"If it's white, it's killing you," has become the rallying cry of many holistic doctors when it comes to the dangerous impact of sugar on health. It may be overly simplistic, but the statement does sum up the situation when it comes to sugar and its impact. Not all sugars are unhealthy; certain sugars have minimal or no negative impact, and remarkable health benefits. But refined white sugar, the table sugar that most people use every day, is harmful, even in small amounts.
White sugar suppresses the immune system. It has been shown to decrease the vitality and number of white blood cells, the body's immune response to invaders. Sugar also depresses the body's energy field and makes your blood more acidic, both of which result in vulnerability to toxins, bacteria and viruses. Sugar feeds bacteria like candida and yeast infections.
Refined sugar is an extremely high glycemic food; it hits your bloodstream hard and can have severe impact on blood sugar, insulin levels, digestive enzyme count, weight, and the pancreas.
Refined sugar is in almost everything, and can be very difficult to avoid unless you are preparing all your own food from scratch. It creeps into sauces, salad dressings, preparations of meat and other products, and prepared carbs - whether they taste sweet or not (sugar is usually added to prepared bread and rice, for instance).
It appears under many different names: glucose-fructose, fructose, fruit sugar, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup (known as glucose syrup outside of Canada and the United States) and beet sugar are all heavily processed sugars which can be dangerous to our health.
It has been suggested that the way the human brain and body process sugar - especially excess sugar, as occurs in most Western diets - constitutes an addictive pattern, making sugar the most common addiction in North America.
Brown and demerara sugar are sometimes suggested as natural alternatives to white sugar. However, demerara and brown sugar are virtually the same as white sugar - the only difference is that some of the molasses has been recombined with the refined sugar after processing. These sugars have a glycemic index almost as high as that of white table sugar.
Another option is the relatively recent advent of "sucanat," evaporated cane juice, and other forms of "unrefined cane sugar." These are better than refined white sugar by a long shot, since they don't contain all the regular chemicals that are used in sugar processing; however, they still have a high glycemic rating and hit the body very hard, so they are best avoided for the most part.
Molasses is the only sugar product which has a relatively low glycemic index. It is also high in minerals, including iron and calcium. Of all the sugars that we can choose, molasses is probably the best option in extracts from sugar cane - the darker, the better. Even with molasses, though, I recommend caution and moderation.
Previous Natural Medicine article: Sugars: The Good
Coming up next: Sugars: The Ugly
Victoria Anisman-Reiner - Victoria Anisman-Reiner is a freelance writer with extensive experience in holistic health care and animal training.
Join the Conversation