Unrefined Sugars

While sugar makes a frequent presence in our modern, Western lives — especially out at parties and just generally over at other people’s houses  –  we can do ourselves a favor by choosing to consume unrefined sugars, as opposed to refined sugar, in our diets.  So what’s the difference?  They’re both sugar, is one really better than the other?  By almost all estimations, the answer is yes:  refined sugar, which is represented mainly by good old-fashioned white table sugar (aka cane sugar), is not only not good for us, it’s worse for us than its unrefined sugar cousins. 

The ever-present high fructose corn syrup, which we keep hearing about, and which exists in so many of the processed foods found at our grocery stores, is also best to be avoided.  Many are even putting agave nectar – that dark, syrupy sweetener revered in most Whole Foods-shopping circles – in the refined sugar camp as well.  Hey: please don’t shoot the messenger!  Substituting in healthier unrefined sugar sources will help us transition to a diet in which we cut down on, or even eliminate, the worst culprits from our diet altogether.

What are unrefined sugars?

Occasionally, the term “unrefined sugar” refers to a particular type of sugar – a healthier, less processed, though still not ideal sweetener – but for these purposes, when I say “unrefined sugar” I’m referring to a whole category of sugars that are both far less processed than refined sugars, and also have significantly lower glycemic indexes (whether you’re diabetic, pre-diabetic, or just like keeping on an even keel “glycemically”).  Among the most well-known unrefined sugars are agave nectar, maple syrup, molasses (blackstrap and/or unsulphured), and raw honey.

Now, it should be said that as organic and healthy-sounding as these items may be, they should not be consumed as if they were water with a squeeze of lemon; they are quite caloric, and they have varying levels of the sugar molecules fructose, sucrose and glucose.  Glucose is the one most associated with diabetes, but fructose (which is found in fruit, but only makes up a small percentage of each, depending on the type) and sucrose are also forms of sugar that have health consequences of their own.  For our purposes here, I want to briefly cover each of the main unrefined sugar items I mentioned. 

 

Agave Nectar:  also known as agave syrup, this extremely popular sweetener has a thicker consistency than maple syrup, but has a similar sweetness level.  Many experts have recently written that agave is in fact NOT an unrefined sugar, but rather every bit a refined one, resulting from a level of processing quite similar to that of high fructose corn syrup.  Now that’s not good news for all those agave nectar addicts out there.  Anecdotally, I can tell you that my significant other has cut down drastically on her sugar intake over the years, mainly limiting herself to twice-yearly sugar binges, and using agave as a sweetener in her tea and in cereal the rest of the time, and she’s doing exceptionally well with her weight management.  So- is agave nectar a sweetener panacea?  Of course not.  Is it better than table sugar?  Personal experience suggests that indeed it is, even if it doesn’t qualify as unrefined sugar.

 

Maple Syrup:  we all know and most of us love this old school-standby of a sweetener that we pour over pancakes and waffles, and perhaps drizzle onto oatmeal.  It can also be used in healthy dessert recipes- search online for good ones, or experiment with varying amounts on your own.  The important thing to be aware of (and apologies if this is far too obvious to many of you) is that there’s a big difference between what’s often  referred to as ‘pure maple syrup’ and just ‘pancake syrup,’ or the like, which has very little pure syrup and lots of high fructose corn syrup.  Stick to the pure stuff; it is expensive, but used in moderation (try not to drown your pancakes- they don’t need that much syrup), it will last a solid stretch of time (unless there are several of you, in which case you’ll need a bigger bottle…or two).

 

 

Blackstrap, Unsulphured Molasses:  the super-thick, carmelized syrup is made from processing the sugar cane (or beet) plant.  Intuitively you wouldn’t think of the resulting product to be anything but a highly-refined cane juice with resulting crystalizations, but with blackstrap molasses, somehow much of the sucrose gets removed, and certain minerals – particularly iron and calcium – are retained.  Sounds reasonable to me, though some write that molasses comes from sugar, and so it’s still just a sugar.  I myself prefer it as an alternative sweetener to table sugar, if given the choice, and some products indeed use molasses instead of sugar as a sweetener. 

Barabara’s Bakery, one of the better-established purveyors of healthier food choices, uses unsulphured molasses in its best cereals: Barbara’s Shredded Spoonfulls and Barbara’s Shredded Oats.

 

 

Raw honey:  By its very definition unprocessed, raw honey ranks high for all-natural characteristics, and is a solid poster child for unrefined sugar.  This is a category of sweetener in which there’s a wide span of distance between the raw version and its pasteurized, refined counterpart:  for one, the glycemic index of raw honey is quite low, among the ‘healthy’ range, whereas processed honey — which you’ll get at restaurants, cafes and find dominating the honey sections of grocery stores — has an index that is high, comparable with table sugar.  Many sources tout honeys’ health benefits, from aiding digestion to improving one’s allergies, particularly by consuming pollen-heavy, locally-made honey.  Some of these claims may hold up under scrutiny, but as with most superfoods, it will depend on the individual.  In any case, ‘locally-grown,’ ‘organic,’ and ‘unprocessed’ are all good qualities in my book.   Raw honey comes in both the clear, golden-hued form, as well as creamed, which is the whitish version that has the consistency of more of a paste, not flowing like what we’re used to.  (here’s a good example  of an organic and unpasteurized raw honey)…

To know that you’re getting raw, check labels carefully for “raw” and/or “un-pasteurized”…health food stores are more reliable sources, and offer greater varieties of raw honeys than supermarkets; farmers’ markets can occasionally be an option as well.  You can always double-check with the seller about the source of the honey, so you know it’s as raw as can be.  All that said, honey is a dense sweetener – virtually the opposite of Stevia – so go easy on the portions.  One disadvantage to honey is that it’s off-limits to vegans; after all, honey is a product of bees, and food that is created or sourced from any animal is not a vegan food.

 

Stevia: This is one of the most revered of sweeteners among the ultra-healthy, god-forbid-I-consume-an-ounce-of-refined-sugar set: it’s natural,
coming from a plant, gets a zero on the glycemic index, and it’s so naturally sweet, you only need minute portions of it to sweeten your coffee, tea, or desserts. It’s found most frequently in a soft, white powdery form, but it also exists as a green powder, and even in leaf form that you can use, tres au naturel, as a thoroughly pure sweetener. Because Stevia is, per serving, hundreds of times sweeter than sugar- its even more intense than artificial sweeteners like aspartame– use very sparingly; just a tiny sprinkle for starters. Remember: you can always add more. I like this version of Stevia 100% natural sweetener.

 

I would experiment with each of these sweeteners and see what hits your sweet spot (sorry- who could resist?).  You may want to do as I do, and use different sweeteners for different foods and/or occasions, depending on where you are.  If you’re a Starbucks regular, hopefully you can add your own sweetener at your office or other destination instead of choosing from their large but still inadequate selection of sweeteners.  Just be conscious about your sweetener consumption, opt for the unrefined sugar variety, and you’ll be setting a solid base level for healthier eating…

 

 

Luo han, aka Lo han (Coming Soon)

 

Palm sugar (coming soon)