is always a difficult message for consumers
to receive, process, and act on it. So how do
you respond to faith-based questions such
as, “Are you asking us to no longer offer the
sugary beverages (lemonade, sweet tea, and
sodas) at church fellowship events?”
Debra: I always show people the alter-
native to white
sugar. You know
everyone wants
something sweet
to eat. So, to make
it sweet I use raw
sugar, stevia, pure
maple syrup, or
raw honey some-
times. I show
people that this is
an alternative or
option and that
there are some additional benefits linked to
alternative sweeteners. Also, I talk about the
fact that sugar craving might be related to
some type of mineral-vitamin deficiency. I
remind people to make sure they get a lot
of vitamins and mineral nutrients. I believe
chromium is the main one that relates to
sugar craving. Certain nutrients are also
associated with emotions as well.
Most people are not even reading the
labels on food and beverages. Regarding
labels on
food, I am showing people that food
and beverage labels give us important infor-
mation. For example, one of the student’s
had a large bottle of a popular brand soda
and I told them to read the sugar content on
24 HimPower May/June 2019
the soda versus that of another non-carbon-
ated soda that was available. The student
said to me, “oh my gosh, I didn’t know that
this soda had so much sugar”. And I said,
“You are just drinking stuff and you don’t
even know what you are putting in your
body.”
Mary: Debra,
your Simplified
Guide to Healthy
Living subtitle is
Vegetarian and
Vegan Recipes.
Explain the differ-
ence between a
vegetarian versus a
vegan diet.
Debra: Well
the term vegan
basically means
that the person eats no animal products but
being vegan doesn’t necessarily mean you
are healthier.
Mary: A Simplified Guide to Healthier
Living: Vegetarian and Vegan Recipes, 2018
has 27 chapters and you state that it is easy
to read. Given that many people may not
like to read for information (our texting and
social media generation) what might make
the book appealing to this audience?
Debra: Well you can see the chapters
are very brief. These are not long chapters;
they are like 2-3 pages basically per chapter.
I have had people come to me after losing
100 pounds or, 20 pounds and say, “oh I have
been using your recipes”. Most of the recipes
take about 30 minutes, just a few are 45