Yum!  Honey!  Nothing can be bad if it comes from bees, right?!  Well, that isn’t such a black and white answer because there’s nothing really wrong with table sugar either. Sugarcane is one of several species of tall perennial true grasses used for sugar production.  So despite your thought that the more natural version of sugar is preferred by your body, it’s important to really break it down so you’re not just making excuses for your consumption.  Sugar is sugar is sugar to your body when it’s broken down into its respective parts.  We’ll discuss the world of sugar in tonight’s post.  Everything including low-cal sweeteners, the scoop on trimming sugar for optimal health, the improved sugar facts label, and the facts on fructose.

Both honey and table sugar are a combination of fructose and glucose.  The advantage of honey is its fructose and glucose molecules are not connected and thus don’t have be broken down in the bowel by enzymes to digest.  They may differ in their structure and digestion, but they are similar in the way your body absorbs and uses them for energy.  Honey offers minute amounts of vitamins and minerals that sugar does not have, but these amounts are too small to constitute an appreciable nutritional difference.  Thus, when you’re detoxing from sugar or trying to curb an addiction – none is better than the other.  But, please note that if you are obtaining any sweetness, like honey, straight from the source than of course it’s better for you than it’s processed counterpart — but over consumption of any sweetener consistently is what derails our engines.

Artificial Sweeteners — When you see “no sugar added”, “sugar-free” or “diet” your alarm should immediately go off that something is in there substituting the sugar that would be there normally.   When you think ‘artificial sweetener’ automatically think ‘chemically processed sugar substitute.’  That alone should stop you right there.  Would you add a ‘chemically processed water substitute’ to your plants? Didn’t think so.  But, you should know these sweeteners are a hundred times sweeter than table sugar.  Why are they so popular?  Well, considering their synthetic nature they don’t contain carbohydrates – which means they don’t raise blood sugar (based on inflammatory consequences I could potentially argue this point — but I digress for now).  The fact they also don’t have any calories (duh! They’re synthetic and calories are nature’s units of energy) makes them highly popular.  They are EVERYWHERE!  As per their safety…well, if you’re listening to the FDA then of course you won’t find much argument.  But, cigarettes were once safe also.   There are many studies that raise concerns (aspartame a cause of Parkinson’s).  And alcohol sugars (mostly in “sugar-free”) are not digestible and cause serious gut problems. My advice: STAY AWAY!

Trimming Sugar for Health — The average American consumes 22 tsp of added sugar per day, whether it’s table sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, or honey (to name a few).   The sugars in wholesome foods are not harmful because they’re attached to fiber, vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals.  So, foods with natural sugar are an important part of our diet.  But, food manufacturers extract the sugars and syrups from wholesome foods and use them in other foods.  And, regardless of where that extracted sugar came from (hello, “juice concentrate”) it is added sugar and should be limited for optimal health. It is misconstrued that eating too much of natural sugar (honey) is fine, while eating too much of table sugar isn’t.  Wrong.  Any over consumption takes a toll on your health.  With too much added sugar you most likely replace other nutritious foods, as well as contribute to insulin resistance, fatty liver, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.  Repeat after me: FAT DOES NOT CAUSE HEART ATTACKS, BUT TOO MUCH SUGAR DOES!

Sugar Label — It’s not easy to determine how  much sugar is in your food.  As explained in previous posts: 1) Look at ingredient list first; 2) If sugar is found in ingredient list look to sugar grams; 3) Divide grams by 4 to determine tsp (4g =1 tsp).  Stay under 10 tsp/day.  Here’s the kicker, though…regardless of what type of sugar is in the ingredient list make sure you could get it yourself in the baking aisle.  This will help weed out a slew of food-like substances you shouldn’t consume anyway.  But, for quick judgment, the issue is that the current label does not provide clear distinction between natural sugars (ex: 6 grams in 1 cup plain yogurt) to added sugars (29g in 1 cup Vanilla yogurt).  Thus, it’s important to become good at math and use the method above as your go-to.  The proposed label change would separate the added sugars from natural sugars making identification easier. In addition, the new 2015 Dietary guidelines have finally recommended a daily value and thus the sugar labels will also contain a percentage next to the grams which tells you per serving how much of that food contributes to your daily limit (100%).  So, when you pick up that Cola or candy bar and next to the sugar grams it says 100% you know that by consuming that 1 thing (or 2 things) you have met and exceeded your daily limit, respectively.  When the new labels come out — get ready for a shock!  Learn more here: New Dietary Guidelines

Fructose Facts — It’s important to distinguish between the fructose in high-fructose corn syrup and natural fructose found in foods.  As mentioned above, fructose is a molecule in both table sugar and honey, in addition to whole fruits and veggies.   For you science geeks, it’s a single molecule that requires zero digestive breakdown and is absorbed immediately by your gut.  When that fructose is attached to nutrients, the process is much slower and thus does not spike your blood sugar.  Fructose is automatically metabolized by your liver (hence why too much sugar = fatty liver and = high cholesterol and = increased inflammation and = gout and = increased cancer and = a whole host of issues).  The liver is amazing…but let it do its job without keeping it inundated!  When a steady stream of fructose comes in normal amounts it’s naturally converted by the liver to replenish energy stores.  But, the excess is converted into fat — and bad fat, like the fat that surrounds your organs (visceral fat for you nerds). And, spoiler alert…the liver is an important organ that should not be fat.

So, what is high-fructose corn syrup then?  You take corn starch and break it down to all it’s chains of glucose molecules.  When these molecules are broken apart you get corn syrup.  Add some enzymes that convert those glucose molecules to fructose.  And, to boot — the corn starch used is most likely genetically modified.  What’s the big deal with that?  Well, considering those crops are all doused with Roundup (herbicide called Glysophate) then you tell me.