Well now, how about we take a look at Lina’s inbox?

Hi Food Pharmacy,

I love your books, love the blog, and your podcast! You’ve really inspired me (a long-term sugar-lover) to look at my eating habits in general, and particularly my sugar intake. I’m curious to know how you dealt with the social aspect of changing your diet? Since I stopped eating sugar, I find that I constantly have to defend this obviously healthy choice. It’s odd, but before, when I ate too much sugar, nobody commented on what I ate. But now that I am making an effort to cut out sugar, it’s seems like I have to defend that effort constantly in front of friends, family and colleagues. Please help me – how can I get people to respect my decisions without having to defend them all the time?
Best Regards, from Lisa

Hello Lisa!

Thank you for your e-mail. It was so spot-on that we decided to publish it. The truth is that we very much recognize our own experience in what you have written; not just in the times we’ve had to apologize for not eating the cinnamon bun served with coffee, but also in how we’ve been judged as “party poopers,” just because we didn’t eat any desserts or goodies.

While we don’t advise giving any fiery speeches to your friends, we do think that there are many people out there who simply don’t know the facts, and could benefit from learning about them. For instance, there is the fact that we currently eat about four times more sugar than is recommended by the National Food Agency. Additionally, today, obesity and type 2 diabetes are among the most significant public diseases, and unhealthy food is a culprit in both. About 422 million people around the world are estimated to have type 2 diabetes, and nearly 40 percent of the adult population are overweight or suffering from obesity, which are frightening numbers, considering that the result is an increased risk of contracting other diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, some forms of cancer, dementia and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). For us, these facts were reason enough to review our eating habits. As real candy-lovers, we always suspected that there might be a contradiction between what is yummy and what is healthy. Later, when we discovered that you could make (and eat) desserts that taste at least as good as the “real” thing – and that won’t raise your blood sugar as shockingly as traditional pastries and sweets do – it was clear to us that it was time to break up with white sugar.

So try to answer your friends, family and colleagues with all these simple facts. Or maybe just offer them these irresistible chocolate bites the next time you have coffee?

Chocolate bites 2.0.
1 cup organic oat flakes
7 fresh dates
3-4 tbsp cold-pressed, raw coconut oil
4 tbsp coconut flakes
a pinch of pure vanilla powder
a pinch of salt
1 tbsp cacao powder
roll the bites in coconut flakes

Mix all the ingredients until you have a large ball. If it won’t combine, add some coffee or water (1 tsp is probably enough). Roll into balls, and roll each ball in coconut flakes. Store in the fridge for up to a week. 

Best

/ Lina and Mia

You’re more than welcome to follow us on Facebook and Instagram. And buy our first book in German here or in Polish here, and our new cookbook in Swedish here. And buy professor Bengmark’s Synbiotic15 here.