I recently spoke at the Simple ~ Tasty ~ Healthy workshop at Mountain Valley Church. My segment focused on the importance of eliminating sugar from your diet and how to survive the holidays by modifying your celebrated recipes with natural sweeteners such as erythritol and stevia. In doing research for my presentation, I discovered the following facts about sugar:- Consuming sugar can decrease your white blood cells, inhibiting your body’s ability to fight infection, viruses and disease.
- Sugar ages you faster. Consuming sugar causes free-radical damage and increases your risk for illness, disease and premature aging.
- Sugar feeds candida. Candida is an overgrowth of a yeast fungus found in the intestines which can hinder the proper balance of good to bad flora and can spread throughout the body. Candida thrives on refined sugars and simple carbohydrates.
- Refined sugar upsets your blood sugar levels and puts you at risk for diabetes and heart disease.
- Too much sugar increases your cortisol and estrogen hormones putting you at risk for developing breast cancer.
- Sugar is empty calories. It doesn’t contain any vitamins or minerals. Sugar makes you overweight.
- Finally, sugar can make you depressed. At first, sugar can increase serotonin, this is the neurotransmitter in your brain that makes you feel happy and elated. This initial high is followed by a low, a feeling of your energy crashing. Sugar becomes addictive as you crave sugar again wanting to re-create the high.
Ingredients
For Crust:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
For Filling:
1/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup stevia, baking blend
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1/3 cup coconut, shredded
1/2 cup dried dates, chopped
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease 12 muffin cups and set aside. To make crust: In a mixing bowl, cream together cream cheese and 1 1/4 cups butter until light and fluffy. Blend in flour, 1/2 cup at a time. Roll into 12 balls. Press one ball into each muffin cup, lining the bottom and sides like a pie crust.
To make filling: In a medium mixing bowl, cream together 1/4 cup butter and stevia until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla until thoroughly blended. Stir in pecans, coconut and dates. Fill each tart cup almost to the top. Bake for 25 minutes. Let the tarts cool in the muffin pan, then use a butter knife to loosen tarts from the pan. Store in a air tight container. Optional: Serve with a dollop of homemade sugar-free whip cream on top of the pecan pie tart. As a side note, make sure to buy stevia baking blend. It can be found under the brand name Truvia in the grocery store. Enjoy!
Source: Jacquie Robertson, “Sugar Is Evil and Here’s Why: 7 Reasons to Banish Sugar From Your Life,”
http://jacquierobertson.wordpress.com/2013/02/06/sugar-is-evil-and-heres-why-7-reason-to-banish-sugar-from-your-life/, February 6, 2013, (accessed October 1, 2013).
