Types Of Sugar

Nowadays, we are constantly convinced of how harmful sugar is , and the variety of "healthy" alternatives is not one and two. We are often mistaken that by preferring brown sugar to white we make the best choice for ourselves. Whether this is the case, you can judge for yourself.

But in addition to simply called brown sugar, there are other varieties - muscovado, coconut and others.

Here we will look at the most popular types on our market and their features.

White sugar

We cannot pass without mentioning it. A well-known fact is the harm of refined foods, and white sugar is perhaps the leading one - it raises blood sugar in seconds, is pointed out as the main culprit for diabetes, metabolic problems, caries, increases cholesterol and a number of other problems. That is why many people are interested in alternatives to replace it. It is produced by completely removing the molasses from the sugar crystals in order to achieve the bright white color of the crystals. From a nutritional point of view, it has no benefits, as small amounts of nutrients from molasses are removed.

Brown sugar

Brown sugar is often produced by adding molasses to plain refined white sugar. In this way, the added amount of molasses is controlled to reduce production costs. Produced in this way, refined sugar is much larger than the unrefined equivalent. Whether it is "raw" brown sugar or colored white, you can easily check - put a spoonful of sugar in a glass, if the water turns colored and the crystals become transparent white, then you have refined sugar treated with molasses.

Of course, there is also a variant of unrefined natural "raw" sugar, which is divided into light and dark.

The light includes sugars like Demerara and Turbinado, and the dark is the popular Muscovado.

Turbinado sugar is partially refined, which retains part of the molasses, which gives it a fine caramel flavor. It is made of sugar cane. Turbinado sugar is sometimes called raw, which means that it is processed as little as possible, but this sugar is not exactly that because it needs to be cleaned of natural pollution. During the processing, it follows the same steps as refined sugar, but costs almost twice as much as it does.

From a nutritional point of view, you can't expect much from sugar. It has the same amount of calories as white sugar.

However, we must note that it also contains an amount of antioxidants, but for comparison we will say that in 5 tea cups of sugar there is as much as in 2/3 tea cup of blueberries. So definitely choose blueberries and control the amount of sugar.

Demerara is made from sugar cane. When the cane is ground, juice is obtained, which, when thickened, reaches the consistency of syrup, and when dried, demerara crystals are formed. This sugar is not refined and manages to retain some useful minerals and vitamins such as calcium, iron, magnesium, vitamins B3, B5 and B6. However, despite the content of vitamins, the negative effects on the body from excessive sugar consumption are many times more than you can expect.

Muscovado is one of the least refined sugars, bearing the label - healthy. It is made by extracting the juice from sugar cane, and the molasses separated during processing is preserved in the final product, so that the sugar remains moist and its taste is caramel with a slightly bitter aftertaste.

Muscovado has the same amount of calories as regular sugar, but also contains minerals such as magnesium, calcium, potassium and iron. It also contains a number of antioxidants that help free radical-damaged cells. This makes Muscovado sugar one of the best choices you can make for sugar, but you should not forget that you should not overdo it. Many scientists believe that replacing white sugar with healthy brown, such as Muscovado, can to improve the content of certain nutrients in our diet, as nowadays excessive sugar consumption is a fact, but at least a better alternative should be chosen.

Coconut sugar

Coconut sugar is a natural sugar that is obtained by processing the juice of the coconut palm. It is often confused with palm sugar, which is extracted from another type of wood.

Coconut sugar is produced in a natural process - incisions are made in the flowers of the palm tree, from which liquid is collected, which then undergoes heat treatment to evaporate. The end result is brown sugar - small crystals.

Coconut sugar retains a large amount of nutrients, such as zinc, iron, potassium and calcium, as well as polyphenols and antioxidants.

It also contains fiber (inulin), which slows down the absorption of glucose, and this is the main reason why coconut sugar has a lower glycemic index. Although coconut sugar is a good alternative to refined sugar, it still contains fructose - a compound that is associated with metabolic syndrome and weight gain - so if you have weight problems, you should limit the intake of coconut sugar.

As you can see, there is a huge variety of sugar, but all types pose a lot of health risks. Despite the good nutritional value of some of them, it is good to choose other sources of minerals and vitamins, and generally limit sugar intake. See what alternatives you can replace white sugar with , if you still can't do without jam.