You've probably heard the buzz about the typical American diet that's filled with excess sugar. There are many health problems associated with high sugar intake, and sadly, these problems are showing up at younger and younger ages in America's youth. Today's show was all about tips and tricks for cutting added sugar from your family's diet without sacrificing the fun and flavor of your favorite recipes.

My guest today is Jennifer Tyler Lee, author and healthy eating advocate. Her new cookbook, Half the Sugar, All the Love: A Family Cookbook, is being released later this month. You might remember her previous cookbook, The 52 New Foods Challenge, or her really cool kids' nutrition game, Crunch A Color. Half the Sugar, All the Love is filled with 100 sweet and savory recipes that have been remastered to be lower in sugar than their original counterparts. If you crave a chocolate brownie, Jennifer has you covered with her Double-Chocolate Brownies, and just wait until you hear how she uses sweet potatoes as a secret ingredient. If you wonder how much added sugar is in that stir-fry chicken dish you ordered out last week, Jennifer is here for you with her Better For You Citrus Chicken Stir Fry with Green Beans. This is an action-packed show that will fill you in about how much added sugar we, as a nation, are currently consuming. We'll talk about the health consequences of all that sugar and the upper limit of the recommendations from the American Heart Association. We're talking about tips for reading food labels and spotting added sugar, and US listeners can enter to win a copy of Jennifer's new cookbook!

Show Highlights:

• The basics of Jennifer's busy life as a Canadian mom of two living in CA
• The positive changes we see in the health of families due to the resurgence of cooking
• How Jennifer's love of cooking comes from the influence of her grandma, who taught her that home-cooked family meals should be the norm
• How Jennifer's new cookbook helps you cut the sugar in all types of recipes and enjoy the foods you love in healthier ways
• The current trend: 1 in 5 kids is prediabetic
• The secret to "half the sugar" is to sweeten with fiber-rich fruits and vegetables instead of added sugar
• Why "sneaky sugar" is an insidious problem in savory foods many so-called "healthy" foods, like yogurt and granola
• The sad truth: most people consume more than 3x the daily allowance of added sugar, according to the American Heart Association, which says kids and women should have no more than 6 tsp/day and men should have no more than 9 tsp/day
• The new research that shows how artificial sweeteners and even natural sweeteners may lead to increased sugar cravings due to how the brain interprets them
• Jennifer's work with Dr. Patel for the book, showing the dangers of too much added sugar, which include obesity, chronic disease, Type-2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, fatty liver disease, and cavities
• Why Jennifer likes to sweeten recipes with fiber-rich fruits and vegetables like sweet potatoes, pumpkin, dates, pineapple, and mango
• Some of Jennifer's favorites from the new cookbook: Pumpkin Spice Waffles, and Pineapple Teriyaki Short Ribs
• How Jennifer's Double Chocolate Brownies cut the sugar in a typical brownie from 4-½ tsp. to 1-½ tsp.
• How to determine the amounts of added sugar by reading food labels and converting grams to teaspoons
• Why beverages are the worst way to consume added sugar and calories
• How nuts, seeds, and dried fruits can be used in sugar replacement
• The big problems in removing sugar from a recipe are changes in texture and flavor
• Jennifer's recipe for granola that's made with lots of nutritious ingredients like oats, nuts, and dried fruits; it's a flexible recipe with maple syrup being the only added sweetener
• Jennifer's Citrus Chicken Stir Fry with Green Beans made with tangerine juice, ginger, garlic, toasted sesame oil, almonds (with zero added sugar)
• A bonus! If you pre-order Jennifer's book and enter your confirmation number on her website, you'll receive Jennifer's holiday cookie recipes
• An example of a recipe with dates: Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
• A random question from the Mason jar about Jennifer's first food memory

Resources:

Jennifer's website: 52newfoods.com (where she shares new recipes each week)

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennifertylerlee/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jennifertylerlee

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jtylerlee

Giveaway: We're giving away a copy of Half the Sugar: All the Love by Jennifer Tyler Lee to one lucky US winner. Tell me why you'd love to win the book and/or your favorite sweet or savory recipe that's lower in sugar than its original version. Giveaway ends January 1, 2020.

If you pre-order Jennifer's book (before the release date of 12/24/2019), you'll be able to claim 3 HOLIDAY BONUS RECIPES from Jennifer. Click here to learn about the bonus,