Sweeteners For Breakfast

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Sweeteners For Breakfast

26 Dec 2021

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Sweeteners are an optional component of My Daily Breakfast: Sweet Porridge. Dr Greger encourages only two sweeteners: dates and blackstrap molasses. My morning breakfast is already quite sweet with a whole grain, plenty of fruits and berries. If I use dried fruits like dried figs, dried prunes and raisins, the breakfast is already so sweet. And we can sweeten it further with dates and blackstrap molasses.

Dates

Dates

Dates are health promoting despite being so sweet! See Dates: A Healthy Sweetener. We may consume dates in any of these forms: fresh dates, dried dates, date sugar or homemade date syrup.

Dates are found in all stores: Amazon, Trader Joe's, Sprouts, Costco and Amazon. I sometimes buy them from Azure Organics — they have a few different varieties. The cheapest organic dates I've found are Ugglies by Joolies — Organic Dates (Amazon) ($25 for 4.4 lbs). The juiciest dates I've found are at Rose International Market in Mountain View (Castro & El Camino). Dr Greger buys dates from Date People! They sell 10+ varieties of dates; they are also available in wet packs.

When I first switched to WFPB, I used to add dates regularly to my breakast porridge. As months went by, my taste buds changed and my need to sweeten my breakfast porridge so much went away. Now I add dates on and off, not every day.

Date sugar is also okay; date sugar is basically dehydrated dates that have been granulated. But I don’t buy date syrup sold commercially (not a whole food; there’s a filtration step involved that removes fiber). Homemade date syrup is okay. For details, see Dates

Blackstrap Molasses

Blackstrap Molasses

Blackstrap molasses are micronutrient rich. They are packed with minerals like iron. See Blackstrap Molasses: A Healthy Sweetener for details. However, we may have to develop a taste for blackstrap molasses — they have an odd flavor. I add these to my morning breakfast only occasionally.

Dried Fruits

Can we use dried fruits for sweetening? Yes! I use dried figs, dried peaches and raisins (dried grapes) when they are not available in their fresh form. Generally speaking, dried fruits are discouraged in Whole Food Plant-Based guidelines because we can eat many more dried fruits (fruits whose water content has been reduced) than fruits in their original form (with plenty of water). So I use dried fruits in my morning sweet breakfast sparingly — my objective is to boost nutritional diversity, not sweetness. See Diversity of Fruits & Vegetables for details.

Dried Figs

Dried Figs

Dried figs are found in Costco, Trader Joe's and Azure Organics. I use dried figs because fresh figs are hard to find. Since dried figs are so sweet, they play the role of a sweetener in my morning breakfast.

Dried Peaches

Dried Peaches

Dried peaches are found in Trader Joe's and at Azure Organics. I use dried peaches when fresh peaches are not to be found. Since they are so sweet, they play the role of sweetener my morning breakfast.

Raisins

Raisins

Raisins are found in all grocery stores! Raisins are basically dried grapes. Raisins must really be bought organic. See this article by Dr Fuhrman: Are raisins worth the risk of high pesticide levels? Choose organic (2020).

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