Is brown sugar healthier than white sugar?
Finally you are able to go to your grandma’s house to hang out. You really wanted to go there to show off what you learnt at your baking class. You greet her as she is excited to learn how to make your “famous” chocolate, pecan, blueberry cookies. As you make the batter the smell of vanilla and the sweet chocolate chips fill the air as you melt the butter. “You forgot the sugar,” your grandma softly sang. You reach into the pantry and pull out brown sugar. Confused, you dig deeper to search for white sugar, since that is what your recipe calls for. You ask your grandma where it is and she says that brown sugar is healthier and good for you. You stand there silently for a second try to make sure there were no mistakes in your research ( you deeply researched to make sure the cookies are perfect). Then you take another second to wonder, Is brown sugar healthier than white sugar? Lets pop this balloon to find out!
What is sugar?
The sugar that we eat is a sweet carbohydrate coming from sugar cane or sugar beet which is grown in cooler places. You cut the beet or crush the cane to release the sweet juice. You then boil it down until crystals form. From boiling down there is a thick syrup called molasses. The type of sugar depends on how much molasses is in it. The sugar that we eat is sucrose, which is glucose and fructose together. Sugar did first start as a medicine before turning to a status symbol, since the rich could only afford it in medieval times.
Is brown sugar healthier than white sugar?
This myth is false. Brown sugar is no different from white sugar from calorie point of view. Brown sugar is just basically white sugar with some molasses in it. Though the molasses does contain traces of minerals such as calcium, potassium, iron, magnesium, it is very, very, very, little minerals in the sugar. The myth grew from the fraction of a grain truth. In reality, brown sugar and white sugar are equal in calories and your body does break it down the same way and the little minerals doesn’t make a scratch in the difference between the two sugars. Although, brown sugar is different, but not in health point of view. For starters, brown sugar is brown, because of the molasses as we talked about earlier. Brown sugar is different in taste, since the molasses add a bit more of a caramel flavor and a bit of bitterness. It adds moisture to the sugar, which makes your favorite cookies chewy.
Fun Facts
Fructose and sucrose carry the same energy, but fructose tastes sweeter, so it fits the lock better. Molasses is the reject. The dark syrup nobody wanted is the thing that makes brown sugar brown, and that is the thing people now pay extra for now. You can't tell beet sugar from cane sugar in a lab once it's refined. A root vegetable and a tropical grass producing molecules no test can separate.
Sources
WebMD – "What Is Brown Sugar?"
https://www.webmd.com/diet/what-to-know-brown-sugar-substitutes
EUFIC – "Is brown sugar healthier than white sugar?"
https://www.eufic.org/en/misinformation/article/is-brown-sugar-healthier-than-white-sugar
Healthline – "Brown Sugar vs. White Sugar: What's the Difference?"
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/brown-sugar-vs-white-sugar
