Enjoy These Antioxidant-Packed Parcels, "Sans Sugar"

By Kelley Herring

It's too bad that most people enjoy cranberries only at this time of year. And when the cranberries finally make their appearance, they're little more than sugar dressed up in holiday style.

In fact, a single serving of sweetened canned cranberry sauce (at eight servings per can) has 22 grams of sugar! To put that into perspective, a regular size (two-ounce) Snickers bar has 29 grams of sugar.

With their bevy of antioxidants, cranberries deserve a more frequent - and less adulterated - seat at your dinner table. According to a study published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, cranberries pack a bigger antioxidant punch than 19 commonly eaten fruits. They have also been found to significantly reduce the inflammation associated with chronic disease. Plus, they are known for their ability to reduce the risk of urinary tract infections and kidney stones.

So why go and ruin a good thing with sugar? Buy fresh cranberries and make a simple sauce. Simmer with a little orange juice, grated orange zest, cinnamon, nutmeg, and erythritol. (Erythritol is the newest all-natural, zero-calorie, zero-glycemic sweetener. Use it cup for cup as you would sugar.) You'll get the nutritional benefit of cranberries without sacrificing flavor or spiking your blood sugar. Look for erythritol at Whole Foods Market under the name ZSweet.

[Ed. Note: Kelley Herring is the founder and CEO of Healing Gourmet and the author of the new e-book, Guilt-Free Desserts: 20 All-Natural, Fail-Proof, Low-Glycemic Desserts Just in Time for the Holidays, which shows just how easy it can be to make delicious, healthy desserts in 30 minutes or less.]

It's Fun to Know: Thanksgiving by the Numbers

How much food will we polish off tomorrow? Too much, of course. Just take a look at the following numbers (the most recent available for some of our favorite Thanksgiving foods):

• 256 million: the approximate number of turkeys raised in the United States in 2005

• 649 million: the amount, in pounds, of cranberries produced in the U.S. in 2005

• 1.6 billion: the total weight, in pounds, of sweet potatoes grown in the United States in 2004

• 998 million: the total weight, in pounds, of pumpkins produced in 2004

Burp!

(Source: Fact Monster and U.S. Census Bureau)

Word to the Wise: Propitiate

To "propitiate" (pro-PISH-ee-ate) is to appease. The word is derived from the Latin for "favorable."

Example (as used by Anton Chekhov in his story "Lights"): "Azorka, a black house-dog, probably conscious of his guilt in barking for nothing and anxious to propitiate us, approached us, diffidently wagging his tail."

Michael Masterson
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These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2205, 11-21-07], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

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