What’s the deal with Sugar?

I literally found myself asking that question last Sunday as I prepared to make General Pso’s chicken. It called for Molasses! Eeeek!

I am not an expert on Paleo (as I have said time and time again), nor do I pretend to be. My goal is just to eat to a Paleo standard and search out recipes to make it easier for me to do so (and enable me to easily incorporate my allergy restrictions). I have read articles, studies, books and cookbooks but I still find myself asking what’s the deal with sugar? Is it ok, or not ok to have?? and why is that once aspect of Paleo living so hard to comprehend...so hard to answer?

I pretty much resigned myself to just not adding a sugar or sweetener to recipes, other than fruit or coconut butter. But more and more, I find recipes that call for an added sweetener that I just really want to try. I decided to research some more in hopes of answering my own question, "what's the deal with sugar"?

Well the deal is no added processed or refined sugar.
Sweeteners from nectar and sap (from what I gather) are ok. What is not ok is sugar that is granular, i.e. refined. Meaning it is no longer in its original form.

OK, THAT I can wrap my head around, THAT, I can understand and live with. I was starting to think sticking to it would be harder than expected (no matter how clean eating made the food taste or how good it made me feel in general) and it was! It’s hard when “life gets in the way” and you just want a cookie, or you travel for work and are told the only option is fast food, or you don’t have time to make your husband a fabulous birthday dinner and just want to order pizza because he loves it (but in reality you don’t have to cook because life got in the way and made you too tired). Yes it was hard to say no to the ever comforting sugary goodness being paraded in front of me on a weekly basis (I have no self control. Out of sight, out of mind is the only thing that even comes close to working).

I truly believe that if I can make my own healthy and tasty treats, I will be able to stand my ground and say no to all the treats and stand up for my health. That’s my plan and I feel good about it. But I will keep doing my research, making sure I don’t cross the line and start using products that clearly don’t belong in Paleo.

I will try agave necter, coconut butter, pure maple syrup, and any other necter I can find. And on that same note, should anyone out in the bloggesphere reading this have more insight, or a clearer answer to “what’s the deal with sugar”, please let me know!

Happy Friday and to all the Mother’s out there, have a great Mother’s day weekend!

-Hilary