healthier tara = good: salba salba salba etc

One of the funnest things about my health kick so far has been playing at the health food store. In the past, I really didn't need an excuse to play at the health food store but now I feel like I actually know a bit more about what I should be buying and what I need etc etc. In an attempt to cut out most of the sugar etc from my past eating habits, we've been finding all kinds of fun alternatives. I've adopted my dad's honey in coffee habit instead of sugar and I'm 100% loving it. I've just started using honey or molasses etc in place of any type of sugar. 

The last time Marc went to the health food store without me he came home with a bag of Xylitol -- the hippies are all aflutter over this stuff and we thought we'd give it a try. It's basically a completely natural sugar substitute that strangely also works as a cavity reducer and obviously has a fraction of the calories.  It's naturally found in fruits and vegetables and is also sometimes called "Birch sugar" and in a nutshell, acts like sugar without all the nasty side effects -- "Although xylitol tastes and looks exactly like sugar, that is where the similarities end. Xylitol is really sugar's mirror image. While sugar wreaks havoc on the body, xylitol heals and repairs. It also builds immunity, protects against chronic degenerative disease and has anti-ageing benefits. Xylitol is considered a five-carbon sugar, which means it is an antimicrobial, preventing the growth of bacteria. While sugar is acid forming, xylitol is alkaline enhancing. All other forms of sugar, including sorbitol, another popular alternative sweetener, are six-carbon sugars which feed dangerous bacteria and fungi."  

I still prefer honey in my coffee though but the Xylitol is a good substitute for just about anything else.  And it won't give you brain cancer like other sugar substitutes.

Another fun thing we've discovered is Salba.  In my attempt to get healthier I've started making a point to eat all the "super foods" you read about every 2 minutes on every website.  They are  right, after all.  So the avocados, the quinoa, the berries, the wheat germ -- you name it, we've been eating it.  Add to the mix, Salba.  Sorry quinoa, but you're apparently not the holder of the "Superhero Super Food" title.  Gram for gram, Salba has 6 times more calcium than milk, 3 times more iron than spinach and 15 times more magnesium that broccoli.  It's completely all-natural, no trans-fats, gluten-free and has almost no carbohydrates and is the richest source of Omega 3 fatty acids and fibre found in nature.  You can add it to pretty much everything and I believe even use it in place of eggs in baking.  Sunday I whipped up a batch of Salba Cranberry Muffins and they're pretty damn yummy not to mention completely healthy unlike a lot of muffins out there.  

Anyway, just thought I'd pass these 2 things on for any one else that's trying to jack up their diets.