Is Brown Sugar Really Healthier?

Do you prefer brown sugar to white sugar in your coffee and tea?

Most of us know that white sugar or sucrose just adds empty calories to our diet. Now, how about brown or raw sugar? They appear to be better, “more natural”, and more nutritious than white sugar. But is it really true?

Sadly, no. Dark sugar is still sugar regardless of its colour. “Raw” and "brown" imply a more natural sugar and are always an excellent selling point on food labels and a favourite marketing gimmick for manufacturers. It's known that unheated, raw honey is better than processed commercial honey because of the presence of live enzymes. Similarly, people know that brown rice is less processed and healthier than white rice, and if sugar comes in a "raw" or “brown" form just like rice, they tend to rationalise that it is probably better. However, brown rice is different. It has some bran attached, so it’s higher in fibre and has significantly more minerals than white rice. But unfortunately, sugar that appears brown doesn’t have the same nice story.

How is sugar made? It begins as sap in tropical sugarcane plants, which are crushed to make sugar juice. The juice extract is heated, creating dark molasses that contain sugar crystals. This is then spun in a centrifuge to remove the molasses. The final product is white granulated sugar. To get its colour, brown sugar has some molasses added back to the white sugar. And raw sugar is just slightly less refined than white sugar, so it retains the last bits of molasses coating. But the amount of nutrients in that small amount of molasses is so insignificant that you have to eat nine teaspoon of sugar that is brown to get the amount of iron and calcium from one slice of whole-wheat bread. In other words, the trace or touch of molasses found in brown sugar or raw sugar is not good enough to make them any more valuable as a source of nutrients.

Knowing what white sugar, brown, and raw sugars are and their nutritional value will help you make wiser choices. So, the next time when you are tempted to grab as much raw sugar for your coffee or tea, ask yourself how much difference it would make if you had taken white sugar. Are they all sweet nothings?

Are Diet Sweeteners Better than Sugar?

Diet sweeteners are becoming increasingly popular in our foods. You find them being added to our tea, coffee, carbonated drinks, candies, etc. Can we really benefit from these artificial sweeteners? Read:

1) Aspartame (what you get in diet cokes and many candy or mint drops)

2) Splenda (a sugarless sweetener that is made from sugar!)

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