What Makes White Sugar White and Why It's Bad for Your Health

Images from Reader's Digest

Accordingly, sugar is really colorless in its pure, natural form. No need to whiten or bleach it. Some sugar makers get rid of molasses from sugar beet or sugar cane to take away the brown color, but this is supposedly done without chemicals. They say it's washed only with water and by centrifuging. This is further helped with carbon filters.

But I would rather believe Lisa Byrne in her book "Break the Sugar Habit." She says natural raw sugar is supposed to be packed with nutrients, complete with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fibers. But the problem comes when they refine it white. The nutrients are all stripped off (or washed off) and the process leaves only the sucrose.

The Nature of Sugar

So, sugar becomes a non-food. It just sweetens, period. If you tamper with natural food like that---and eat it---something bad is bound to happen. That's the law of nature. Here's what Byrne actually said about refined sugar according to a KitchenStewardship article:

Lisa Byrne explains it in her workbook Break the Sugar Habit: “Refined, white sugar acts more like a drug than a food in our system…but it started as a whole plant. The sugar cane and beet plant in nature come complete with vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phytochemicals like any other plant. And they have carbohydrates like any other plant in the form of [sucrose]. 

When sugar is refined they strip the sugar cane plant or beet plant of all its natural components, except the [sucrose]. Then [sucrose]is concentrated into what we know as table sugar.This means we take [sucrose] out of its natural balance found in plants…and that is an important part of understanding why it impacts our body so differently.

When [sucrose]is part of the whole food it acts like a food in your body, entering our system calmly, breaking down slowly and providing a range of nutrients in addition to energy.

When [sucrose]is isolated, sugar acts like a drug in your body. Too much refined sugar creates a cycle of intense highs and lows, keeping our blood sugar, hormones and neurotransmitters out of balance.

Can Anything be Deliciously Sweet without Sugar?

Definitely. In fact, I enjoy drinking a sweet chocolate drink, coffee, and fruit juices with ZERO sugar. My dear wife has been selling them. And they are deliciously sweetened just right. What's the sweetener? Stevia.

Stevia is a plant leaf that tastes sweet. If you worry about your blood sugar, ask your doctor about stevia. He'd likely approve it because it is NOT sugar. Only the nature of refined sugar can be bad for diabetes.

Another sweetener of the healthy beverages I enjoy is coco sugar. Now, what's the difference between coco sugar and refined table sugar?

Well, first off, no less than the Philippine Department of Agriculture supports the healthiness of coco sugar, or coconut palm sugar. Unlike refined table sugar that has zero nutrients, coco sugar has (according to the agriculture department) zinc, potassium, calcium, antioxidants, and polyphenols, among others. It has fiber called inulin responsible for coco sugar's lower glycemic index (slow glucose absorption). Table sugar has about 60 glucose index (GI) while coco sugar has only 35.

Now, this is not to say that you can eat all the coco sugar you want. Anything should be taken in moderation and in balance. And always ask your doctor about coco sugar if you are diabetic. But to me, if I am to sweeten my drink with a little sweetener, I'd prefer coco sugar (with nutrients) to refined sugar (zero nutrients) anytime.