can't/won't eat sugar

No, not me, a colleague. And it only concerns me because on Fridays we all eat lunch together, 20-25 people, and take turns bringing in a cake or muffins, or ice-cream, or something. My turn tomorrow. So I'm used to no dairy, because of my allergic dh, and I've tried a couple of no-gluten recipes, because of another colleague who can't have gluten. But no sugar? I really can't think what I could make as a treat that doesn't have sugar in it. I can bring some fresh fruit of course, but that doesn't quite cut it compared to the freshly baked blueberry muffins I was thinking of.

Any suggestions? Or do I just smile and say sorry?

Anyone here avoid sugar - like really avoid it? As far as I know it's a choice, no medical reason, she just feels better not eating sugar.

There's lots of sugar in fresh fruit.

Well, it sounds like other people bring things with sugar when it's their turn. Is that a problem for your colleague? Or does she just skip dessert?

A salty snack like homemade cheese crackers?

There are some newer natural sweeteners (Truvia comes to mind), not your common sweet & low artificial stuff, but not had personal experience in baking with them.

Good luck!
Shannon

As a type 1 diabetic, with a mother who's celiac --- bring what you want! people with issues need to deal with them themselves.
If you want to be nice, bring a veggie platter alongside, or something. But, it really isn't necessary, no matter how hard you try, you can't accommodate everybody.
I bet your colleague eats lots of sugar without knowing it - like in fruit.
Hold your wonderful blueberry muffins up to the screen so I can smell them :D

If you wanted to go all out, you could make this raw strawberry cheesecake...it's got agave in it instead of sugar....but an above poster was right, strawberries do have natural sugars...

http://www.theppk.com/2009/05/raw-st...ry-cheesecake/

There are lots of sugar substitutes if they will eat that. I have a friend who makes a delicious sugar-free cheesecake, but it is chock full of artificial sweeteners. I am 100% zero sugar right now including no artificial sweeteners (paleo) and to be perfectly honest, it's extremely difficult to eat like everyone else. Sugar is in EVERYTHING. Did you know that bacon has sugar in it? Or mustard? I didn't before starting this!

Anyone who is avoiding sugar of all types including artificial sweeteners will just forgo eating anything sweet. For me, I do eat fruit. So when we have big potlucks at work, I stick to fresh fruit. I do not hold it against anyone who doesn't accommodate my needs (unless it were MY birthday, of course!). I doubt your coworker would either.

Thanks people. It's refined/white sugar she doesn't eat. I can't see the difference either between that and say, grapes, but I guess there is one. Curious if anyone here would know. I'm a bit careful with overloading on sweet things myself, but that's a blood sugar thing, so it makes no difference what kind of sugar. Since my dh so often has to pass on the really yummy desserts and sauces at restaurants I try to be a bit extra considerate of people's dietary restrictions when I can, but this one had me stumped.

I'm bringing blueberry muffins :)

ps. yup, I remember reading that ketchup has as much sugar as chocolate sauce. My poor son gets told that every time he reaches for the ketchup bottle ;) On the other hand, it did teach me that tomato sauces taste a lot better with a pinch of sugar in them.

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Originally Posted by lph

It's refined/white sugar she doesn't eat.

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I rarely bake with refined sugar. Evaporated cane juice substitutes 1:1 for white sugar in most recipes - it adds a bit of molasses flavor, but that's an asset for a lot of recipes.

(I'm not sure what you get in Norway, but "brown sugar" in the USA is refined white sugar with varying amounts of molasses mixed back in, and because of the added water content, you might have to tweak recipes a little bit to substitute. Not so with unrefined evaporated cane juice and its various forms - Sucanat, turbinado sugar. Demerara sugar might take a little tweaking just because the crystals are so large; maybe better to reserve it for a garnish.)

Can I ask why? Taste or for health reasons? I'm assuming evaporated cane juice is harder to get hold of.

I'm not in any way advocating a high-sugar diet, just trying to understand why someone would try so hard to avoid all traces of refined sugar unless allergic, which I've never heard of.

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Originally Posted by lph

Can I ask why? Taste or for health reasons? I'm assuming evaporated cane juice is harder to get hold of.

I'm not in any way advocating a high-sugar diet, just trying to understand why someone would try so hard to avoid all traces of refined sugar unless allergic, which I've never heard of.

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I try not to use white sugar because I don't eat beef. Part of the refining process is filtering it through bone char.

I usually use agave and honey.

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Originally Posted by lph

Can I ask why? Taste or for health reasons? I'm assuming evaporated cane juice is harder to get hold of.

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It's easily available in the USA, but it is more expensive than white sugar.

GMO sugar beets are one reason I avoid white sugar, although "pure cane" white sugar is available - the (IMO completely unnecessary) energy involved in refining is another, probably my #1 reason if I had to pick one. And I buy only organic sugar, which although it comes in various degrees of refining, for whatever reason I've never seen it as highly refined as chemically grown white sugar usually is. It's always got at least a little bit of color and flavor.


ETA: Substituting honey means adjusting the liquid content, and since a lot of baked goods recipes don't contain any liquid other than what's in eggs that are needed for binding, substituting honey can get pretty complicated. (Unless you're using a powdered egg substitute, in which case it's easy to reduce the liquid by most of the volume of the honey.) I've never had good luck with yeast and honey, either, although I haven't baked any raised breads in ages.

And as far as baking specifically with raw honey ... is there a point to that? ;)

A friend just made me really yummy cookies that used 2 whole cups of agave nectar (no sugar). Pricey little cookies, but they were yummy whilst being dairy-free, gluten-free, and "sugar" free.

I vote for taking some nice normal muffins. If you accommodate one colleague who is gluten-free but not another person with a known dietary restriction, it looks bad. Your sugar-free coworker is going to be well justified in taking offense. Both of your coworkers have made a choice to stop eating a food that made them feel sick. Treating them differently is asking for trouble.

In any large gathering of people, it's going to be near impossible to accommodate everyone's dietary needs and preferences. It's hard to know where to draw a line. Accommodating a known lethal allergy (I'm thinking peanuts) is a no-brainer in my book. It's pretty much accepted that vegetarians should be accommodated at group meals. On the other end of the spectrum, in our society we routinely serve high-fat, salty food to large gatherings and expect the people with heart disease who aren't supposed to be eating that stuff to suck it up and deal. Where you can get into trouble is when you start picking and choosing who you are going to accommodate.

Refined sugars (and minimally refined sugar products) tend to be very, very high on the glycemic index. Some fruits are also high on the GI, but whole fruit includes fiber which lessens the impact of the simple carbs. Also, the number of carbs matters; carrots are high on the GI, but the number of sugars you ingest in a serving of carrots is negligible compared to the number found in a cinnamon bun or a piece of fudge. If your colleague is sensitive to blood sugar lows, she is probably avoiding refined sugars because they can make the blood sugar spike and then crash. Fruit might not set her off the same way. I have hypoglycemia and I can't have sugar or honey, but I'm OK with most fruits. (Just not dates! Way too much sugar in dates! Those things need warning labels!)

Or, maybe she just wants to eat healthy; avoiding processed and refined foods is an easy way to do that. The more I learn about food additives and processing methods, the less I want to have anything to do with processed food. There are also politics surrounding the sugar industry that she might not want to subsidize. I could go on - there are many, many reasons to avoid the sweet stuff.

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Originally Posted by soprano

If your colleague is sensitive to blood sugar lows, she is probably avoiding refined sugars because they can make the blood sugar spike and then crash.

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This is half the reason I avoid sugar. The other half is that it can trigger migraines for me. (I also avoid caffeine for the same reason.) I also don't eat much fruit for the same reasons. I seem to be OK with small amounts of blueberries and blackberries, but most of the sweeter fruits have too much sugar for me to handle.

I'm also allergic to wheat. Put those two things together, and most group food-sharing events are pretty much out for me. I recently started a new job, and on my first day the company hosted a "New Hire Bagel Breakfast" to provide a somewhat social time for me to meet people. It was an impressive spread of bagels, cream cheeses and various jams...and everyone seemed to like it a lot. I didn't have anything, which didn't bother me at all, but the HR person who coordinated it was bothered that everyone was eating but me.

Thanks for the input, all! I'll see if I can pick up some pretty fruit like cherries or something to drape around the muffins.

-signed,
wanna please everyone

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Originally Posted by lph

Thanks for the input, all! I'll see if I can pick up some pretty fruit like cherries or something to drape around the muffins.

-signed,
wanna please everyone

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Bring her a pickle.

<signed, grumpy at 3AM - stupid cat!>

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Originally Posted by ultraviolet

I'm also allergic to wheat. Put those two things together, and most group food-sharing events are pretty much out for me. I recently started a new job, and on my first day the company hosted a "New Hire Bagel Breakfast" to provide a somewhat social time for me to meet people.

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When I started my last job, they put together a pot luck lunch for me. There was an ice chest full of soda & one of the people said, "Sorry, no beer." I told her that was OK, I don't drink. Her reply: "Don't worry - you will.":D

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Originally Posted by Dogmama

Bring her a pickle.

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Heh. :rolleyes:

I bought a couple of kiwis and a packet of raspberries, sliced the kiwi into wedges and tossed the fruit artistically around my muffins and the chocolate cake my co-cake-bringer brought with him. It looked very pretty, and she went "ooh, something I can eat!"

Mission accomplished.

I really like your idea of putting fruit around the baked goods! Maybe I've seen that before but I never thought about how that gives an alternative to the other stuff.

At my son's preschool and now elementry, they like to take baked goods to the teachers as a token of appreciation. They seem to like it but sometimes I feel like we are not doing the great staff of our schools any favors. I have found making small (1/2 tbsp size dough instead of 1 tbsp) cookies are appreciated and cutting the brownies into 1" bite size. A little more portion control?

I don't know but surrounding the plate/platter with pretty fresh fruit gives the best of both worlds. Thanks!

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Originally Posted by lph

Heh. :rolleyes:

I bought a couple of kiwis and a packet of raspberries, sliced the kiwi into wedges and tossed the fruit artistically around my muffins and the chocolate cake my co-cake-bringer brought with him. It looked very pretty, and she went "ooh, something I can eat!"

Mission accomplished.

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Awesome!

I super avoid sugar and won't use agave because, while it has a lower glycemic index, it's still a form of sugar. It might be hard to cook a treat for someone who avoids sugar. I usually make/bring my own when the situation calls for it because I know the way I eat isn't easy to accommodate.

This recipe is one of my favorites- http://www.elanaspantry.com/ratio-rally-quick-breads/ I grate/finely chop apple and use a couple packets of stevia instead of agave. And I add some cinnamon.

I'm doing South Beach Diet so I know what it's like avoiding sugar (including cane evaporated juice and honey in addition to cane or beet sugar). On top of that I'm limited to the amount of certain good starches and fruit I can have in a day. So I generally cross off baked goods even if it were made with whole wheat flour and sugar substitutes. It's just not worth it. If I'm going to cheat, I'll cheat. Otherwise I'll bring something of my own or just get something later. Fruit is always a safe bet.

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Originally Posted by Desert Tortoise

At my son's preschool and now elementry, they like to take baked goods to the teachers as a token of appreciation. They seem to like it but sometimes I feel like we are not doing the great staff of our schools any favors. I have found making small (1/2 tbsp size dough instead of 1 tbsp) cookies are appreciated and cutting the brownies into 1" bite size. A little more portion control?

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Our schools they won't even allow baked goods. It has to be pre-wrapped from a store. I just don't get it because a lot of home baked stuff would be a lot healthier. On the other hand, I had a friend who let their animals roam around on top of the kitchen cabinet while cooking. If she allowed that who knows what others may be allowing.

I should add, the recipe I linked is grain-free as well so handy for people who are gluten/grain-free as well as sugar-free. :) I don't get to eat a whole lot of baked goods being gluten/grain/sugar-free but that recipe is a winner. :) Makes for a handy bike snack too!

LPH,
When I toss fruit "artistically around my muffins" it just keeps sliding off. How do you make it stick?:D

I also don't eat sugar, and it's a choice, not an allergy or diabetes. Like your friend, I just feel better when I don't eat sugar. (If I go into detail it involves descriptions of my bathroom habits and lady times.) My daughter has also reduced the amount of sugar she eats. Her clarinet section leader last year used to bring in treats to sectionals, and she'd bring an apple for my daughter, which we thought was so sweet! (sweet as in kind, not as in sugar!)

There is a huge difference between fruit sugars and refined sugar or HFCS. Fruit sugars are bound up in soluble & insoluble fibers, which creates a sort of time-release effect in the gut, so that the sugars aren't all released at once and you don't get that sugar high and sugar crash and the insulin surge. That insulin surge is pretty much toxic!

I realize your event is probably already past, but for anyone, go ahead and make your sugary treats, but if you know of someone who doesn't eat sugar, just bring fruit for that one. They'll really appreciate your kindness.

lph, I applaud your considerate solution!!! I'm so happy she was pleased!

As another one who doesn't eat sugar/low-carbs, I know how hard it is to have to sit and watch other people eat. Eating together with folks is supposed to remove barriers to socializatoin, and not being able to participate always makes me feel a bit alienated. I'm always super happy when there's fruit around and I can take part in an event.