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Different Types of Sugars and Sweeteners

What About Sugar and Artificial Sweeteners?

There are 4 classes of simple sugars which are regarded by most nutritionists as “harmful” to optimal health when prolonged consumption in amounts above 15% of the carbohydrate calories are ingested: Sucrose, fructose, honey, and malts. I’d like to discuss sugars and sweeteners. Personally, I don’t think that any of it is harmful in small doses, but I would prefer using natural sugar over an artificial sweetener.

White Sugar

There are many different types of granulated sugar. Actually some of these kinds of sugars are not even available in your local markets and are only used by large food industries and professional bakers etc. Each one is different in that the crystal sizes vary. The fact that the flavors can vary also depending on the size of the granule, is pretty remarkable.

Carbohydrates, including sugars, are your body’s main source of energy. There are two forms of sugar in the food we eat. There are naturally occurring sugars in fruits and dairy products and there are added sugars (white, brown or powdered sugar as well as corn syrup solids) in many processed foods

“Regular” or white sugar, extra fine or fine sugar

“Regular” or white sugar, as it is known to consumers, is the sugar found in a lot of home’s sugar bowls, and most commonly used in home food preparation. White sugar is the sugar called for in most cookbook recipes.

Fruit Sugar

Fruit sugar is slightly finer than “regular” sugar and is used in dry mixes such as gelatin and pudding desserts, and powdered drinks. Fruit sugar has a more uniform small crystal size than “regular” sugar. The uniformity of crystal size prevents separation or settling of larger crystals to the bottom of the box, an important quality in dry mixes.

Turbinado sugar

This sugar is raw sugar which has been partially processed, where only the surface molasses has been washed off. It has a blond color and mild brown sugar flavor, and is often used in tea and other beverages.

Brown sugar (light and dark)

Brown sugar retains some of the surface molasses syrup, which imparts a characteristic pleasurable flavor. Dark brown sugar has a deeper color and stronger molasses flavor than light brown sugar. Lighter types are generally used in baking and making butterscotch, condiments and glazes. The rich, full flavor of dark brown sugar makes it good for gingerbread, mincemeat, baked beans, and other full flavored foods.

Brown sugar tends to clump because it contains more moisture than white sugar.

Sorbitol and Mannitol

Sorbitol and mannitol are sugars derived from alcohol. They are readily converted to fructose and glucose. The problem with these sweeteners is that they are slowly absorbed from the intestines and may produce a laxative or gaseous effect. They are low in calories

Saccharin

Saccharin was thought to be one cause of bladder cancer in men. Because of a law called the Delaney Clause, any substance that is known to cause cancer in man or animals must be banned. At the time the FDA was considering banning saccharin, there wasn’t any other artificial sweetener on the market. Since that time, any food with saccharin in it, has carried a warning label that the use of saccharin may be hazardous to your health.

The Center for Disease Control in Atlanta studied person’s with bladder cancer. They did not find any higher incidence of bladder cancer among saccharin users as compared to non-saccharin users.

The numbers of foods in today’s market with saccharin are fewer because of the increased use of aspartame. They say that Aspartame does not leave a bitter aftertaste as saccharin does.

Sucralose

Sucralose is the common name for a high-intensity sweetener made from sugar.. Sucralose is 600 times sweeter than sugar. Sucralose has a sugar-like taste, good water solubility and excellent stability in a wide range of processed foods and beverages. When combined with some other intense sweeteners, it has a synergistic sweetening effect. Like sugar, sucralose will hydrolyse in solution, but unlike sugar it hydrolyses only over an extended period of time under extreme conditions of acidity and temperature. Sucralose does not promote tooth decay.

Nutrasweet

NutraSweet is the brand name of aspartame. Aspartame contains two amino acids, aspartic acid and phenylalanine. Together they make foods taste sweeter. Persons with PKU (phenylketonuria) cannot use aspartame because it would raise their blood levels of phenylalanine. PKU is an inherited disease and is tested for at birth.

There are many foods on the market today that contain aspartame. One quart of diet cola contains about 100 milligrams of aspartame.

There is a lot of controversy with artificial sweetners causing health issues. Please read more about the studies of these products to determine for yourself if it is a product that you would like to use. Personally, sugar is the only sweetener I use.

How does sugar effect your body?

Sugar adds calories which if you eat more than you need, you will gain weight. Weight gain increases your risk of getting heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure or even some types of cancer. However, if you are underweight, sugar can add extra calories so that you can gain weight . If your body doesn’t make enough insulin like a diabetic, then the sugar you eat increases the sugar in your blood to unhealthy levels.

The body breaks down sugar into the sugar you find in your blood (glucose). Unfortunately, there are no vitamins or minerals in sugar and so it is called an “empty” calorie. That is why it is the first food to be eliminated from a weight loss diet. By the way, it doesn’t matter if the sugar is white or brown. The amount of molasses in brown sugar is so low it doesn’t contribute enough of any vitamin or mineral to count on a food label.

Sugar and Your Child

Children do not need diet beverages (sugar free) or other diet foods, unless the child is a diabetic. At the present, they say that there is no concern with NutraSweet usage by children. I would still be a bit skeptical with all of the new concerns. I am concerned though about children who involuntarily share their parent’s low calorie diet and parent’s preoccupation with weight control

Children at least through age 10 need sufficient calories and protein for normal growth and development. This can be grossly measured by height and weight. There are published tables for comparison. If a child’s height is in the 100th percentile, a weight in the 100th percentile (range of 75% to 125% is appropriate) is OK. If a child’s height or weight is less than the 25th percentile, he / she should be seen by a doctor to determine why. Smallness may be genetic, but it can also be induced by an insufficient diet.

Other vitamins and minerals are important and food is the best source of these nutrients. When calories are restricted, so are these vitamins and minerals necessary for growth and development.

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