Sugar

I always strongly advise everyone come off sugar as sugar is the cause of unlimited amounts of diseases in the body and feeds sickness. Sweeteners of any type are completely out with me as it is a slow poison and even more poisonous than sugar even in Western medicine. Oncology and haematology patients are immunocompromised and when they are on cancer drugs, I would forbid then to have sweeteners as it could end up killing them. Rather I used to tell them, just take sugar if they must. But things may be different worldwide as I am going based on UK training. From TICM training, I look at the thermal nature of the disease, synthetic drugs and foods patients are consuming. So cancer is a hot disease, cancer drugs are hot and toxic, sugar is hot and sweeteners are hot and toxic so from this I will let you work things out.

Raw honey is my option and recommendation if you need to sweeten up food and drinks. But then we also have Chinese sugar. Chinese brown sugar has been used for thousands of years in Chinese medicine and culture for its benefits. It is made up almost entirely of sugar cane which has a long list of benefits. After being pressed to remove any bacteria and impurities, it is evaporated over fire to transform to thick brown sugar. The longer it is cooked, the darker the colour. There is no chemical method used to extract it so by its nature, it contains iron, calcium, vitamin A and its original minerals like magnesium because it's unrefined.

In Chinese medicine, it has amazing benefits:

Tonifies (strengthens) the middle Jiao which is the core of digestion: the Stomach, Liver and Spleen, the areas where food is converted to energy and Blood.

Warms the Stomach, expels coldness, dampness to stop pain: very beneficial to those with painful periods, diarrhoea and cold extremities.

Nourishes Blood, removes wind and cold, and activates Blood to remove stagnation.

Soothes the Liver and brightens eyes: the Liver governs high eye health and detoxification.

Benefits the intestines to promote good bowel movements.

Great for postpartum: drink for 7-10 days after childbirth to increase energy and strengthen the body, increase Blood and lactation and heal the uterus.

Use it topically on swelling or insect bite due to its rich amount of natural sucrose.

During the period it helps the uterus expel more toxins and reduce pain in the abdomen.

You can consume it in soup with ginger powder, add citrus, or just in warm water with whatever tea you like. Just like everything, consume moderately, because it is so warming to the body.

Note: ensure you purchase genuine 100% Chinese sugars and always read the ingredients. Due to its health benefits, genuine purchases may be on the ‘expensive’ side. You can purchase Chinese brown sugar at Asian food markets or online, it is normally sold in 1lbs bricks that separate into wafers. I put expensive in brackets as if we all controlled what we eat and how we eat it, good food does not have to be expensive. There are rulings on how we should eat and quantities in TICM.