Sugar explained
Plus, the 5 best ones to choose
An article about sugar was requested in our Winter Solstice Check-In, so here it is, what I’ve researched, experienced, and learned over the last couple of decades. I am NOT doctor or certified nutritionists, do not take this as medical advice. If you have any medical concerns please seek guidance from your doctor(s).
Food can be so confusing. You just want to enjoy your food without thinking so much about your health and stay healthy. Am I right?
Alas.
We do need to make some conscious choices in our lives. Our choices - in every area of life - either add to or detract from our health and sense of wellness. The great news is, we get to choose. In order to choose, we need to understand what we’re choosing.
Let’s talk about sugar.
It’s difficult to talk about it without thinking about its impact on our health. So first, the elephant in the room:
We have a diabetes epidemic in this country. According to the May 2024 CDC report:
11.6% of the U.S. population have diabetes (38.4 million people, 29.7 million adults). This is about 1 in 10.
38% of adults have pre-diabetes (97.6 million people). This is more than 1 in 3 adults!
Diabetes happens when you have too much sugar in your blood (at fasting). Either you aren’t producing enough insulin to convert it into energy, or you are, and your body isn’t responding to it.
What is insulin resistance and how do you know you have it?
Insulin resistance is when your cells don’t respond well to insulin’s signals to take glucose from your blood and convert it to energy. Your pancreas releases insulin in response to carb consumption, and it will try to release more insulin to manage your glucose levels when they are too high. Some of the symptoms of insulin resistance is:
Tired after you eat
Belly fat
Slow metabolism
Fatigue
Blurred vision
Brain fog
Inflammation
Constant need to snack; not satisfied after eating
It can lead to metabolic syndrome, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and/or cardiovasular disease.
Here are some terms that are helpful to know:
Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels. Your pancreas makes insulin.
Glucose uptake is the process of moving glucose from the bloodstream into the cells. This helps to maintain blood glucose levels.
Glucose vs sugar: while they are sometimes used interchangeably, there is a difference between the two. Glucose is the primary sugar that is used in the body for energy. Sugar is an umbrella term that covers all sugars including glucose, sucrose, fructose, etc.
Glycemic Index (GI): is the measure of how quickly a carbohydrate spikes the blood sugar levels after consumption compared to glucose, which is assigned a value of 100. Foods with values below 55 (low GI) are digested slowly causing a slow rise in blood sugar levels. Foods above 70 (high GI) are digested quickly causing a quick rise. Moderate GI is between 56 and 69. High levels of sugar in the blood contributes to disease.
The 3 basic forms of sugar: Glucose, Sucrose, and Fructose
While calorically, gram for gram, they are the same, they are absorbed differently by the body, they affect you differently, and it absolutely matters whether they are derived naturally from, or added to, the foods you eat.
Glucose is a simple sugar (a monosaccharide) readily available to the body. It moves through the bloodstream and into the cells to be used for energy production (in the form of ATP). Glucose cannot be broken down; it’s the building block for carbohydrates. Of the three sugars, glucose raises blood sugar most quickly, stimulating the release of insulin, which allows glucose to enter the cells for energy production. It’s either used immediately for energy or stored as glucogen until it’s ready to be broken back down into glucose and released back into your blood for energy.
Sucrose is a disaccharide made up of 1 glucose and 1 fructose. It’s the scientific name for table sugar, most commonly extracted from sugar cane or sugar beets. In digestion, sucrose gets broken down into glucose and fructose and then released into the bloodstream. The presence of glucose increases fructose absorbed in the liver.
Fructose is a monosaccharide. It’s another word for fruit sugar. It’s the sweetest of the three. It needs the liver to convert it to glucose to use it for energy. When it’s not needed for energy, it is stored as fat. Too much fructose in the body can lead to metabolic syndrome or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. It starts to create free radicals, which is one of the many reasons why high fructose corn syrup is so bad. Naturally occurring fructose from fruit does not affect the body in the same way as the artificially made fructose, and in fact the benefits of fruit - fiber, vitamins, antioxidants - heavily outweigh the negatives.
The different kinds of sweeteners
White Sugar, Raw Sugar, Brown Sugar, and Molasses
Sugar comes from the sugar cane or sugar beet.
To make sugar crystals, the sugar cane or beet is crushed and extracted into juice. They boil the juice until crystals form. The moisture, the compounds that give it its color, and the minerals are removed, or separated, from the crystals through a spinning process. These crystals are what we know as white sugar. What’s left behind is a thick, brown, syrupy liquid, or (light) molasses. Repeating the boiling process a second time is how we get dark molasses. This means that light molasses is less processed than dark, and because dark is a product of a second boiling process to extract more sugar, it is less sweet. Unlike the refined sugar, molasses contains the vitamins and minerals from the sugar cane or beet, so is a healthier sweetener.
When the final refining process is skipped, we get raw sugar.
When some of the molasses is added back, we have brown sugar.
Because it’s a whole, unprocessed food, chewing from a stalk of a sugar cane (not juicing) can be healthy. It contains antioxidants and vitamins and minerals including calcium, potassium, magnesium, and vitamins B1 and B2. Sugar crystals, due to its process, don’t.
Syrups
Agave and corn syrups are complex carbs that need to be broken down and processed into sugars first before turning them into concentrated syrups. They are highly processed. Between the two, agave is the better choice. Corn syrup often undergoes further processing to make it sweeter: high fructose. This would be the worst choice.
Honey: fructose is the main sugar found in honey, which is why it’s so sweet. Most of the honey we get from the store is heated and filtered and thus processed. Raw and unfiltered honey is considered a superfood with many benefits, including being anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, beneficial to the brain, wound healing, good for stomach and coughs, and for weight management. The downside of honey is that it should not be cooked, otherwise it turns into a toxin.
Date and maple syrups: are good options. They are both minimally processed. Date syrup is considered a natural food and maple syrup a whole food and contains most of the nutrients from its natural state.
Fruit Sugars
These are made by drying and grinding the fruit. They share the same nutrients as their fruit minus the water. However, since they are easier for the body to digest and absorb, they will affect blood sugar levels more quickly than the fruit from which they come. Except for monk fruit, which doesn’t seem to have any effect.
Coconut Sugar
Date Sugar
Monk Fruit Sugar
Stevia: is a plant sugar
Stevia is extracted from the leaves of the stevia plant. It has zero calories, has a glycemic index of zero, and is much sweeter than table sugar.
Sugar Alcohols
Examples include: Xylitol, Maltitol, Erythritol, Galactitol, Iditol, Lactitol, Isomalt, and Hydrogenated starch hydrolysates
While some are found naturally in fruits and veggies, most are made industrially. They are processed from other sugars, which means they have a similar chemical structure to sugar, but have less calories, don't promote tooth decay or raise blood sugar; they do not stimulate the pancreas to raise insulin.
They are often found in “sugar free” products, processed foods, and products like toothpaste, gum, and mouthwash.
Sounds perfect, doesn’t it? But the verdict is out on its long term health effects. First, overconsumption is linked to diarrhea. And it’s now also being linked to increased risk of cardiovascular disease. We don’t know. What we do know is that sugar alcohols are highly processed, concentrated, and refined sweeteners. For some of us, that’s all we need to know to make a decision. For others, it may be good enough to make it our one vice. The compromise might be moderation, if moderation is possible with sugars (it seems the more we consume, the more we crave).
This said, all sugar alcohols are not created equal. Of these, Erythritol is the best option with the least likelihood to cause digestive issues. And it has only 5% of the calories of sugar and 70% as sweet.
Artificial Sweeteners: the big NO
Examples include saccharin and aspartame. These are hundreds of times sweeter than table sugar, and they contain zero calories vs 2.6 calories per gram in sugar alcohols.
But with these, I feel like there isn’t much to talk about here. We know it’s bad for us. There is plenty of evidence.
They tell our brain we are getting something sweet but deliver no energy, causing us to want even more sweets to get energy. Some artificial sweeteners are made of small amounts of carcinogens. They are all found to disturb metabolic function, and contrary to why we use it, increased weight gain. To add further damage, long term consumption of it destroys our nervous system.
The most ideal choice
…would be to sweeten your food with foods you recognize.
When I want to add some sweet to my salad, I slice up a date or two into my salad. Or add raisins, cranberries, or a sliced up pear.
Below, I’ve listed the most popular sweeteners and its glycemic index. And I’ve bolded the best choices based on GI, nutrition, health benefits, and process level.
And of course, you’ll want to consider the flavor profiles of each sweetener to your preference because that matters too.
Glycemic index of sugars
Agave, 10-19 processed sweetener
Dates, 40-60 depending on type and ripeness natural, whole food
Date syrup & date sugar, 45-54
Brown sugar 64
*Corn syrup (light), 58-60
*Corn syrup (dark), 90
*Corn syrup (high fructose), 56-90 (depends on type)
Coconut Sugar 50-54
Maple syrup 54
**Monk Fruit syrup or sugar, 0
Molasses 55
Honey 35-78, average 55-60 raw, unfiltered honey has a lower GI
White sugar 65-68
Glucose: 100
Fructose: 25
Sucrose: 65
Also good to note:
White bread: 100
Fruits and veggies: 50 or lower
Eggs: zero
*The difference between corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup is that corn syrup is almost entirely glucose while high fructose is corn syrup converted into 45-55% fructose, so it’s much sweeter and much more processed.
**monk fruit sweetener is often mixed with erythritol, which, for a sugar alcohol, is your best option. Monk fruit in itself is 250x sweeter than table sugar so manufacturers will mix the two together to make a 1:1 monk fruit-erythritol to white sugar conversion. While it’s hard to find monk fruit sweetener without erythritol in grocery stores, you can easily get it online.
In case you’re wondering, stevia is 200-400x sweeter than table sugar. I don’t prefer the aftertaste of stevia, so this is a personal preference thing. Also, while there seems to be some indication that stevia causes some gastrointestinal side effects, none has been indicated for monk fruit.
Keep in mind that glycemic index isn’t the whole story of sugar. Here are some things to consider:
While agave has a lower GI than honey, it’s a processed sugar, whereas raw honey is a superfood with so many health benefits; Ayurveda considers honey a sattvic (pure) food that creates ojas (good health). So go for the one your body can digest and offer intelligence to your cells.
Your metabolic health affects glycemic response. Check in with your emotional well being and also make sure you are exercising regularly. These impact your metabolism.
Pairing sugar with proteins and healthy fats can help slow down the absorption of sugar. This is a nice hack. And also Ayurvedically (read: digestively) sound.
You might also consider where your need for sweet is coming from. Once I complained to my doctor that for all my life I never craved pastries and suddenly in my mid-life I want it. She said to me, “Maybe you need some sweetness in your life.” While her tone was in half jest, she meant it. And that shift in thinking made a positive difference in my ability to make better choices elsewhere.
What ayurveda says about sugar
There are five tastes in food: sweet, salty, astringent, pungent, bitter. All 5 tastes are good for us to include in each meal in order to feel satiated and avoid cravings after a meal. The problem is, we’ve tilted heavily towards sweet and salty, creating an imbalance in our overall health and sense of wellness.
Ayurveda says that sugars are a part of life, but this does not include the artificial and highly refined sweeteners which creates tamas, or disease.
Ayurveda is a proponent of fresh, whole, in-season foods, consumed in moderation and in good, calm spirits (don’t consume while angry, for instance). Because we are what we eat, and we ought to be fresh, in season, and whole. Not left over, off season, and artificial. 😉
May your life be filled with sweetness.
Love,
Savitree