Jaggery to substitue white sugar

Jaggery satisfies your sweet tooth without the chemicals found in processed sugar.
By Tamara Schryve
Americans consume an average of 152 pounds of sugar a year-an increase of 30 pounds compared to two decades ago, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Processing refined sugar from sugar cane, though, often includes the use of harsh chemicals, such as sulfur dioxide, phosphoric acid, and bleaching agents, that strip it of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients, leaving what nutritionists refer to as "empty calories."

Yet not all sweeteners are nutritional duds. For those reluctant to surrender their sweet tooth, there is a healthier alternative: jaggery, a staple in many Eastern diets that is used to sweeten foods like rice pudding, hot coconut milk, and vegetarian curries.

Jaggery comes from either the sap of sugar cane or palm trees, and its flavor is described as an aromatic blend between brown sugar and molasses with fermented or wine undertones. But what makes jaggery superior to regular sugar is the way it's made.

Because it is processed without the use of chemicals, jaggery retains many vital vitamins and minerals, such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and potassium. In fact, jaggery has a mineral content approximately 50 times greater than refined sugar and five times more than brown sugar. Just a teaspoon of jaggery delivers approximately 3-5 mg of calcium, 3-5 mg phosphorous, 6 mg magnesium, and 45 mg of potassium. It sells in most East Indian markets in a spreadable form called gur, or as a grainy, brown, coffee can-shaped chunk. Jaggery can be used in practically any food or beverage where you might want to add a few spoonfuls of sugar. You can grate or cut jaggery into small pieces and add it to cereal or coffee; gur can be used on bread and other baked items. Jaggery can also be chopped up and dissolved in water to form a syrup to sweeten custards, rice, or even poured over ice cream. You can substitute jaggery for granulated white sugar in many recipes-you will need to use about one-and-a-half times the amount of jaggery to achieve the equivalent level of sweetness.

Jaggery's health benefits even go beyond the kitchen. It has long been observed that people who work in highly toxic surroundings and regularly consume jaggery, such as industrial workers in dusty or smoky environments, have little or no bronchial or lung discomfort. And a study in Environmental Health Perspectives (1994: 211-214) reported that jaggery reduced the number of lesions formed in rats' lungs infiltrated with coal and silica dust.

Revamp Your Diet- Ayurvedic Way

The food we eat has a direct result on our health and our emotional life. Sometimes even when we maintain a generally healthy diet, we can hurt ourselves in other ways. For instance, when we feel tired we reach for caffeine or sugar to "pick up" our mood. But these substances often create "crashes" that leave us feeling worse than we did to begin with.

Once again, yoga can help. The next time you need a pick-me-up, don't automatically reach for that dietary crutch. Instead, try a natural stimulant, like a quick walk in the sunshine, some deep breaths of fresh air, or your favorite yoga pose. Your favorite breath technique (pranayama) can also help oxygenate—and wake up—your body and mind.


Researchers point to nutritional imbalances as a possible cause of chronic fatigue syndrome. Many CFS patients find they are sensitive to foods and drinks they were once able to tolerate. They may also find that a variety of foods and food additives—caffeine, alcohol, chocolate, dairy products, and dyes, among other things—trigger CFS symptoms.

Ayurvedic practitioners go one step further, suggesting that by making food choices in the Ayurvedic tradition, CFS sufferers can find greater relief. Robert Svoboda, an Ayurvedic physician, says Ayurvedic dietary changes help restore energy, and he advises people with CFS to eat a vata-controlling diet. "They need to drink soup and eat food that's very mild—not too hot, not too cold," he says. "It should be spiced, but mildly spiced. Also, they should not consume anything that's cold, especially cold water and ice cream. They should drink hot water only." He also recommends a diet low in protein, because protein demands great quantities of energy to digest and produces heaps of nitrogenous wastes. "You want a small amount of protein and a balance of carbohydrates and fats all cooked into one soup or a juicy one-pot meal, so your organism doesn't require a lot of energy to digest."

Svoboda also recommends avoiding foods that contain caffeine or concentrated sugars. "These are so concentrated that they cause your system to go into a tizzy, overreact, and make the fatigue worse."

Moon Salutation

Om Sue: Moon salutation:]
The Chandra Namaskara, Moon Salutation, has the opposite effect on your body than the Sun Salutation. It is meant to soothe and calm your body. Moon salutations are excellent to perform in the evening to get a good nights sleep after a buzy and stressful day. In Ayurveda the fiery and easily irritated PITTA types benefit enormously from doing the moon salutations.

This moon salutation pacifies the Pitta dosha. Poses focused on cleansing the liver, spleen, kidney and small intestines to hold the Pitta diseases away.


Moon Salutations are a soothing yet empowering variation and counterbalance to classical Sun Salutations (Surya Namaskar). They allow us to honor the yin or feminine side of our energy, in contrast to the Sun Salutations, which are more yang, or masculine, in nature. A resurgence of the Moon Salutation is part of the rediscovery of the divine feminine at this important time in our evolution. However, moon salutations are not just for women! Men can reconnect, realign and cool-down fiery impulses through Moon Salutations. Moon salutations can shift energy without increasing heat in the body and tend to be less stimulating than Sun Salutations, thereby balancing hot emotions, relaxing and calming the mind and body and restoring balance.

The Yoga Moon Salutation is both ancient and modern. The moon is of particular importance in Hatha Yoga. The word Hatha is broken down as "Ha" meaning "sun" and "Tha" meaning "moon." Traditional Sun Salutations enhance our inner fire and strengthen us as we prepare for life's obstacles, while the Moon Salutations cool us as we prepare for our journey of descent; going inward, uncovering our wisdom, creativity, balance and inherent intelligence, hence opening the path for enlightenment. (The practice of Hatha Yoga brings unity between the two opposites; aggression and retreat).

The Sun Salutations are designed to allow us to connect to the sun's powerful energy and are often practiced at dawn. The amazing Moon Salutations are not just for full moon practice and are for any time of day, but are especially beneficial when performed in the evening as the series of poses is designed to calm the mind and relax the body.

These are the asanas for the Yoga Moon Salutation:

Prayer Pose - palms together overhead
Crescent Moon Pose - arching to the left
Goddess Pose - squat, arms at sides in an L-shape, palms forward
Transition Pose - star pose, the body is like a 5-pointed star
Triangle Pose - extending to the left, right arm up
Head to knee - left leg
Lunge to the left
Forward Facing Lunge - right leg extended
Squat Pose - Malasana, hands in prayer position
Forward Facing Lunge - left leg extended
Lunge to the right
Head to Knee - right leg
Triangle Pose - extending to the right, left arm up
Transition Pose - star pose
Goddess Pose
Crescent Moon Pose - arching to the right
Return to Prayer Pose - palms together overhead


The diagram below from Laura Cornell, PhD, shows the sequence of Chandra Namaskar; 16 asanas that constitute the Yoga Moon Salutation.












Why not give the Moon Salutation a try? You can practice it in a flowing manner, following your breath or hold each posture for a number of breaths (3-5).

* Note: Coming into each pose, focus on lengthening the spine first in order to create space between the vertebrae, making it easier to side bend without compressing the intervertebral discs.