hungry girl cook book
I used to subscribe to HG's emails. But I cancelled them after a month because her style of eating seems to be very different from mine, and I never bought the cookbook. The premise of her book seems to be to make healthier versions of junk-y food.
I noticed that she focuses a lot on reducing fat in her recipes. She doesn't seem to have an understanding that a lot of people who are fat are getting that way by eating too many carbs and not necessarily too much fat.
Also, she is really into Splenda and I don't like to cook with artificial sweeteners. This is a personal choice and I don't expect that others here will agree with me on this one. (My NUT doesn't like Splenda either and she thinks, but admits she can't prove, that it actually sabotages many people's long term weight loss efforts. Though she does think Splenda is better than aspartmame/Equal/NutraSweet).
My concern w/HG for people who are considering WLS or who are post-op is that it HG doesn't seem to really teach you how to eat healthier.
I think that if you want to have the cookbook to learn to remake some junk food items into healthier treats for once in a while, it's fine. Enjoy it. But I am not sure if eating a steady diet of HG food is all that good.
Instead, if I were looking to learn to eat healthier and change my food lifestyle, I'd much sooner recommend the South Beach Diet and our very own Eggface. Both have really delicious meal ideas that are great for eating after WLS. (South Beach and Eggface both use Splenda, but I adjust accordingly. I point this out because even though they, like HG, use Splenda, I think that these other resources are far more useful for healthy eating than HG.)
I noticed that she focuses a lot on reducing fat in her recipes. She doesn't seem to have an understanding that a lot of people who are fat are getting that way by eating too many carbs and not necessarily too much fat.
Also, she is really into Splenda and I don't like to cook with artificial sweeteners. This is a personal choice and I don't expect that others here will agree with me on this one. (My NUT doesn't like Splenda either and she thinks, but admits she can't prove, that it actually sabotages many people's long term weight loss efforts. Though she does think Splenda is better than aspartmame/Equal/NutraSweet).
My concern w/HG for people who are considering WLS or who are post-op is that it HG doesn't seem to really teach you how to eat healthier.
I think that if you want to have the cookbook to learn to remake some junk food items into healthier treats for once in a while, it's fine. Enjoy it. But I am not sure if eating a steady diet of HG food is all that good.
Instead, if I were looking to learn to eat healthier and change my food lifestyle, I'd much sooner recommend the South Beach Diet and our very own Eggface. Both have really delicious meal ideas that are great for eating after WLS. (South Beach and Eggface both use Splenda, but I adjust accordingly. I point this out because even though they, like HG, use Splenda, I think that these other resources are far more useful for healthy eating than HG.)
EXCELLENT question. I generally do not use sugar. Instead I use natural sugar substitutes. There are two kinds in particular that I really like quite a bit:
Agave nectar (sometimes also called agave syrup)
This has a consistency similar to honey. It comes from a plant, and has a very low glycemic index/glycemic load so it doesn't raise blood sugar the way table sugar (sucrose) does. Also, for the same amount, it is sweeter than sugar which enables me to use less. Aga It does have calories.
Agave comes in a light version or an amber version. It also comes raw for those that are into raw foods. There are many brands available. I get mine at Whole Foods or Trader Joes. If you can't find it locally it can also be found online
Erythritol (a sugar alcohol that LACKS the side effects of other sugar alcohols)
This is a granulated product that looks and tastes a lot like sugar. It is made from sugar that has been fermented. It also occurs in nature in foods like melon, cheeses, etc. It is only 70% as sweet as sugar so you need to use a little more to get the same level of sweetness as you do from sugar. It has a slight cooling effect on the tongue so it is not exactly the same as sugar. But it's pretty close. It has a caloric value of 0.2 calories per gram (95% less than sugar and other carbohydrates), but on most labels it says 0 calories. It has NO glycemic effect.
There is some concern over sugar alcohols because most of them (i.e. maltitol, xylitol) can cause gastric side effects like gas, bloating, and maybe diarhhea because (I think that this is how it works, am not positive) they are not digested by the body but can be digested by intestinal bacteria. These effects can be more noticeable when a larger quantity is ingested. However, it is important to note that erythritol is handled differently in the digestive system so the gastric side effects of other sugar alcohols aren't generally present with erythiritol. That said, I think each person will have to see for themselves what they can/cannot tolerate--particularly for someone who has had WLS. (Personally I can tolerate erythritol w/out issue. I've never tried maltitol or xylitol so I don't have any idea how they would effect me. But with erythritol having less calories and a lower glycemic impact then xylitol and maltitol, I am not very motivated to try them!)
Important: From time to time I have noticed people on the OH boards discussing sugar alcohols and mentioning the gastric effects, or an RNYer will state that "sugar alcohols cause dumping symptoms." In general, it seems that most of these posters are not talking about erythritol, but instead are referring to the more common sugar alcohols in general use. I am not saying that no one will ever dump on erythritol, rather, I am only pointing out that it seems most OHers haven't heard of it. So when they use the term sugar alcohols, it seems that they are referring to the ones that they have heard of, which can indeed cause some problems for some WLS post-ops. Don't let that scare you away from trying erythritol if you're interested in it.
Brand names and stores: Zsweet, Sun Crystals (this one has a little bit of cane sugar added back in to "round out" the flavor, Organic Zero. I've bought all of these at Whole Foods but you can also find them online. There are also other brands of erythritol available online.
Hope this helps!
Agave nectar (sometimes also called agave syrup)
This has a consistency similar to honey. It comes from a plant, and has a very low glycemic index/glycemic load so it doesn't raise blood sugar the way table sugar (sucrose) does. Also, for the same amount, it is sweeter than sugar which enables me to use less. Aga It does have calories.
Agave comes in a light version or an amber version. It also comes raw for those that are into raw foods. There are many brands available. I get mine at Whole Foods or Trader Joes. If you can't find it locally it can also be found online
Erythritol (a sugar alcohol that LACKS the side effects of other sugar alcohols)
This is a granulated product that looks and tastes a lot like sugar. It is made from sugar that has been fermented. It also occurs in nature in foods like melon, cheeses, etc. It is only 70% as sweet as sugar so you need to use a little more to get the same level of sweetness as you do from sugar. It has a slight cooling effect on the tongue so it is not exactly the same as sugar. But it's pretty close. It has a caloric value of 0.2 calories per gram (95% less than sugar and other carbohydrates), but on most labels it says 0 calories. It has NO glycemic effect.
There is some concern over sugar alcohols because most of them (i.e. maltitol, xylitol) can cause gastric side effects like gas, bloating, and maybe diarhhea because (I think that this is how it works, am not positive) they are not digested by the body but can be digested by intestinal bacteria. These effects can be more noticeable when a larger quantity is ingested. However, it is important to note that erythritol is handled differently in the digestive system so the gastric side effects of other sugar alcohols aren't generally present with erythiritol. That said, I think each person will have to see for themselves what they can/cannot tolerate--particularly for someone who has had WLS. (Personally I can tolerate erythritol w/out issue. I've never tried maltitol or xylitol so I don't have any idea how they would effect me. But with erythritol having less calories and a lower glycemic impact then xylitol and maltitol, I am not very motivated to try them!)
Important: From time to time I have noticed people on the OH boards discussing sugar alcohols and mentioning the gastric effects, or an RNYer will state that "sugar alcohols cause dumping symptoms." In general, it seems that most of these posters are not talking about erythritol, but instead are referring to the more common sugar alcohols in general use. I am not saying that no one will ever dump on erythritol, rather, I am only pointing out that it seems most OHers haven't heard of it. So when they use the term sugar alcohols, it seems that they are referring to the ones that they have heard of, which can indeed cause some problems for some WLS post-ops. Don't let that scare you away from trying erythritol if you're interested in it.
Brand names and stores: Zsweet, Sun Crystals (this one has a little bit of cane sugar added back in to "round out" the flavor, Organic Zero. I've bought all of these at Whole Foods but you can also find them online. There are also other brands of erythritol available online.
Hope this helps!
Yes, I have, but it isn't something I use on a regular basis. I find it has a bitter aftertaste in my tea and I much prefer the taste of the agave or erythritol in my tea. My protein powders have stevia in them but I think the natural flavorings (vanilla, chocolate or strawberry) masks the bitterness.
Stevia isn't a bulk sweetener like erythritol, so it would be hard to use ot for something like cookies where you need the sweetener to also add bulk.
I guess it is something that really needs experimentation. I just haven't experimented a lot with stevia.
Sorry I didn't mention it, I should have said "oh yeah, stevia is also another option but I haven't used it all that much."
Stevia isn't a bulk sweetener like erythritol, so it would be hard to use ot for something like cookies where you need the sweetener to also add bulk.
I guess it is something that really needs experimentation. I just haven't experimented a lot with stevia.
Sorry I didn't mention it, I should have said "oh yeah, stevia is also another option but I haven't used it all that much."
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