Can you control sugar cravings? Yes -- with help from honey.

If you think high fructose corn syrup is evil, then you might want to think the same about plain old sugar and honey.

According to a report from the American Medical Association, the sweetener commonly found in items such as soft drinks is no more to blame for obesity than sugar or other sweeteners, honey included. The AMA is so convinced it doesn't see a need to place warning labels on products containing the stuff.

No need to throw caution to the wind and start chowing down on foods and drinks containing high fructose corn syrup -- the AMA still recommends we limit the amount of all added caloric sweeteners to no more than 32 grams of sugar daily (based on a 2,000 calorie diet).

Think about this: Obesity rates have soared in recent decades. So has the use of high fructose corn syrup. Think there's a connection or just a coincidence?

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If you're looking to lose pounds, chances are the first thing you'll cut out is dessert. After all, eating a bunch of sugar after the biggest meal of the day is probably not the best diet choice, right? But if dessert is your favourite meal of the day, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to eat your sweets and lose weight too. FitSugar recently compiled a list of their favourite light desserts -- plus here are some of mine:

• Fruit and Light Cool Whip. Three teaspoons of Light Cool Whip has only 35 calories. Pair that with a handful of fresh, healthy, antioxidant-rich berries and you've got a perfect sweet treat.
• Jello or fat-free pudding. Both are very low-cal and very sweet. Opt for the sugar-free variety and you're consuming virtually no calories.
• Warm milk with a touch of honey. This one not only satisfies a sweet tooth, it helps you get to sleep too.

What's your favourite healthy sweet treat?

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Today I had more than bills in my mailbox. When I opened it up, there was a little treat waiting for me. A free cookie, courtesy of Kashi. I love Kashi cereals, so when I saw a commercial for free samples of their cookies, I thought I would give it a try. The sample was an Oatmeal Dark Chocolate cookie, and it was totally yummy.

More importantly, it's packed with nutrition. The main ingredient is a blend of seven whole grains (hard red winter wheat, oats, rye, triticale, barley, long grain brown rice, and buckwheat). It also has sesame seeds and, of course, tasty dark chocolate. Even though it's all natural and contains lots of good ingredients, it is still a cookie -- it has 130 calories and five grams of fat (1.5 is saturated). It also has eight grams of sugar, but thankfully none of it is from high-fructose corn syrup. Honey and and brown rice syrup are used for sweeteners.

The cookies are also available in Happy Trail Mix (cranberry, raisin, sunflower seeds, peanuts, and shredded coconut) and Oatmeal Raisin Flax flavors. Go ahead. Steal a cookie from the cookie jar and see what you think.

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Want permission to eat before you go to bed? Here it is: About 90 minutes before you turn in for the night, head to the kitchen and make yourself a snack. Make it light and around 200 calories and you won't head into dangerous eating territory. You will relax your muscles, quiet your spinning mind, and rev up the sleep-inducing hormones serotonin and melatonin -- if you eat one of these 10 picks.

Bananas. Bananas contain serotonin, melatonin, and the muscle-relaxing magnesium.

Chamomile Tea. Chamomile has a mild sedating effect.

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There was a great deal of chatter on the internet last week about Olympic gymnasts' use of honey during competition. With a bottle of the sticky stuff next to the chalk basin, everyone wondered what purpose it served. Many speculated that it was used for a quick shot of energy, but this turned out to not be the case. The honey, it was later revealed on numerous websites, was used to help gymnasts maintain a better grip on the bar during certain events.

This actually isn't very surprising, since honey has many uses for helping the skin. Most recently, in fact, researchers from New Zealand found that burned skin covered with antibiotic ointment healed much more slowly than burned skin coated with honey. Honey not only soothes the pain of burned skin, but it also reduces inflammation and prevents further infection.

Being that the burned skin covered with honey healed about four days faster than burned skin covered in antibiotic creams, bringing a small jar with you on that sunny vacation your planning may not be a bad idea. And, as evidenced by how well the gymnasts performed at this year's Olympics, bringing it to your kid's next gymnastics meet wouldn't hurt, either.

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You know which foods give you more energy, and you're aware of the foods that will pack on the pounds. But, can certain foods help your love life? According to a recent article on MSN, the answer is yes!

There's a reason people have turned to aphrodisiacs throughout the course of history -- while oysters alone won't turn you (or your date) into a raging sex machine, certain foods have been shown to have a subtle effect on "how amorous you're feeling."

Want to know what foods you should order on your next date? Check out the gallery!

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Who isn't at least a little short on energy sometimes? Besides your toddler or small dog, I'd bet nobody really.

Lack of energy on a regular basis and/or sudden energy slumps in the middle of the day are two of the biggest reasons why people skip workouts and find excuses not to exercise. It's hard to motivate yourself to do something when you're really just not in the mood.

Energy levels are affected by a lot of different things, but one of the biggest players is of course your diet. Eating right on a regular basis will go a long way towards increasing and evening out your energy levels, but there are also specific foods that you can incorporate into your day whenever you need an additional boost. And no, a Starbucks triple shot latte is not one of them (darnit!).

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If you have a bad cough, never mind those disgusting tasting OTC cough syrups. Instead, reach for something natural ... and much sweeter.

A new study from Penn State College of Medicine revealed that honey can be just as effective at suppressing coughs as cough medicine. Evidently, the natural sweetener in honey help to coat the throat and soothe any irritation and discomfort a person may be experiencing.

Not only is this great for adults, but it will surely play out much better for kids, too. My guess is that they'll be far more amenable to downing a teaspoon of honey than they will an equal amount of Robitussin.

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Each week, we'll be offering original recipes and unique ways to use those Super Foods that pack nutritional power. After all, you are what you eat -- make it count!

Sunday's Parade magazine lists some Super Foods we ought to embrace. Each one is packed with nutrients. And flavor too. Can't beat that combo. Check out these six.

Coconut Milk
Coconuts are rich and saturated in fat. Sound scary? It shouldn't. The people in the South Pacific enjoy diets loaded with coconut oil, yet studies show that these people don't get heart disease. U.S. researchers are hot on the trail of this interesting fact, hoping to support the claim that the fatty coconut is a heart-healthy fruit. What they do know is this: Coconut flakes, coconut milk and cream, and coconut oil contain lots of an antiviral, antibacterial fatty acid called lauric acid. It's one of the immune-boosters babies get from breast milk.

Try this: Mix a can of coconut milk with a pint of chicken stock and some grated ginger for a healthy coconut chicken soup.

Grass-Fed Beef
All beef is a great source of iron, B vitamins, and zinc -- three nutrients most of us don't get enough of. But grass-fed beef (versus grain-fed beef) is best. It contains less fat, less saturated fat, more CLA (an anti-cancer fat), and more omega-3 fatty acids.

Try this: Use the very lean grass-fed beef for spaghetti sauce, chili, and meatloaf.

Nuts
Rich in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats and antioxidants, moderate amounts of almonds, cashews, macadamia nuts, and hazelnuts are a good addition to a healthy diet. Walnuts too. They are one of the best vegetarian sources of the omega-3 fatty acids that fight obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

Try this: Put nuts in a blender with a little olive oil, milk or water for fresh nut butter.

Cinnamon
Cinnamon regulates blood sugar, inhibits cancer cells, and is anti-inflammatory. Can't beat that.

Try this: Sprinkle cinnamon on French toast, oatmeal, or a cup of hot chocolate.

Raw Honey & Molasses
Great for a sweet tooth, these whole and natural sweeteners make for a healthy sugar substitute. Unfiltered, raw honey contains lots of phytonutrients and enzymes to aid digestion. Blackstrap molasses is a surprisingly good source of iron and many other minerals.

Try this: Honey is best unheated but molasses already has been boiled, so there's no reason not to cook with it. Use with baked goods like muffins and pumpkin pie.

Olive Oil
Olive oil's monounsaturated fats reduce inflammation. Its phenols fight cancer. And its vitamin E lowers the risk of heart disease, protects skin from damaging agents, and prevents nerve damage.

Try this: Gently sauté vegetables in olive oil, drizzle it on salads, or use it in pesto.

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No bones about it: Losing weight is hard work. You're going to have to make some major changes and you're going to have to stick to them. But changing too much too fast is a recipe for disaster, so our advice is to take it slow and start off with some smaller changes.

Diet Blog recently put together a list of easy food swaps you can make that will cut 100 calories from your daily intake. Some examples?

• On your toast, have honey instead of jam and butter.
• On your sandwich, trade mayo for a little bit of light cream cheese.
  
• Instead of having a beer after work, have a glass of wine.
  
• Instead of ordering a cheeseburger, order a plain hamburger.
  

They have plenty of other great swaps -- click here for more info.

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We're lucky today to have access to all kinds of food from all kinds of places around the world, but it can still be hard to eat right because it's amazingly easy to end up eating the same things all the time. If you're stuck in a dieting rut then it might help to shake things up a bit and try some of these healthy staples from across the globe:

Cabbage, from Ireland
Here in the States cabbage isn't all that popular as a main player in dinner, but in Ireland it's a basic staple that originated hundreds of years ago. Most people just think "smelly" when then think of cabbage when in fact they should be thinking "cancer and disease fighting goodness." Cabbage, as well as its cousins broccoli, cauliflower, turnips, and brussel sprouts, is known to be a beneficial fighter against stroke, all kinds of cancers, cognitive decline and diabetes.

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I remember a while back coming across research related to honey's efficacy in treating diabetic foot ulcers. The study, as best as I can recall, pointed to the powerful healing properties of honey and its ability to reduce the chance of infection. Not surprisingly, more recent studies on honey revealed additional healing properties, this time related to burned skin.

After analyzing fifteen separate studies, researchers from New Zealand found that burned skin covered with antibiotic ointment healed much more slowly than burned skin coated with honey. Honey not only soothes the pain of burned skin, but it also reduces inflammation and prevents further infection.

Being that the burned skin covered with honey healed about four days faster than burned skin covered in antibiotic creams, bringing a small jar with you on that sunny vacation your planning may not be a bad idea.

Eating 5 to 6 times throughout the day can sometimes be difficult, especially in the fast-paced, I want things ten minutes ago world in which we live. Try as we might to follow this healthy paradigm, it just sometimes doesn't seem possible. Interestingly enough, it's sometimes not the meals that are hard to schedule, but the healthy snacks that you should be eating in between.

Look, any snack will be a better option than that Snicker's bar from the vending machine. The whole "keeps you satisfied" idea was abandoned eons ago, for it is now well known that the high-GI sugar content will actually cause you to feel lethargic and do little to curb hunger. But, our goal isn't to be just a notch above unhealthy; rather, our goal is to be as healthy as we can. To that end, why not try one of these 150-calorie snacks, suggested by the folks at Fitness Magazine, the next time you're looking to munch on something in between meals.

• 1 medium apple, sliced, with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter
• 3 slices of mini pumpernickel bread with 1 slice of Swiss cheese
• 1 packet of low-sugar oatmeal topped with a hand full of berries
• 1 caramel apple (without nuts)
• Spiced maple yogurt: 6oz of plain yogurt, 1 tablespoon maple syrup and a dash of cinnamon
• 1 cup of chocolate pudding with 1 graham cracker square crushed and sprinkled on top
• 8-ounce serving of V8 with 1 piece of string cheese
• 1 trail mix granola bar
• 4 whole-grain crackers with 1 tablespoon of honey soy nut butter
• 4-ounce cup of mandarin oranges topped with 2 tablespoons of chopped walnuts

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Before too long, we may be able to go to our local drug store and pick up honey adhesive strips. It worked for the Egyptians, why not now? That's the thinking behind Medihoney, a new product based on manuka honey which has been known to kill germs and heal wounds where traditional antibiotics fail.

Dressing wounds has been an issue for diabetes patients when drug-resistant germs keep some abrasions from healing. This is where honey comes in. Using a material based on seaweed, they soak the dressing in leptospermum honey. It will not only kill microbes, but soak up fluids and get rid of the bad smell of wounds.

Honey being used in this way has picked up in other parts of the world already. Even when the concentration is diluted ten times, this stuff can kill bacteria. Let's hope honey-based medical products hit the open market soon -- some hospitals are already using it! People with weak immune systems or persistent trauma will be able to get a lot out of this.

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