What’s yummy? Is it food that starts with x? If you’re anything like me, the answer is probably a resounding “yes.” Xylitol, a common sugar alternative, has been used as a natural sweetener for centuries. As a no calorie, high-value sweetener, xylose has been used in numerous food and diet recipes to sweeten things up.
Just what is xylitol? The simplest answer is that it’s a naturally occurring sugar substitute. It’s found in many foods, including fruit, baked goods, and even wine. Xylose is also a common ingredient in diabetic and heart patient food, because it reduces blood sugar levels. The purest forms of xylose come from raw fruits and grains, but it can also be found in various sugar substitutes and in juices, syrups, sauces, and salad dressings.
So what’s another food that starts with x? I’m sure you’ve heard of Xmas cakes but what about xanthan gum or cystatin gum or cassava dough or polenta? They’re all the same thing. Another example of a food that starts with x is curry. Curry is a traditional Indian food that’s made by blending ingredients like ginger, garlic, turmeric, coconut oil, curry leaves, ketchup, onions, tomatoes, and more.
Another food that starts with x is sardines-like fish: These fish come from the Amazon and other parts of South America. Sardines are flat fish coated in spices to make it taste better. There’s even an international dish called xooba, meaning black-eyed peas, where the beans are black in color, but the peas themselves are white. It’s delicious!
And finally, there’s one other food: that starts with xanthan gum, and that’s a gluten-free version of carnitas. There’s also an entire range of vegetarian products that start with this ingredient, including tofu and wraps. It’s a wonder that gluten-free doesn’t just stand for itself!
But back to the question at hand: what can you eat if you’re on a diet? You can cut out artificial sweeteners, fried foods, salt, artificial flavors, as well as anything else on which you would replace one or more of your real foods. One way to do this is with xylitol. Xylitol-rich food substitutes such as xylose (a sugar substitute) can be used to replace sugar, as it has a much sweeter taste than regular sugar. And just like xylose, acute (a common African sweet) can replace agave nectar.
In addition to xylitol: there are many other natural sweeteners available. The two most common are stevia and xylose. If you’re not used to tasting fruit when you have sugar, stevia can be an extremely pleasant, subtle flavor. However, if you’re used to the chemically-flavored, artificially sweetened products that dominate the market today, xylose might not be the best choice; try to find some xylose-rich alternatives.
In conclusion: this article has given you a few examples of what you can do when cooking ‘disability’ food, which is to substitute it with something that has the same flavor or texture, but doesn’t have the added calories. In our next installment, we’ll take a look at foods that start with X in Mexico, as well as other authentic Mexican cuisines. (If you’re not familiar with Mexican cuisine: I highly recommend this book, which covers everything you need to know about cooking the greatest variety of traditional Mexican dishes you could ever eat in one lifetime.) Until then, remember that by choosing ‘disability food’ that you’re actually helping to improve your health, not ruining it. As a side note, it was interesting to read about the fact that, historically, people have generally eaten whatever they could find around them, unadulterated.
(In other words, no-one took any food off the shelf unless it was going to spoil.)
