01 June 2008

Alternatives to white sugar

White sugar is sugar cane juice that has been highly refined, so all that is left is “empty” energy. 

The less refined the sugar product, the more complex it is, because it contains other nutrients.  Substituting more complex sugars in place of white sugar can be an important first step in breaking a sugar addiction.  Use this chart to see what you can find at the health food store to use in place of white sugar in recipes.


Sweetener -- Substitution for each cup of refined sugar -- Reduction of total liquid per cup of sugar

Barley malt or rice syrup -- 1 ½ cups -- Slightly
Honey -- ¾ cup -- 1/8 cup
Fruit juice concentrate -- ¾ cup -- 1/8 cup
Maple syrup -- ¾ cup -- 1/8 cup
Maple granules -- 1 cup -- None
Molasses -- ½ cup -- None
Unrefined cane juice powder -- ¾ cup -- None
Stevia (leaf powder) -- 1 teaspoon -- Add 1/8 cup




Source:  Healing with Whole Foods by Paul Pitchford



This post is brought to you by Lois Nethery, acupuncturist and Chinese medicine herbalist at Ocean Acupuncture in Curl Curl on Sydney's Northern Beaches.

Ocean Acupuncture is a natural medicine centre of independent health practitioners. The views expressed in this blog are the author's only and do not necessarily reflect the views of the other Ocean Acupuncture practitioners.
The information presented in this blog, and on the Ocean Acupuncture website, is for interest and educational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for health or medical information or advice. For health or medical advice, please consult your health professional.

Cough season – kids and asthma

Do your kids get lots of coughs and colds in winter? If they have asthma, this can mean a potentially dangerous situation. From a Chinese medicine perspective, asthma is usually due to a weakness in one of the body’s organ systems. The drugs that kids take for asthma can further weaken their systems. When it comes to their safety, however, it is always best to have all available tools at your disposal.

The strength of Chinese medicine is that it can control the coughs and colds so kids get better sooner and, eventually, gives them better immunity so they don’t get sick as often. It can actually strengthen their organs and put them on track for a lifetime of better health. Please call the Clinic for more information.





This post is brought to you by Lois Nethery, acupuncturist and Chinese medicine herbalist at Ocean Acupuncture in Curl Curl on Sydney's Northern Beaches.

Ocean Acupuncture is a natural medicine centre of independent health practitioners. The views expressed in this blog are the author's only and do not necessarily reflect the views of the other Ocean Acupuncture practitioners.
The information presented in this blog, and on the Ocean Acupuncture website, is for interest and educational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for health or medical information or advice. For health or medical advice, please consult your health professional.

Winter is a time of stillness

As the shortest day of the year approaches, the yearly cycle of Yin and Yang moves into the phase of maximum Yin.  This is the ultimate time to embrace stillness.

Yang is warmth, energy, light, dryness, day, summer, activity and movement.  Yin is coolness, substance, darkness, moisture, night, winter, passivity and stillness.  Yin and Yang are constantly changing from one to the other.  Yin grows from Yang and Yang grows from Yin.  Just as we can still have daylight (Yang) in the middle of winter (Yin), so everything is both Yin and Yang – it’s all about the balance.

Western culture values Yang to the detriment of Yin.  We expect our minds and our lives to be incessantly busy.  We value economic growth and cannot cope with decline.  We obsess over youth and devalue maturity.  We create artificial daylight in our workplaces and homes so we can continue being busy into the night.  We charge our bodies and minds with refined stimulants such as sugar, caffeine and alcohol.  We eat at our desks or on the run or, even worse, skip meals altogether.  In order to relax, we then have to numb the mind with television or alcohol or continue the frenetic pace with excessive socialising, extreme exercise or overwork.  Modern life is making us sick!

Try to spend a little time in stillness, and make a habit of it.  Understandably, most of us have forgotten how.  You could take a bath, listen to music by candlelight or go for a walk in nature.  It is often in these moments, when the noise of the world becomes a little quieter, that our capacity for insight and inspiration is given a chance to shine through.

Stillness contains the seeds of your contentment, peace of mind and life satisfaction.  By spending time in stillness, the choppy waves of the mind are given permission to settle.  Without constantly Doing, we can enjoy the fullness of each moment by just Being.

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.” - Sir John Lubbock




This post is brought to you by Lois Nethery, acupuncturist and Chinese medicine herbalist at Ocean Acupuncture in Curl Curl on Sydney's Northern Beaches.

Ocean Acupuncture is a natural medicine centre of independent health practitioners. The views expressed in this blog are the author's only and do not necessarily reflect the views of the other Ocean Acupuncture practitioners.
The information presented in this blog, and on the Ocean Acupuncture website, is for interest and educational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for health or medical information or advice. For health or medical advice, please consult your health professional.