Okay, do this little experiment for me. Go into your kitchen and pull out your white sugar. Put your face down near it and take a whiff...stinks, doesn't it? Now, keep in mind, you are talking to a sugar addict. Until the past week, white, refined sugar was pretty much a staple in my diet (I hate to admit that, but it is true).
I have noticed the "stink" before, and just kind of let it pass right through my mind without a lot of thought. However...I was in a health-food store and the owner brough up some "organic cane sugar" for me to see. She mentioned how it doesn't stink like normal white refined sugar. Sure enough...I did the experiment I'm telling you to do and the organic cane sugar was without a smell and the refined white sugar smelled like chemicals. Why would this be?
Well...let's discuss sugar. First of all, I did a little research as to how they make "white" sugar. Hmmmm...a little disheartening to say the least. So...the sugar begins as sugar cane. Initially, it is pressed, mixed with lime, evaporated, centrifuged and then it dries to evaporate the rest of the liquid. At this point, the sugar is still a light brown color. Why? Because the sugar still has molasses in it. Now...to get that pure, white, refined sugar that we all so adore...it is treated with sulfur dioxide and then with either a mixture of calcium hydroxide and phosphoric acid or a mixture of carbon dioxide and calcium hydroxide. It is then filtered through a bed of activated carbon that helps remove any further discoloring impurities. It is then crystallized in a vacuum and dried again... YUM!!!!!
Dr. William Coda had this to say about refined sugar:
"In 1957, Dr. William Coda Martin tried to answer the question: When is a food a food and when is it a poison? His working definition of "poison" was: "Medically: Any substance applied to the body, ingested or developed within the body, which causes or may cause disease. Physically: Any substance which inhibits the activity of a catalyst which is a minor substance, chemical or enzyme that activates a reaction."1 The dictionary gives an even broader definition for "poison": "to exert a harmful influence on, or to pervert".
Dr. Martin classified refined sugar as a poison because it has been depleted of its life forces, vitamins and minerals. "What is left consists of pure, refined carbohydrates. The body cannot utilize this refined starch and carbohydrate unless the depleted proteins, vitamins and minerals are present. Nature supplies these elements in each plant in quantities sufficient to metabolize the carbohydrate in that particular plant. There is no excess for other added carbohydrates. Incomplete carbohydrate metabolism results in the formation of 'toxic metabolite' such as pyruvic acid and abnormal sugars containing five carbon atoms. Pyruvic acid accumulates in the brain and nervous system and the abnormal sugars in the red blood cells. These toxic metabolites interfere with the respiration of the cells. They cannot get sufficient oxygen to survive and function normally. In time, some of the cells die. This interferes with the function of a part of the body and is the beginning of degenerative disease."
http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/refined-sugar-the-sweetest-poison-of-all.html
Okay, so what minerals, exactly are depleted from the sugar? Well, to answer this, lets look at sucanat. What is sucanat? It is SUgar CAne NATural (refer to the first picture). It is an unprocessed sugar that is essentially evaporated sugar cane juice. It is soft and has a sweet molasses flavor...because the molasses has not been removed. It tastes like a strong brown sugar. It is soft, not crystalline. It also has the highest nutritional content of all of the forms of cane sugar.
Nutritional Analysis of Sucanat:
approximately one cup
* water.........................................2.7g
* calories......................................570g
* carbohydrate.............................135.g
* fat...............................................0g
* sodium.....................................0.5mg
* potassium..............................1,125mg
* vitamin A.................................1600IU
* thiamin (B1).............................0.21mg
* riboflavin (B2)..........................0.21mg
* niacin.....................................0.20mg
* calcium....................................165mg
* iron..........................................6.5mg
* vitamin B6...............................0.60mg
* magnesium...............................127mg
* zinc.........................................2.3mg
* copper.....................................0.3mg
* pantothenic acid........................1.8mg
* chromium.................................40mcg
* phosphorus................................48mg
Source: USDA Handbook of Nutrient Content of Foods
Notice all of those vitamins and minerals??? That is what Dr. Martin is referring to. We get rid of ALL of them with refined, white sugar. So, Dr. Martin is right and "the body cannot utilize this refined starch and carbohydrate unless the depleted proteins, vitamins and minerals are present" and if in fact, "nature supplies these elements in each plant in quantities sufficient to metabolize the carbohydrate in that particular plant," then we have a big problem.
Now, this being said, sucanat is not easy to bake with. You can easily substitute it for sugar on your cinnamon toast (we use just sucanat now to flavor it). You can also use it on your hot cereal (we do this, too) and to topically sweeten any foods. However, for baking, it will definitely leave you with a different texture. So, what can you do?
Organic Cane Sugar(refer to the second picture). Why is this better...it has more nutrients. Yes, it is more processed than the sucanat, but way less than refined white sugar! I have yet to bake with it, but I believe it can be substituted for white sugar and is easier to bake with than the sucanat. It still retains some of the molasses (giving it a light brown color)and it has been treated with less pesticides. So, is it healthy, no. Is it as healthy as sucanat? No. Is it better than refined, white sugar? YES!!!
Sorry if this is of no interest to anyone else. And...yes...I know this has nothing to do with whole wheat. There are more recipes coming, but since I am learning so much more about health foods, I thought maybe the rest of you out there might be interested in learning this stuff as well. Maybe??? Maybe not??? Oh well, I like learning it!!!
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