Finally, a sugar company with a vision

As a mom living in the real world with my two kids age 10 and 4, controlling my family's sugar intake can be a constant battle. Not only do we find sugar in practically anything processed - yes, even in processed meat sometimes! - but the supermarkets have carelessly and very much intentionally moved sweets, chocolates and candy to the till waiting areas. Good for their pockets, bad for your family's health.

I am completely anti-sugar, and thankfully I am not aligned to any product or brand that promotes the use of sugar. I consider sugar in its refined state to be as poisonous and addictive as many other harmful substances. But with kids, as hard as it can be, I had to realise that sometimes exclusion can make something more attractive to a child and they will end up overeating on sugar when I am not around. So instead of denying them everything, I try and make the healthier options available to them so that they learn for themselves that a juicy red apple is actually far more tasty than a chocolate bar. A bit of old-school reverse psychology if you may.

So imagine how delighted I was to discover a range of ready-mix baking products made by a sugar company in neighbouring South Africa that is sugar free. To me, it shows that they were honest enough to look at their own product, refined sugar, and not just blindly continue to try and convince everyone that it is healthy and wholesome, but to develop healthy alternatives. Of course, we do live in the real world, so added income or preventing loss of income was most probably the driving force behind the products, but be that as it may, I am happy to have something tasty and sweet - but low GI at the same time - to offer my family. I am impressed by their vision and the care they put into product development, and I so wish the local Namibian sugar companies would do the same - I try and buy local whenever I can to boost our very small economy as much as possible.

So, this beautiful Saturday morning was the perfect opportunity to try out my low GI sugar-free bran muffins on the family. Easy as pie, quick mixture, added few ingredients, preheat the oven, into the muffin tin, and 20 minutes later....perfect bran muffins for breakfast.

Success breeds more success, so I am already thinking of ways to spruce up my bran muffins so that I can include them in my own refeeds, but also include them in school lunchboxes for the kids. Blueberries, cappucino, carrot and nut, apple and raisin as well as lemon and poppy seed are some suggested recipes included on the product. I can also think of natural peanut butter, adding extra protein powder, etc etc. Yummy!