There is nothing like the sweet anticipation of a date. In this case, date sugar will leave you feeling satisfied and confident that you did yourself a nutritional solid.
Date sugar is unique because it’s not extracted from anything. It’s not cooked or melted down. It has nothing injected into it. It’s simply dried dates pulverized into a powder.
This makes sense. Dates are deliciously and intensely sweet. If you regulate your intake of the white stuff and don’t have your palate out of whack, they literally taste like candy. In makes sense that a derivative of the gooey snack serves as the perfect subject of Sweet Thursday, given its exceptionally healthy properties. From organicfacts.net:
The benefits of dates include relief from constipation, intestinal disorders, heart problems, anemia, sexual dysfunction, diarrhea, abdominal cancer, and many other conditions. Dates are good for gaining weight also. Dates are rich in several vitamins, minerals and fiber too. These delicious fruits contain oil, calcium, sulfur, iron, potassium, phosphorous, manganese, copper and magnesium which are all beneficial for health.
We are all here for general health, but one of our main goals here at Kaplifestyle is building lean muscle tissue efficiently. We implement our training programs, increase our water intake, and slow our breathing. The biggest thing we can do for our bodies is to support our workouts and efforts with nutrition. That means that any tiny edge, even date sugar over stevia or another substitute, is worth a calorie or two. From the same article:
The massive health benefits of dates have made them one of the best ingredients for muscle development. People consume dates in several ways, such as mixing the paste of the dates with milk, yogurt or with bread or butter to make them even more delicious. The paste is beneficial for both adults and children, especially during a time of recovery from injury or illness.
You know I use blueberries to sweeten food because I love the burst and flavor and their high antioxidant count. From Time magazine:
All antioxidants are not equal: Because antioxidants come in many different types, it makes sense that you consume a variety of antioxidant-rich fruits of vegetables, so that you can benefit from the full range of benefits they provide. Together, the mix is good for your health. For instance, certain antioxidants may play a greater role in preventing certain diseases, such as cancers, while others are better at combating neurodegenerative conditions.
In other words, we want to derive our antioxidants from as many different sources as possible, and date sugar leads the pack of sweeteners in this category.
My suggestion is always to consume the food in its original form, so reach for the date itself whenever possible. When you’re baking, however, substitute this date sugar for brown sugar. Its only ingredients are organic dried, unsulphured ground dates. I feel pretty good about recommending that to my peeps.
Have a Sweet Thursday,
Kap
Gabe, I really like your balanced approach to nutrition, and life in general. The processed world seems to take a bank shot approach to completing nutritionals requirements. The approach you preach seems simple, find your food with the nutrition and eat it…. I’m curious what you eat for iodine (since I doubt you use a lot of generic table salt)?
Not to speak for Gabe, but both eggs and seafood are high in iodine.
Thanks. I really do come here for good dialogue and direction. I eat a fair amount of both (though not 7 eggs at a sitting 🙂 )
I’ll typically include Medjool dates in my smoothies to add some sweetness without needing added sugar like agave. As a whole, how do you feel about homemade smoothies? Not store bought unhealthy ones, but smoothies made with whole ingredients like bananas, spinach, kale, dates, berries? I’ve heard differing things with regards to how much sugar you can intake from a fruit smoothie. Just want to make sure I’m not doing more harm than good with a post-workout smoothie.
Jim, I know you’re not here for my opinion, but I have two. First, I see smoothies as a crutch. Why not eat the foods you’re putting in the smoothy. Second, crutches were invented for a reason so if a smoothie is what it takes to get your nutrition, so be it….
Also, thanks for not pushing supplements (and greatly discouraging them)…. You could make a fortune by endorsing just a few of them. It’s a great reflection on your integrity.
Ed, so appreciate that comment. Means a ton to me. I’ve turned down supplement endorsement opportunities over and over for that reason.