alanna, macroannie, and BarleyBrains,
I feel that if one is eating a whole grains and temperate climate vegetables with beans/legumes, sea vegetables, fermented foods, some fish and temperate climate fruit, then maybe an occasional dessert made with rice syrup , barley malt, maple syrup (on rare occasions), amasake, and cooked temperate climate fruit, might be in order.
Sweeteners as strong as honey, stevia, and the various forms of evaporated cane sugar might be consumed on very rare ocassions, and are better used by people following diets that are more yang (including meat, poultry, and/or dairy)
Artificial sweeteners (like Aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal, Canderel), Neotame, Sucralose (Splenda), Acesulfame-K (Sunette, Sweet & Safe, Sweet One), Cyclamates, and Saccharin [
http://www.holisticmed.com/sweet/ ] ), on the other hand, need to be avoided by everyone who is concerned about their health and well-being.
According to Rebecca Wood in her
The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia: A Comprehensive Resource for Healthy Eating:
"ASPARTAME Equal, NutraSweet -Not recommended.
The artificial sweetener aspartame is a chemical compound (phenylalanine and aspartic acid) synthesized from petrochemicals. It is two hundred times sweeter than sugar and is a popular sugar substitute in soft drinks, breakfast cereals, powdered beverages, and other dry packaged foods. Curiously enough, aspartame does not satisfy hunger; rather, it increases hunger, especially for sweets.
High levels of phenylalanine can have irreversible and toxic effects on the fetal brain and is implicated in liver damage (it breaks down into aldehyde, which damages liver cells). Symptoms include: behavioral changes in children, headaches, blindness, dizziness, epilepticlike seizures, menstrual problems, and an increased risk of cancer."
This is what Rebecca says about sweeteners:
"SWEETENERS
Mother's milk is sweet. Maybe this is where it all starts, for most everyone loves sweets. This doesn't have to be a problem as long as attention is paid to quality and quantity.
Health Benefits- The sweetness found in grains, dairy, meat, legumes, and some vegetables like squash, carrots, and yams strengthens the spleen-pancreas and helps build energy. These foods satisfy the sweet tooth.
"Empty sweets" to use a Chinese medical term, are those primarily composed of simple sugars (sweet fruits, juices, honey, sugar, and other sweeteners). These foods give a short term energy boost by increasing the amount of sugar in the blood. Wnen concentrated or used in excess, sweets damage the spleenpancreas. Excessive use leads to chronic fatigue, bodily weakness, edema, and various digestive problems.
Sweeteners composed of maltose, a complex carbohydrate, are relatively more healthful. Barley malt and rice syrup, for example, take longer to assimilate than the more simple sugar molecules do. Unrefined sweeteners reduce pitta and vata.
Other sweeteners contain glucose, fructose, and sucrose and are more problematic because they are quickly absorbed into the
bloodstream, stress the whole metabolism, and suppress the immune system. Such sweeteners cause the pancreas to secrete more insulin to monitor the amount of sugar going into the blood, and extra adrenaline from the adrenal glands is also mobilized to monitor the blood sugar level. Simple sugars provide a few hours of increased energy, which are followed by energy depletion and an emotional low aptly known as the "sugar blues." Thus sweeteners that contain sucrose are best used occasionally and with discretion. These include carob, date sugar, honey, maple syrup, rapadura, and sorghum molasses.
The following list of "Not Recommended" sweeteners is by no means inclusive' since the industry is endlessly coming up with a "better" sweet. (The list does include the sweeteners you're most apt to find in the natural food store, which may currently be promoted as "healthfuL") Strive to avoid fructose, fruit juice concentrate, granular fruit sugar, isomol, malitol, mannitol, sorbitol, and xylitol. Because of its widespread use, there's also a brief entry on Aspartame. .
See Aspartame; Barley Malt Sugar; Barley Malt Syrup; Carob; Date Sugar; Fructose; Fruit Juice Concentrate; Granular Fruit Sugar; Honey; Isomol; Mautol; Mannitol; Maple Sugar; Maple Syrup; Molasses; Rapadura; Rice Syrup; Sorbitol; Sorghum Molasses; Stevia; Sugar; XyUtol."
"SUCROSE
A simple sugar molecule, sucrose is found in many plants. It is extracted primarily from sugarcane and sugar beets. White sugar contains 99 percent sucrose and rapadura contains 82 percent sucrose. In addition to widespread use as a sweetener, sucrose is used as a preservative in the manufacture of plastics.
See Sugar; Sweeteners."
"SUGAR
Sugar, by name or under any of its guises, is highly refined by chemical processes from sugarcane, beet sugar, or corn. It contains over 90 percent sucrose. Fortunately, rapadura (unrefined, evaporated cane juice) is a healthful, natural alternative. If you do purchase sugar, favor cane sugar-preferably organic-over the more highly processed beet or corn sugar found in generic sugar packages at the supermarket..
Health Benefits- Sugar can ease spasms, relieve pain, give a sense of ease and nurture, and, in the short term, boost energy. Sugar acts upon the spleen-pancreas, stomach, kidney, and liver meridians. It passes quickly into the bloodstream, shocking and weakening the digestive system, to result in a blood sugar imbalance that causes a craving for more sugar. Sugar consumption creates an acid condition that consumes the body's minerals and causes caldum loss. Refined sugar use is implicated in all of our contemporary degenerative health problems.
Use- Sugar is a primary ingredient in desserts and confections; it is a ubiquitous ingredient in prepared, packaged, and restaurant foods.
Buying- Numerous highly refined sugar products attempt to convey a healthful image. These names include, but are not limited to: brown sugar, cane. crystals, evaporated cane juice, Demerara sugar, dried cane juice, granulated cane juice, milled cane, molasses, muscovado sugar, natural milled cane sugar, plantation white, raw cane juice, Sucanat, turbinado sugar, unrefined cane sugar, and yellow-D sugar.
See Rapadura; Sweeteners."
"RAPADURA
Unrefined, Evaporated Cane Juice.
Unrefined, evaporated cane juice is a natural sweetener that has all of the sugarcane's minerals, vitamins, and micronutrients intact. Marketed today under its Brazilian name, rapadura, it is called panela in Spanish
speaking South and Central America and jaggery in India. Historically, evaporated rapadura was associated with low-income populations.
Rapadura is made by a simple technology. Juice is pressed from sugarcane and cooked, to reduce its water content. Today's organic rapadura is then granulated at low temperatures. When traditionally made, this hot concentrated cane juice is poured into cones or blocks that harden when cool and require grating before use. Rapa in Portuguese means to grate; dura means hard. In Latin America, rapadura may also be made from palm sugar: Health Benefits Rapadura is 82 percent sucrose; it is high in chromium, the nutrient that diabetics are deficient in. Like sugar, unrefined cane juice can ease spasms, relieve pain, give a sense of ease and nurture: and, in the short term, boost energy. Because its vitamins, minerals, and micronutrients are intact, though, rapadura does not pass as quickly into the bloodstream as sugar does. If used in excess, however, it contributes to the same health problems as sugar. Rapadura reduces vata and pitta.
Use- Use granulated rapadura, measure for measure, as you would use white sugar. The end product will not be as sugary sweet; it will be lightly colored and will have a more rich and satisfying flavor. If using rapadura in its molded form, grate it prior to use or melt it in a saucepan, strain, and serve as a syrup.
Buying- Today, I'm aware of only one domestic brand of unrefined, evaporated cane juice. This granular organic rapadura is available at natural food stores or by mail order from Rapunzel Pure Organics (see page 404 or
http://www.rapunzel.com/products/rap..._rapadura.html ). Panela and rapadura in chunks or cones are available in Latino markets. Jaggery is available in blocks in Indian markets.
Avoid the numerous highly refined sugar products that mimic rapadura (see Sugar). Unfortunately, in today's natural food store most of the baked goods, breakfast cereals, candy, frozen desserts, and flavored yogurts contain refined sugar. Even more unfortunately, they are labeled in a less than forthright manner. The following terms are just another way of saying sugar: cane crystals, dehydrated cane juice, granulated cane juice, milled cane, muscovado sugar, natural milled cane sugar, raw cane juice, Sucanat, and unrefined cane sugar.
See Sugar; Sweeteners."
"SUCANAT
Sucanat, the trademarked acronym for sugarcane natural, is the evaporated and granulated juice of sugarcane and blackstrap molasses. It sucrose level is 90 percent. Although once an unrefined product, it no longer is.
See Sugar."
If you are new to macrobiotics and your health is excellent, and you are somewhat yang, then you might be able to consume products containing evaporated cane juice and other strong yin sweeteners without any health problems occuring.
Otherwise, if you are somewhat more yin and have to be more careful what you eat, then I feel that maybe you best follow the suggested macrobiotic guidelines
http://www.kushiinstitute.org/whatismacro.html or the ones recommended by your counselor.
Here is a chart taken from the out of print
Companion Guide to Healthy Cooking: A practical Introduction to Natural Ingredients: by Shirley and Natalie Nigro (originally spread out [14"x10"] over two pages) that I copied by retyping using a table making program!
Thank you, very much.
Bruce Paine