The truth is, it’s all just sugar. The same is true for agave syrup, corn syrup, and every other nutritive sweetener (ie. a sweetener with calories) you can find. They all have approximately 20 calories in a teaspoon and almost no additional nutrients. Brown sugar is simply white sugar with added molasses.
These added sweeteners go by a whole lot of names: glucose, fructose, sucrose, dextrose, maltose…anything that ends with – ose means “sugar”. This also includes lactose , the naturally occurring sugar that gives milk and dairy products their sweetness. (Lactose on its own does not contribute any meaningful amount of nutrients to one’s diet, but as a part of a dairy product, the nutritional benefits of calcium, protein, phosphorus, magnesium, and more are significant.)
Given the almost total absence of anything nutritious in added sugars, it is important that we try to limit the amount of this stuff added to our diets each day. There are no specific guidelines for how much we should have, but currently every health professional out there will agree that North Americans are consuming far too much. Added sugars are found in seemingly everything, from the obvious baked goods, candies and treats, to the less obvious tomato sauces, salad dressings, ketchup, breads, cereals, canned corn, applesauce, yogurts and so much more. Low-fat products, as I discussed in a previous post , are full of them, too. The presence of so many added sugars in our diets crowds out the more nutrient-rich foods that we need to be eating for optimal health. We need to cut back.
Cutting back is hard…the sweet stuff tastes so good! The first thing we can do is substitute naturally sweet foods for the added sugars in our diet. Eat more fruit! People call it nature’s candy for a reason. Chock full of vitamins, minerals, and fibre, you get your sweet fix and do your body a good turn at the same time. Throw some delectable berries into unsweetened oatmeal, or use unsweetened applesauce instead of syrup on your pancakes (I haven’t put syrup on my home-made pancakes in years).
Ever tried eating frozen green peas straight out of the freezer? It’s like eating candy! The kids and I love it. Gotta eat it quick, though…it’s just not the same when it thaws.
It all boils down to “sugar is sugar”, but the story doesn’t end there. We choose whether we have it served as empty calories, or with a side of the good stuff. And don’t forget, you can make this choice over and again…the more we make the better choices for our health, the easier it gets. Good luck!
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