Evaporated Cane Juice vs. Sugar, Part II

As I noted in this post, I was skeptical about the differences between Evaporated Cane Juice and regular table sugar. As I found, the difference is negligible, and the price would not seem to justify the small amount of nutrients that might be found in Cane Juice. I found an article that examines the issue a bit more, this time examining the health ramifications of simple carbohydrates.

First, the author lists the plethora of alternate names that "sugar" has picked up in the health food aisle:

Perhaps because it sounds like it fits in with a New Age mentality, a lot of manufacturers are using the word "crystals" in describing their sweetening agents nowadays. But sugar they are. To list just a few, there are: cane juice crystals, dehydrated cane juice crystals, unrefined cane juice crystals, raw cane crystals, washed cane juice crystals, Florida crystals (a trademarked name), unbleached evaporated sugar cane juice crystals, crystallized cane juice, and unbleached crystallized evaporated cane juice. There are also products with such names as organic dehydrated cane juice, unbleached sugar cane, evaporated cane juice, and evaporated cane juice sugar.

There are many supposed benefits to these products that have been processed less; and organic products are most likely better for the environment. But since these products are chemically equivalent to sugar, how will they affect your health? The first expert to weigh in, a nutritionist, laments that folks should not think these products are a healthy substitute for sugar:

VanDien's assessment of sweeteners is pretty rigorous. She thinks virtually every commonly used sweetener is as bad as sugar when it makes up a significant part of the diet, as it does for too many Americans.

"Whether you're talking about cane sugar, honey, barley malt or Sucanat (a tradenamed product), they're all primarily simple sugars, simple carbohydrates," VanDien explains. "People should be concerned that, if they're eating 150 pounds of sugar a year and you change that to 150 pounds of barley malt, you'll have the same problems with your immune system and blood sugar levels you would have if you are eating the sugar."

The second expert, with a PhD in nutrition, agrees:

"It's a question of economics," says Fuchs. "Health food stores and manufacturers are capturing dollars from products that are not necessarily the best quality or the healthiest. Some of the companies that use things such as evaporated cane juice say they've studied it and find that people metabolize their sugars more slowly than refined sugar. But I find people who have the same problems with evaporated cane juice as they do with regular sugar. And I deal with people all over the country. I find that people who react to sucrose, or refined sugar, are reacting in the same way to evaporated cane juice," says Fuchs.

She does feel that some sweeteners are superior to sugar, however:

Fuchs does feel that some alternative sweeteners are clearly better than sugar, or the so-called lesser refined sugars. "Sugar is 93 percent sucrose. That's different than barley malt, which is maltose and glucose, and different than maple syrup, or fruit juice concentrate. You can't say those are the same things as sugar when their chemical compositions are different."

The main point I gleaned from the article, is that while there is no really 'healthy' substitute for simple sweeteners, a little will not kill you.

But while VanDien faults sugar for not being "nutrient dense," she also says that "almost anything, in moderation, is not bad. I think balance and moderation are the key words.

However, since most Americans eat very large quantities, they could kill you. In the words of St. Augustine, "To many, total abstinence is easier than perfect moderation."


Other Sugar posts:
Evaporated Cane Juice: Part I
Where to Buy
High Fructose Corn Syrup
Caramel Apples
Sugar and the Environment
Alternative Sugar Names
A Look at Agave