Vayla Dorne didn’t grow up reading labels. Her childhood was full of homemade pies, sweet iced tea, and family dinners that ended with dessert. “It was warm, comforting, and always sugary,” she says with a smile.
But in her early thirties, things changed. Vayla started feeling sluggish, experienced mood swings, and had trouble sleeping. After visiting a nutritionist, she learned that added sugar was showing up in places she hadn’t even noticed—salad dressings, sauces, and store-bought granola bars.
“I didn’t want to give up sweetness altogether,” she says. “But I wanted it to come from a better place.”
So she set out on a journey to explore natural sweeteners—ones that didn’t send her blood sugar on a rollercoaster. She experimented with dates, ripe bananas, maple syrup, and coconut sugar. The key, she learned, wasn’t just replacing white sugar—it was rethinking how much sweetness she actually needed.
Her baking changed. Her palate shifted. Over time, even her morning coffee didn’t need the extra syrup anymore.
“The flavors became more real,” Vayla says. “I started appreciating the natural sweetness in carrots, apples, cinnamon—even roasted squash.”
Now, her meals still feel joyful. A bowl of spiced oatmeal sweetened with mashed banana, or almond butter cookies with a touch of maple syrup—each one feels like a treat, without the crash.
“I didn’t lose pleasure,” she says. “I gained balance.”
