In The News: Sneaky Sugar

Earlier this week I spoke with Terri Coles of Reuters.com about the prevalence of sugar in the standard U.S. diet.

In essence, my standpoint is as follows: sugar in and of itself in limited quantities is not a problem.

What raises the red flag are the massive amounts being consumed -- i.e.: a single muffin at Starbucks surpasses the daily maximum recommendation -- partially because they contribute nothing but excess empty calories that do not satiate.

It's a simple concept -- the less satiated you are after a meal, the sooner you will feel hungry and want to consume more calories.

Unfortunately, keeping added sugar intake to recommended levels is difficult since food manufacturers like to put it in everything (especially in its ultra cheap form -- high fructose corn syrup).

When consumed in moderate amounts, I don't have a problem with sugar (remember, "sugar" means regular white sugar, brown sugar, honey, evaporated cane juice crystals, or any other fancy synonym).

It is an ingredient that has been consumed for tens of thousands of years.

I definitely consider it safer than Splenda, aspartame, or any other Franken-sweetener concocted in a laboratory.

In fact, I never understood sugar phobia.

The fact that some people refuse to eat fruit (due to the naturally occurring sugars), but have no problem eating a bowl of heavy cream sprinkled with artificial sweetener absolutely blows my mind.

Before I started studying nutrition, I experimented with Atkins.

Their bars -- which use sugar alcohols as sweeteners -- not only taste awful, I also remember the not-so-pleasant gastric side effects.

These days, I'll gladly take three Hershey's kisses over any low carb faux sweet treat.

You "Ask", I Answer: Evaporated Cane Juice

Evaporated cane juice has more minerals [than sugar].

-- Anonymous
Via the blog

Wow, the evaporated cane juice lovers have been out in full force lately.

They appear to be offended by the fact that I referred to it as sugar under a fancier name.

I clarified that it undergoes less processing than sugar.

However, for all intents and purposes, from a caloric and metabolic standpoint, it is standard table sugar.

So what about the claim that evaporated cane juice has more minerals?

Let me start off by saying that one of the many reasons why high intakes of sugar are discouraged is that, in order to convert it to glucose, our bodies need B vitamins.

Since sugar is entire lacking them, our body must take B vitamins away from our cells in order to metabolize it.

Advocates of evaporated cane juice are quick to point out that their sweetener one-ups sugar since it contains vitamin B2.

Fair enough, but what they are forgetting to mention is that in order to get even a small fraction of nutrients from it, you need the equivalent of seven teaspoons -- roughly 100 calories!

Seven teaspoons provide 9% of the B2 daily requirement, 3% of our daily calcium needs, 3% of the iron recommended daily vale, and 4.5% of our manganese needs.

What's always funny to me is that all the B vitamins (apart from B12, which vegans need to specifically seek out) are very easy to get, as they are present in most foods.

Fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, dairy, meats, and fortified soy products are good sources.

Remember, too, that, by law, enriched grains must contain some of the B vitamins (including riboflavin, also known as B2). So, even something as nutritionally insignificant as Wonder Bread is a source!

Therefore, the presence of vitamin B2 does not make evaporated cane juice all that special.

A cookie, brownie, or any candy made with evaporated cane juice is not nutritious; it should be considered discretionary calories.

You could munch on a handful of cereal, eat a quarter of a banana, or have a few almonds to get that much riboflavin.

This concept that evaporated cane juice is far superior to sugar because it contains trace amounts of certain vitamins and minerals (unless consumed in large quantities) seems faulty to me.

It's equivalent to someone defending their choice to eat nothing but vegetables because lettuce contains protein.

Yes, at a mere 0.6 grams per cup. You would need six cups to get a pretty irrelevant 3.6 grams.

I have no problem with people buying or using evaporated cane juice for sweetening purposes. Basing that purchase on nutrition, however, is not accurate or informed.

You "Ask", I Answer: Evaporated Cane Juice

[Evaporated cane juice] has the same energy content [as sugar] but its glycemic index is lower, meaning it won't spike your blood sugar as much. It is healthier.

-- Paul (last name unknown)
Via the blog

The glycemic index is the Paris Hilton of nutrition -- it gets way more press and attention than it really deserves.

Firstly, the difference between sugar and evaporated cane juice's glycemic index number isn't too drastically different.

Besides, relying on the glycemic index to determine what foods are healthy (the lower the number, "the better") is not entirely accurate.

If you go by that criteria, potato chips (with a GI number of 51) are a better food than watermelon (72), unsweetened oatmeal (58), lentils (52), or kidney beans (52).

The glycemic index is an important tool for people living with diabetes, whose blood sugar needs to be meticulously controlled.

However, it should not be used to determine healthy vs. unhealthy foods.

You Ask, I Answer: Evaporated Cane Juice

It seems like a lot of organic products use evaporated cane juice instead of sugar. Why is this?

Since it's evaporated, does that mean it has less calories than [standard table] sugar?

-- Chris Steward
Portland, OR

There are two reasons I attribute to the use of evaporated cane juice in food products -- marketing and veganism.

Despite the fact that all forms of sugar are calorically equal (one teaspoon, or four grams' worth, equal 16 calories), many people erroneously think less-processed varieties -- such as evaporated cane juice -- are healthier, lower in sugar, or lower in calories.

It's not surprising, then, to see such ingredients in products sold at higher-end stores like Whole Foods or smaller boutique supermarkets.

Food companies, regardless of their size, ultimately want -- and need -- to make profit.

Someone who normally would not buy conventional cookies (i.e.: Chips Ahoy) might be tempted to pick up a box of chocolate chip ones made with evaporated cane juice, stoneground wheat flour, and hemp seeds.

They are essentially getting the same sugar and white flour. The alternative names and addition of a funky seed is nothing more than clever marketing.

Many vegans specifically seek out less-processed forms of sugar since, unlike with standard table sugar, the production process skips the step of filtration (via animal bone char).