid in a candy store...
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