Sugar, Part 2: Are these in your Pantry?

Last week, we looked at some of the less-than-sweet truths about sugar. Today I’m going to help you figure out which ones should be in your pantry and why.

It’s important to note that all sugars can lead to health problems if over-consumed. There’s no way around it. But, the amount of processing a sugar goes through does have an effect on its health implications.

Sugars can be put into two basic categories – complex sugars and refined sugars. 

Refined sugars – also called simple sugars – are heavily processed, which removes minerals and other small nutritional benefits. Your body absorbs these sugars more quickly causing a greater spike in your blood sugar. Simple sugars include high fructose corn syrup, inverted (or invert) sugar syrup, white sugar, and brown sugar (which is really just white sugar with a little molasses added back in). 

Complex sugars are unprocessed or minimally processed, and slower to enter the bloodstream. These include honey, maple syrup, molasses, coconut sugar (from coconut palm blossoms), date sugar (from ground dried dates), and Turbinado sugar, which is sometimes called raw sugar.

Think of the difference between refined and complex sugars just like white flour vs. whole wheat. But, remember, it doesn’t mean you can eat complex sugars til the cows come home. It just means that they’re a healthier choice. Let’s talk about why with a couple of examples….

High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) – there’s only one reason food manufacturers use it. It’s cheap. It helps their bottom line while your waistline suffers. HFCS is made up of fructose and glucose. Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit. That should be healthy, right? Not exactly. In HFCS, the fructose content is much more concentrated than you’d find in a piece of fruit. That’s the problem.

Quick science lesson…. Fructose is metabolized in the liver. That works great when you eat a piece of fruit, because there’s a relatively small amount of fructose in a serving of fruit and plenty of fiber to slow its absorption. Your liver can handle that. What it can’t handle is a flood of concentrated fructose like HFCS. And what the liver can’t handle gets stored there as fat. 

Eating high fructose corn syrup taxes your liver and is linked to heart disease, metabolic disease, and obesity. It raises your bad cholesterol and can cause belly fat to build up, too.

So, what about regular corn syrup? Nope. It’s also highly processed and almost certainly genetically modified, so steer clear of that one, too.

OK, so how about agave? That’s been the darling of the sweetener world for a while, so it must be a healthy option. Umm…sorry.

Agave’s claim to fame is that it’s low on the glycemic index and doesn’t cause a spike in blood sugar. Technically, that's true. Sounds pretty great, right? Well, as they say, “there’s no free lunch,” and agave is the perfect example of that. Remember the fructose in HFCS that overloads the liver and causes a build up of fat? Agave has EVEN MORE fructose. It’s between 75% and 90% fructose, making white table sugar look healthy by comparison. 

Amazing what a little marketing can do, huh?

My go-to sweeteners for both home baking and any packaged foods I buy are maple syrup, raw honey, molasses, coconut sugar, or date sugar. Read food labels to see what sweeteners are used or try one of these options in your own baked creations. 

And, while we're on the topic, you can reduce the sugar in a recipe by ¼ to ⅓ without affecting the outcome. Next time you’re making your favorite muffins, give it a try. You might be in for a sweet surprise.

Upgrading and reducing the sugar in your diet is definitely something worth doing, but it's not a cure-all. If you feel like you're in a constant battle with sugar or carb cravings, or if you struggle with low energy, poor sleep, mood fluctuations, or digestive issues, REPLY TO ME to request your free session and let's chat. I help my clients get to the root of these problems. Then I develop a personalized plan to get them feeling their best. No desperate measures. No crazy detoxes. No ridiculous restrictions that are impossible to sustain. I can do the same for you. It's simpler than you think. And so worth it when you're done!