Why we are sugar and preservative free
I’m often asked why I’m so passionate about not using refined sugars or sweeteners in VALA. In 2012 I got ill for a few months and after several rounds of antibiotics I began searching for more holistic ways to heal my body. My mum showed me a newspaper article about a famous tennis player who followed a sugar free, plant based diet and started to notice the health benefits. I was curious to find out more, fell into a rabbit hole of research and eventually decided to modify my diet. Back then I had a real sweet tooth and was a borderline sugar addict, so this was a pretty big ask.
After going cold turkey and experiencing what I can only describe as a week long 'sugar hangover', I started to notice a decrease in headaches and slowly felt the afternoon slump disappear. After reading 'Sugar Blues' by William Dufty this all made sense, as he says that “Refined sugar is lethal when ingested by humans because it provides only that which nutritionists describe as ‘empty’ calories. It lacks the natural minerals which are present in sugar beet or cane. In addition, sugar is worse than nothing because it drains and leeches the body of precious vitamins and minerals through the demand its digestion, detoxification, and elimination makes upon one's entire system".
Whilst converting to sugar-free life, I challenged myself to find new creative ways to get a sweet hit whilst avoiding refined sugar, which ranged from spreading Manuka honey (in my pre-vegan days) on oat cakes to baking with maple syrup and ripe bananas. Little did I know back then that this small lifestyle change of removing refined sugar and sweeteners would have such huge consequences further down the line and would become the driving force for a future energy gel company.
Fast forward to 2017 and I was searching for sugar and additive free gels for my boyfriend to run with. The ones that I found either tasted too earthy or were made of honey, which isn't vegan friendly... that's when the VALA lightbulb moment hit! VALA's sweetness comes from date paste and maple syrup, so you can sip away confident that your gels are free from artificial sweetness and made from 100% natural ingredients.
After going cold turkey and experiencing what I can only describe as a week long 'sugar hangover', I started to notice a decrease in headaches and slowly felt the afternoon slump disappear. After reading 'Sugar Blues' by William Dufty this all made sense, as he says that “Refined sugar is lethal when ingested by humans because it provides only that which nutritionists describe as ‘empty’ calories. It lacks the natural minerals which are present in sugar beet or cane. In addition, sugar is worse than nothing because it drains and leeches the body of precious vitamins and minerals through the demand its digestion, detoxification, and elimination makes upon one's entire system".
Whilst converting to sugar-free life, I challenged myself to find new creative ways to get a sweet hit whilst avoiding refined sugar, which ranged from spreading Manuka honey (in my pre-vegan days) on oat cakes to baking with maple syrup and ripe bananas. Little did I know back then that this small lifestyle change of removing refined sugar and sweeteners would have such huge consequences further down the line and would become the driving force for a future energy gel company.
Fast forward to 2017 and I was searching for sugar and additive free gels for my boyfriend to run with. The ones that I found either tasted too earthy or were made of honey, which isn't vegan friendly... that's when the VALA lightbulb moment hit! VALA's sweetness comes from date paste and maple syrup, so you can sip away confident that your gels are free from artificial sweetness and made from 100% natural ingredients.