Sugar! Why not???

[Meditate]

Hi
There are so many articles and lectures concerning the negative effect of sugar on our bodies, lately I heard a nutritionist saying that it’s like heroin.
But how does it effect the body negatively ?

Frankly I’ve reduced the use of sugar so much because I’m convinced that these studies are correct, and because I trust the speakers, I’m just wondering:
Didn’t sugar exist for so many ages on this planet? Isn’t it natural?

I stopped eating or drinking anything containing sugar for four months, to tell you the truth I couldn’t see any changes in my body !!

Any comments or answers?

[naivous]

for a start, the sugar cane grows naturally in tropical climates, so unless you live in the tropics it's not a food meant for you.
Also the cane itself is a different matter than the bleached crystals we consume in the west.
Our body is built to break down polysaccharides and dysaccharides (the natural sugars found in fruit and cereals) into glucose. The moment you ingest refined monosaccharides (sugar) you bypass a lot of its functions which will eventually atrophy if the body thinks they're not needed anymore.
because the body is a dynamic system the moment any of its natural functions stop we become ill.

You might like to read Sugar Blues by William Dufty, an excellent read, including a brief history of the sugar trade which is quite an eye-opener.

[Lak from BKK]

I stopped eating or drinking anything containing sugar for 1 year and 8 months. It is really good for me. I can control my weight and the balance of my body, my blood pressure and etc. I think there is a different condition in each health so it will take a different time to effect on each bodies. To stopped eating sugar is a first step for me to clean my body and then I can hear my body when its affect.

Thank you
Lak

[Ruby]

I stopped eating sugar about 4 months ago and I definetly feel much better. I know that I am a sugar addict. Once I start eating foods with sugar I cant stop until I've gorged on the food and then feel terrible mentally and physically.

Eliminating sugar makes me feel strong that I can resist the temptation.

Hi, I just found this forum tonite and haven't registered yet.

If you want to sweeten up your life a little try Stevia. It is sweet as sugar without being sugar, and is actually good for you instead of bad for you. You can get it in powder, clear extract, or dark extract. I prefer a dark, syrupy extract which is totally water-based, no alcohol or even glycerine. I use about 5 to 8 drops in my cup of coffee.

Let me go see what the brand name is off the bottle . . . . I order it online.

It is called "SweetLeaf" whole leaf stevia concentrate.

Stevia is also safe for diabetics, totally, but if you are diabetic watch out for the powder cut with maltodextrine, as I believe maltodextrine is something diabetics want to avoid, but I am no expert in that department.

[losing_it]

I have been told to use brown rice syrup and barley malt. I do live in the tropics.

I used raw sugar before starting to use brown rice syrup. I just started using the brown rice syrup this week and the month before that I used no sugar or anything sweet at all. I still prefer the raw sugar which I have been using for years.

By "raw sugar", do you mean jaggury? That is strong stuff!

[losing_it]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

By "raw sugar", do you mean jaggury? That is strong stuff!

I'm not sure... it's brown. I will look at the package next time i'm at the market. I live in Jamaica and it's a local sugar. There is a lot of sugar cane plantations here. All I know is it is brown but it's not like the brown sugar I had in the states. It's course with larger granules. It has a strong smell. My firance likes to eat it straight sometimes.... also people like to eat sugar cane which they sell on the street or you just go cut one.

I looked of the definition of jaggery and it seems like that is what I have been using.

Definition: [JAG-uh-ree] This dark, coarse, unrefined sugar (sometimes referred to as palm sugar) can be made either from the sap of various palm trees or from sugar-cane juice. It is primarily used in India, where many categorize sugar made from sugar cane as jaggery and that processed from palm trees as gur. It comes in several forms, the two most popular being a soft, honeybutter texture and a solid cakelike form. The former is used to spread on breads and confections, while the solid version serves to make candies, and when crushed, to sprinkle on cereal, and so on. Jaggery has a sweet, winey fragrance and flavor that lends distinction to whatever food it embellishes. It can be purchased in East Indian markets. See also sugar.

Here's another reference http://www.healthandyoga.com/html/product/jaggery.html

it does look like the sugar in this picture
http://www.sugarindia.com/jaggeryreceipes.htm

What do you mean by "strong stuff"... is that good or bad?

Hi, losing it! Tks for the 2 sites on jaggury.

The jaggury I'm familiar with is not granular, it comes in a cake. The label says it comes from a kind of palm (not sugar cane). I can't see how those 2 types of jaggury could possible taste the same. When I grate it, the flakes kind of stick together.
Why do I say it's "strong"? This may not make any sense to you, but it is incredibly sweet, sweeter than sweet, if that's possible - even a wee taste. Whether that is good or bad depends on how sensitive to the sweet taste you are, I guess. I uses it in small amounts in cooky recipes, etc. Let's face it - simple carbos are simple carbos, but a bit of something sweet is good for us from time to time, and for me, jaggury does the trick.

[losing_it]

Ok then I'm using raw sugar cane suguar. I asked at the health food store and they didn't have it. Maybe the indian market.

Thanks

Yes, I buy my jaggury at an Asian Indian store. And while there, if it's a large store, you will see dozens of beans that you have probably never heard of in your life. God, there is so many good things in those Indian stores.

Hey well i reckon sugar is great its not all bad i mean there a lot of foods with sugar in it. and these foods are healthy foods with natural sugar. so sugar is hell good\

[Bruce Paine]

Hi,

I feel that if one is eating a whole grains and temperate climate vegetables with beans/legumes, sea vegetables, fermented foods, some fish and temperate climate fruit, then maybe an occasional dessert made with rice syrup , barley malt, maple syrup (on rare occasions), amasake, and cooked temperate climate fruit, might be in order.

Sweeteners as strong as honey, stevia, and the various forms of evaporated cane sugar might be consumed on very rare ocassions, and are better used by people following diets that are more yang (including meat, poultry, and/or dairy)

According to Rebecca Wood in her The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia: A Comprehensive Resource for Healthy Eating :

"SWEETENERS
Mother's milk is sweet. Maybe this is where it all starts, for most everyone loves sweets. This doesn't have to be a problem as long as attention is paid to quality and quantity.
Health Benefits- The sweetness found in grains, dairy, meat, legumes, and some vegetables like squash, carrots, and yams strengthens the spleen-pancreas and helps build energy. These foods satisfy the sweet tooth.
"Empty sweets" to use a Chinese medical term, are those primarily composed of simple sugars (sweet fruits, juices, honey, sugar, and other sweeteners). These foods give a short term energy boost by increasing the amount of sugar in the blood. Wnen concentrated or used in excess, sweets damage the spleenpancreas. Excessive use leads to chronic fatigue, bodily weakness, edema, and various digestive problems.
Sweeteners composed of maltose, a complex carbohydrate, are relatively more healthful. Barley malt and rice syrup, for example, take longer to assimilate than the more simple sugar molecules do. Unrefined sweeteners reduce pitta and vata.
Other sweeteners contain glucose, fructose, and sucrose and are more problematic because they are quickly absorbed into the
bloodstream, stress the whole metabolism, and suppress the immune system. Such sweeteners cause the pancreas to secrete more insulin to monitor the amount of sugar going into the blood, and extra adrenaline from the adrenal glands is also mobilized to monitor the blood sugar level. Simple sugars provide a few hours of increased energy, which are followed by energy depletion and an emotional low aptly known as the "sugar blues." Thus sweeteners that contain sucrose are best used occasionally and with discretion. These include carob, date sugar, honey, maple syrup, rapadura, and sorghum molasses.
The following list of "Not Recommended" sweeteners is by no means inclusive' since the industry is endlessly coming up with a "better" sweet. (The list does include the sweeteners you're most apt to find in the natural food store, which may currently be promoted as "healthfuL") Strive to avoid fructose, fruit juice concentrate, granular fruit sugar, isomol, malitol, mannitol, sorbitol, and xylitol. Because of its widespread use, there's also a brief entry on Aspartame. .
See Aspartame; Barley Malt Sugar; Barley Malt Syrup; Carob; Date Sugar; Fructose; Fruit Juice Concentrate; Granular Fruit Sugar; Honey; Isomol; Mautol; Mannitol; Maple Sugar; Maple Syrup; Molasses; Rapadura; Rice Syrup; Sorbitol; Sorghum Molasses; Stevia; Sugar; XyUtol."

"SUCROSE
A simple sugar molecule, sucrose is found in many plants. It is extracted primarily from sugarcane and sugar beets. White sugar contains 99 percent sucrose and rapadura contains 82 percent sucrose. In addition to widespread use as a sweetener, sucrose is used as a preservative in the manufacture of plastics.
See Sugar; Sweeteners."

"SUGAR
Sugar, by name or under any of its guises, is highly refined by chemical processes from sugarcane, beet sugar, or corn. It contains over 90 percent sucrose. Fortunately, rapadura (unrefined, evaporated cane juice) is a healthful, natural alternative. If you do purchase sugar, favor cane sugar-preferably organic-over the more highly processed beet or corn sugar found in generic sugar packages at the supermarket..
Health Benefits- Sugar can ease spasms, relieve pain, give a sense of ease and nurture, and, in the short term, boost energy. Sugar acts upon the spleen-pancreas, stomach, kidney, and liver meridians. It passes quickly into the bloodstream, shocking and weakening the digestive system, to result in a blood sugar imbalance that causes a craving for more sugar. Sugar consumption creates an acid condition that consumes the body's minerals and causes caldum loss. Refined sugar use is implicated in all of our contemporary degenerative health problems.
Use- Sugar is a primary ingredient in desserts and confections; it is a ubiquitous ingredient in prepared, packaged, and restaurant foods.
Buying- Numerous highly refined sugar products attempt to convey a healthful image. These names include, but are not limited to: brown sugar, cane. crystals, evaporated cane juice, Demerara sugar, dried cane juice, granulated cane juice, milled cane, molasses, muscovado sugar, natural milled cane sugar, plantation white, raw cane juice, Sucanat, turbinado sugar, unrefined cane sugar, and yellow-D sugar.
See Rapadura; Sweeteners."

"RAPADURA

Unrefined, Evaporated Cane Juice.

Unrefined, evaporated cane juice is a natural sweetener that has all of the sugarcane's minerals, vitamins, and micronutrients intact. Marketed today under its Brazilian name, rapadura, it is called panela in Spanish
speaking South and Central America and jaggery in India. Historically, evaporated rapadura was associated with low-income populations.
Rapadura is made by a simple technology. Juice is pressed from sugarcane and cooked, to reduce its water content. Today's organic rapadura is then granulated at low temperatures. When traditionally made, this hot concentrated cane juice is poured into cones or blocks that harden when cool and require grating before use. Rapa in Portuguese means to grate; dura means hard. In Latin America, rapadura may also be made from palm sugar: Health Benefits Rapadura is 82 percent sucrose; it is high in chromium, the nutrient that diabetics are deficient in. Like sugar, unrefined cane juice can ease spasms, relieve pain, give a sense of ease and nurture: and, in the short term, boost energy. Because its vitamins, minerals, and micronutrients are intact, though, rapadura does not pass as quickly into the bloodstream as sugar does. If used in excess, however, it contributes to the same health problems as sugar. Rapadura reduces vata and pitta.
Use- Use granulated rapadura, measure for measure, as you would use white sugar. The end product will not be as sugary sweet; it will be lightly colored and will have a more rich and satisfying flavor. If using rapadura in its molded form, grate it prior to use or melt it in a saucepan, strain, and serve as a syrup.
Buying- Today, I'm aware of only one domestic brand of unrefined, evaporated cane juice. This granular organic rapadura is available at natural food stores, by mail order, or online: Rapunzel Pure Organics. Panela and rapadura in chunks or cones are available in Latino markets. Jaggery is available in blocks in Indian markets.
Avoid the numerous highly refined sugar products that mimic rapadura (see Sugar). Unfortunately, in today's natural food store most of the baked goods, breakfast cereals, candy, frozen desserts, and flavored yogurts contain refined sugar. Even more unfortunately, they are labeled in a less than forthright manner. The following terms are just another way of saying sugar: cane crystals, dehydrated cane juice, granulated cane juice, milled cane, muscovado sugar, natural milled cane sugar, raw cane juice, Sucanat, and unrefined cane sugar.
See Sugar; Sweeteners."

"SUCANAT
Sucanat, the trademarked acronym for sugarcane natural, is the evaporated and granulated juice of sugarcane and blackstrap molasses. It sucrose level is 90 percent. Although once an unrefined product, it no longer is.
See Sugar."

If you are new to macrobiotics and your health is excellent, and you are somewhat yang, then you might be able to consume products containing evaporated cane juice and other strong yin sweeteners without any health problems occuring.

Otherwise, if you are somewhat more yin and have to be more careful what you eat, then I feel that maybe you best follow the suggested macrobiotic guidelines or the ones recommended by your macrobiotic counselor.

Thank you, very much.

Bruce Paine

Here is the reason why not. If you have a weight problem then you should not eat sugar being over weight leads to diabetes and heart trouble and heart attacks. No matter what anyone tells you sugar makes you FAT!!! If you like to be fat then sugar is where it's at. I do not mean some man who is and has always been skinny all his life and he says I eat sugar and it doesn't make me fat. well we are not interested in whether it makes him fat. It does make most people fat and women even more so. sugar is addicting just like cigs or alcohol. You also get a thing called a sugar high when you eat it and it gives you wonderful energy for a little bit then it is gone. It also relieves depression in the same way for a little while. Beware of sugar it is not good for you and do not eat those cancer causing sweeteners like aspartame and equal. to stay thin an healty do not I say do not eat any sugar at all read labels make sure.

[Denise]

ok~ I agree with that but I am not ready to give up sweets. SO, for baking cookies, would a healthful alternative be to use freshly ground wheat berries(or spelt) and perhaps rice syrup instead of sugar??? My kids are having heart attacks because we are changing so drastically. I think I have to take this in steps... denise p.s. do you have any other source that proves sucanat is refined? and do you know if it is highly refined? I have a friend who is convinced sucanat is the greatest. Last ?- Is Rapidura ok or is rice syrup much better? that's it... thankyou!!!