Sweets are important.  Have you ever been told you could not have something ever again?  How long did that last for you?  God has provided many sweets and luxurious foods for us.  Jesus attended celebrations and ate good food.  What He did not eat was food sacrificed to false gods.  When we eat unhealthy foods today, we are eating foods sacrificed to the false gods of shelf life and more money.  It isn’t just the food growers, the production people, or those that put all those additives into our foods, but it is also our own selves for purchasing it.

One of the first complaints I hear about eating healthy is that organic costs so much more.  Can we think that it was easy for Daniel to choose to eat clean food?  What price did he pay? Moreover, after a week of eating all clean foods, we need less food, because our bodies recognize clean food as food and it goes to work to nurture our bodies.  Cravings begin to subside, and we are no longer slaves to unhealthy eating.

From the beginning of time, God provided sweets for us, in the form of honey, dates, and delicious fruits.  These delicious sweets are mentioned throughout the Bible.  They were important enough to be traded and bartered for as well as offered as tokens of good will.  Look for Date Cakes in the scriptures.  Dates have become a staple in my home and a way to sweeten many recipes.

Alternative Sugars

• Stevia
• Coconut Sugar
• Agave Nectar

A Note About Chocolate

You see, chocolate that is more than 70% cacao is high in a special compound called theobromine, and theobromine has been shown to have some unique fat loss properties.

For one, it helps with appetite control and suppression, so you'll likely find that eating just a square or two of high cacao concentration dark chocolate that you crave less sweets and aren't as hungry... two pretty solid benefits if you have a sweet tooth, or even if you don't.

Moreover, theobromine has also been shown to mobilize fatty acids from fat cells to the blood stream to be burned as energy, similar to caffeine, but without the stimulatory effect on the nervous system and "jittery" feelings that some experience with caffeine use.

And perhaps the biggest benefit of theobromine was discovered in a study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in March of 2005 where researchers found significant insulin sensitivity benefits associated with the naturally occurring theobromine found in high cacao dark chocolate.

So, next time you're in the mood for a little something sweet, grab a square of dark chocolate.  Of course, don't go crazy...the stuff still packs fat, sugar, and calories when eaten in more sizable amounts, but a square or two will still yield the benefits mentioned above at only about 50 calories.

Learn more alternative sugars according to the Daniel Plan here.