Sugar is still my biggest challenge in my goal to become healthy, how about you?

We know that the food industry has capitalized on sugar, salt, and fat to keep us addicted to food and to get us to eat more than we need.

So, how do you break these addictions? Gradually? Cold turkey? Does this mean that you can never have sweets again?

If someone had the real answer, they’d be very rich right now. Unlike other addictive substances, we can’t just not eat food.  And saying that you will never eat sweets again just isn’t going to work.

If you resolve to give up smoking, drinking and loving, you don’t actually live longer; it just seems longer. ?Clement Freud.

As I’ve suggested in many of these “30 Days” posts, you should try to reduce your sugar consumption as much as possible. In turn, you will be more sensitive to the taste of sweet. Then, you’ll eat less of it.

When you do want to have dessert, make it from scratch. You can control what goes into your food, and you expend some energy working for it!

The recipe below for Blueberry Tea Cake is a winner for a number of reasons. It uses a cup of blueberries (MIND diet), 3/4 cup of whole grain cornmeal, and only 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon of sugar.

I also substituted olive oil for the butter in the original recipe. That makes the cake more dense, but it still tastes great! You could try a lighter oil, like canola, for a fluffier result. My tea cake was akin to sweet cornbread with blueberries.

Another interesting thing about this recipe is the cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top of the cake. Cinnamon enhances the sweetness, and adds its own health benefits. Because the sugar is a topping, your tongue gets a good taste of it on its own, meaning that you don’t need to eat as much to taste the sweetness. Genius!

Blueberry Tea Cake

Ingredients:

3/4 c. finely ground whole corn meal

1 1/4 c. unbleached all-purpose flour

1/4 c. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 c. milk

1/4. c. olive or canola oil

1 egg, beaten

1 c. fresh or frozen (partially thawed) blueberries

1 tbs. sugar

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Method:

Cut a piece of parchment to fit the bottom of an 8 x 8 baking pan.  Preheat oven to 400°F.

Mix together first 6 ingredients (dry) in a large bowl.  In a separate, medium bowl, beat the egg and then stir in the milk and oil.

Pour the liquids into the dry ingredients, add the blueberries, and stir carefully just until the dry ingredients are moistened.

Pour the batter into the baking pan.

Mix the tablespoon of sugar with the cinnamon, and sprinkle over the top of the batter.

Bake for 15-25 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool before cutting.

?

This post is not intended to offer medical advice. Check with your doctor before beginning any diet or exercise plan.

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