Stevia comes from the leaves of a tropical plant native to South America. Though it is 200-300 times sweeter than table sugar, stevia is not a sugar. Unlike other popular sweeteners, it has a glycemic index rating of less than 1 and therefore does not feed Candida (yeast) or cause any of the numerous other problems associated with sugar consumption. 

Stevia has been used as a sweetener for centuries, but as is often the case in our country, the interests of big business have superseded common sense and fair play. By law, stevia cannot be sold or labeled as a sweetener or food additive, only as a supplement. 

Some people complain of its strong licorice-like aftertaste, but now some companies claim to have a refining process that eliminates it. Even with its aftertaste, stevia is a perfect sweetener for strong sour flavors such as lemons. (It makes great lemonade!) You can also use stevia with other sweeteners to strengthen the sweetness of a recipe while still preparing a meal with relatively low sugar content. 

For more information about Stevia and the FDA’s decision not to allow stevia as a food additive, check out NaturalNews.com

Agave nectar is produced from the juice of the agave plant, the same juice which is fermented to make tequila. Agave juice is filtered and heated then concentrated into a liquid, with a viscosity similar to maple syrup. It is much sweeter than sugar but has a much lower glycemic index.

Agave nectar is high in fructose and low in glucose. Lighter grades have a mild, neutral flavor. The amber and dark grades offer the delicate flavor of agave with increasing intensity.

We at OLM do not recommend agave as an alternative sweetener. Too much fructose is no better for you then too much glucose. How much is too much? Not much at all. Excess fructose cannot be processed in the liver and gets converted into insulin resistant fatty triglycerides. And raw agave nectar is still heavily processed and not really “raw”.

I know a couple who buys only organic meat. Most of their processed food, like energy bars, is organic. They made the decision to start buying organic food years ago, and yet they still drink soda every day! That’s like a crack addict trying to cut down on smoking. I just want to yell at them, “Save your money! Buy the cheap meat. Buy the frosted flakes and the power bars. Cut out the soda!”

There are 10 to 12 teaspoons of sugar in one can of cola! People who drink soda are destroying their bodies’ ability to properly utilize the nutrition they are trying to get from their organic foods. If you want to improve your health, the first step is to cut out the refi ned sugars like high fructose corn syrup and white table sugar. The next step is to eat more raw fruits and vegetables. The third step is to get a proper multivitamin/ mineral that is easily assimilated. I’m sorry to say that buying organic is not at the top of the list.

I know this is Organic Lifestyle Magazine. It may sound as though I am telling people to stop buying organic foods. I’m not. I’m saying that if you care about the environment, you have every reason to buy organic foods. If you care about fair treatment of animals, you should certainly buy organic meat. But the people I am specifically speaking of are pharmaceutically dependent soda junkies, and I just have to wonder why. They don’t get it. The only reason they are buying organic foods is for their health. And they just can’t figure out why they’re spending so much money at the grocery store and not getting any better. They say they may not be able to keep buying organic if gas prices continue to go up. This couple is even trying to conceive a child, and they can’t figure out why she can’t get pregnant!

Health is so simple, yet we have convoluted it and perverted it and allowed ourselves to be brainwashed. Eat what we ate before cancer, diabetes, ADHD, and auto-immune diseases were rampant. Eat what we ate before we had a food industry bombarding us with commercials. Eat fresh, raw fruits and veggies!

If you are trying to improve your health, you need to start thinking for yourself. Quit believing everything you hear from a company that is trying to sell you something. I see so many people who have decided to follow the advice of a study that says coff ee is good for them, because they’re addicted to coff ee. If I were to show them a study that says coffee is bad for them, they would dismiss it. This isn’t education, it’s self delusion.

Simplify things. Think for yourself. Eat more raw fruits and vegetables. Eat fewer refi ned and processed foods. You will notice a diff erence, not just with your health, but in your pocketbook, too.

Tired of big oil raking in all this profit while they also benefit from massive government subsidies thanks to the Bush administration? Is your children’s college fund going out of your pocket and into your local gas pump? Maybe you are a tree hugging hippie with a hybrid that used to cost $15 to fill up and now you spend $45. Or maybe you’re a hummer-driving logger who would run over a spotted owl if you saw one lying on the road. Either way, unless you are heavily invested in big oil, you’re probably not too happy with what’s happening at the gas pumps. There is no denying that big oil companies are taking advantage of us. But I for one am VERY HAPPY ABOUT IT!!!

I’m not invested in oil. I’m not a wealthy man by any stretch. It hurts me as much as it hurts you to fill up at the gas station. I feel the pain of the people on eBay who are selling their wedding rings to pay for gas. But I also know this: we as Americans drive and drive and drive, and until recently we had no concern over whether or not we were damaging the environment. Oh sure, we’ve all heard of people who carpooled, but we’ve probably never met one unless we live in California. We drive SUVs while people in Europe are cramming themselves into tiny cars like the ones a dozen clowns try to squeeze into at a circus.

A few years ago someone asked me, “What’s it gonna take to curb our oil usage?” I told them it would take more than global warming, more than war, more than the availability of alternative fuels. I said it would take very high gas prices. How high? Well, a lot higher than they are now.

We’re bitching, but how many of us have bought a hybrid? How many of us have written our local congressman or senator to ask why we don’t have electric cars? How many of us have done enough research to discover that this whole hydrogen fuel cell campaign was put together by the same people who bought up the battery patents for electric cars and then chose to sit on the technology so it can’t be used for another 12 years? How many people really understand that biofuel from corn is a worse idea than what we are doing now?

Until we are paying the true cost of gasoline, including the environmental cleanup and the health care costs associated with pollution, we will continue to drive like there is no tomorrow.

I was at the gas station in South Georgia when I overheard a guy talking about how he was thinking of trading in his pickup truck for a hybrid. I couldn’t help but smile. When a guy who wears a cap that says, “I’d rather push a Ford than drive a Chevy,” —a guy who drives a new Ford F 150 pickup with a gun rack, a confederate flag on the rear window, and a McCain bumper sticker—talks about trading in his truck for a hybrid, there’s hope for us all.

Trade in your car for a moped; and take public transportation whenever possible. Better yet, get a bicycle! Car pool to work and walk everywhere else. When you do need to drive, following ten tips can save you gas, and money.