OK, we all know sugar is bad for us. It’s the alleged culprit of almost every health problem on earth, from obesity and diabetes to autoimmune problems and heart disease.
But what if you want a little sweet in your tea, a bite of chocolate on your break or, God forbid, a piece of birthday cake? What’s a health-conscious eater to do – live in the wilderness of a world without desserts?
A life devoid of treats is too dreary to contemplate, regardless of the health consequences. Can’t we indulge in a bit of sweetness and live to tell the tale?
Some local nutritionists say “no,” some say “a little” and some say “live and let live” if you’re not overweight and don’t have health issues. I say there has to be a better way than counting every teaspoon of sugar or every cookie you eat, fearful you’ll be struck with cancer the next moment.
So I asked Durango naturopaths and dieticians: What do we do when we crave a taste of that devil, sugar? Can anything substitute for sugar’s divine sweetness without ultimately killing us? We need to know.
The good news is yes, some natural substances can stand in for refined sugar without endangering our health too much. The bad news is that many of them have noticeable side effects. The worst news is that most of them taste atrocious.
Our local experts eliminate one group of nutritionally reprehensible substitutes right off the bat – those with artificial ingredients. So disabuse yourself of any notion that you’re improving your health by using Sweet’n Low, Splenda or Equal – those pink, yellow and blue packets found on grocery store shelves and restaurant table tops.
“I am thumbs down, no way, on artificial sugars,” said Stephanie Gall, lead dietitian for Mercy Regional Medical Center. “They’re chemicals.”
They have no sugar, no calories and no nutrients, but they cause your body to react just as if you were eating a sugar-laden doughnut. The brain receives the artificial sugar as though it were real, causing a sugar rush and then an energy dump.
And on the taste-test level, they’re dreadful. Just touch your tongue to the teeniest bit of any of those powders, and you’ll need little convincing to do away with them.
Stevia, another powdered substitute made from a South American plant, gets better reviews. It’s natural, has no calories and because it can be up to 300 times sweeter than sugar, you need less. Local nutritionists and national health-care websites recommend it, especially for those trying to lose weight.
But while some call sugar the poison in the American diet, stevia tastes like it. Bitter doesn’t begin to describe it. No wonder even those who recommend it advise against cooking with it.
So what about agave nectar, that New Age health food on the shelf at every natural food store? It’s natural, derived from a cactus, tasty and low on the glycemic scale.
But there’s a ‘but,’ and a big one.
“It’s made through a highly chemical process using genetically modified enzymes, caustic acids, clarifiers and filtration chemicals used to convert agave starches into highly refined fructose insulin,” reads a hand-out on glycemic indexes of food (i.e., the effect of a food on your blood sugar levels) by local dietitian Jess Kelley and naturopath Kristen Lum. “It’s higher in fructose than high-fructose corn syrup.”
Health coach Tiffany Godwin of Natural Grocers agrees.
“It contains fructose in excess that’s not good for the body,” she said. “No one should be under the guise that agave nectar is good for you.”
OK, what about brown rice syrup, a 1980s version of agave, touted for its low glycemic rating, natural origin and healthy minerals? While it gets the go-ahead from nutritionists, it’s not nearly as sweet as sugar, requiring more to achieve the same taste. It can also cause blood sugar to spike.
Coconut sugar, made from the sap of coconut palms, is another favorite with local dietitians. They tout it for its rich nutritional content (rare in any sweetener), lack of processing and low glycemic impact. But here again, its pebbly texture and funky molasses-like taste makes it nothing you want to put in your mouth, much less a brownie.
So-o-o, is there anything a person can use in place of the lily white, super refined, death-inducing table sugar we all know and crave?
There is. Sugar lovers, meet raw honey.
It’s unprocessed, imparts natural immunities, contains minerals, vitamins and phytonutrients and clocks in at a ridiculously low glycemic level. Best of all, it tastes good. It can be dribbled into tea and over toast, used to glaze a pork roast or burnish holiday nuts. Maple syrup possesses many of the same qualities, although at a higher glycemic level, and also receives praise for its healthfulness.
“Sugar drains nutrients from the body. At least raw honey and maple syrup bring something back, like support for your immune system,” said Godwin.
You can’t, however, bake with either as you would sugar. Because they’re liquid, they change the texture and can have an overwhelming flavor. Maple syrup is fabulous in fruit crisps and breakfast muffins, honey is a beloved ingredient in apple cake, but you can’t go much further than that.
To find that true sugar flavor in your favorite desserts, only sugar will do. But don’t end your life just yet. Organic sugar, which is grown without chemicals and is much less processed than regular sugar, bakes up perfectly and comes in at half the glycemic level of corn syrup and a third of table sugar. It’s buff colored and tastes slightly of brown sugar on the tongue, but can’t be detected in a cookie, cake or custard.
“When stuff is brown, that’s the good stuff,” said local naturopath Nicola St. Mary. “It has nutrition.”
We’re saved!
Repeat those words – it has nutrition – every time you sample a delicious, well-deserved treat made with organic sugar. I do.
phasterok@durangoherald.com
A glycemic index list for popular sweeteners
The glycemic index measures the increase in blood sugar level after eating a certain food. Foods with higher glycemic index numbers raise blood sugar level more quickly, so experts recommend limiting your consumption or avoiding them completely.
Lo hahn: 0
Stevia: 0
Xylitol: 7
Fructose: 17
Brown rice syrup: 25
Raw honey: 30
Coconut palm sugar: 35
Apple juice: 40
Barley malt syrup: 42
Amasake: 43
Sugar cane juice: 43
Organic sugar: 47
Maple syrup: 54
Evaporated cane juice: 55
Black strap molasses: 55
Turbinado: 65
Raw sugar: 65
Cola (and most sodas): 70
Corn syrup: 75
Refined, pasteurized honey: 75
Refined table sugar: 80
High-fructose corn syrup: 87
Glucose (dextrose): 100
Maltodextrin: 150
