Surely something this white can't be good for you.

This post is part of the 2009 series – The Traditional Foods Primer which addresses a different aspect of the traditional foods movement each month.     January’s focus is on sweeteners: modern sweeteners and their accompanying problems, natural and traditional alternatives and how to transition from the modern to the traditional.

Before you can transition to natural sweeteners, it’s wise to try to understand just what modern sweeteners are and why they don’t deserve a place on your dinner table.   First, let’s discuss modern sweeteners–and your goal this week is to rid your pantry of them.   Next week, we’ll look into natural and traditionally used sweeteners.

White Sugar (including granulated sugar, powdered sugar, sugar in the raw, unbleached sugar, cane sugar and beet sugar): White sugar is a crystalline substance comprised of 50% fructose and 50% glucose.   Sugarcane and the sugarbeet are both sources of white sugar.

In cane sugar, the sugar is produced by extracting the sugarcane’s sweet juice, treating it with lime (calcium oxide, not the fruit!), boiling it, crystallizing it and then processing it further with phosphoric acid or calcium hydroxide.   At that point, the sugar is filtered through activated carbon or bone char which helps to scrub the sugar “clean.”   This process removes the molasses and its valuable trace minerals including manganese, copper, iron, selenium and others from the end-product resulting a product that is essentially devoid of nutrition.

In beet sugar, the sugar is produced by washing and slicing sugar beets, treating it with lime and carbon dioxide, filtering out impurities, crystallizing the sugar, centrifuging the mixture and then sorting the grains into different sizes.   The majority of sugarbeet crops in the United States are now a product of genetic modification.

Brown Sugar: Think that brown sugar is somehow better than white sugar?   It’s not. Brown sugar is manufactured using the same methods as white sugar, only the molasses is added back after manufacture at ratios of 3.5% for light brown sugar and 6.5% for dark brown sugar.

High Fructose Corn Syrup: I’ve discussed high fructose corn syrup before in relation to the asinine “What they say” commercials by the manufacturers, but let’s go over a few basics again.   High fructose corn syrup is produced by processing corn to produce corn starch.   Manufacturers then add a concoction of enzymes to the starch which transforms the glucose present in the corn starch into high fructose. This process can produce a variety of levels of fructose.   Most often the corn syrups containing various levels are remixed to produce HFCS 55 which contains approximately 55% high fructose.   The manufacture of high fructose corn syrup also makes heavy use of centrifuge and evaporation chambers similar to Agave nectar.   To add insult to injury, the bulk of corn used in this manufacturing process is genetically modified.   High fructose corn syrup was first synthesized in 1965 and since then has become the sweetener of choice among American processed food manufacturers.

Agave Nectar: Agave nectar, despite being heralded as a natural sweetener, is problematic and I’ve discussed its problems before in my post on the Dangers of Agave Nectar.   Agave nectar is manufactured by extracting the natural juice of the agave plan and subjecting that juice to an intense process.   After extraction the juice is forced through a series of centrifuges that remove substances from the whole juice and further clarify the color of the liquid.   At that point, the extraction is sent through a heated centrifuge which warms the liquid.   Manufacturers then add enzymes to the juice which breaks down the agave’s natural sugars and transforms them into high fructose.   Food producers began manufacturing agave nectar in the 1990s.   It is a very new addition to the human diet.

Artificial Sweeteners (Sucralose, Cyclamate, Aspertame, Saccharin): Over the years chemists either purposefully or accidentally have developed a series of low- and no-calorie sweeteners that seek to satisfy both the public’s craving for sweets while also paying heed to their waistbands. The result has been questionable at best.   Many of these chemically-based sweeteners lack the body and clean flavor of sugar while leaving a nasty and often bitter aftertaste and most of them have been linked to the development of various cancers.

Cyclamate is not currently on the market, having been banned in 1970 after studies implicated it along with saccharain as a cause of cancer.   So you probably don’t need to worry about this one too much.

Sucralose is 600 times sweeter than sugar and is a slightly altered form of sugar.   Sucralose is produced when the sucrose molecule is modified by the introduction of chlorine atoms.   This adjustment to sugar’s molecular structure renders the sweetener calorie-free.   Sucralose is a fairly new artificial sugar substitute and it has not been thoroughly studied.   Concerns of its possible carcinogenic effects stemming from the use of chlorine to molecularly modify the food.

Saccharin is one of the oldest sugar substitutes–having first been manufactured in the late 19th century.   Its sweetness was found by accident and it leaves a remarkably bitter aftertaste which is why it’s often blended with other chemical sweeteners.   The FDA threatened to ban this substance after it was linked to the development of bladder cancer.   It is still banned in several countries.

Aspertame was first synthesized in 1965 by a company that was later purchased by Monsanto. Like saccharin, aspertame was discovered by accident when a chemist was researching an anti-ulcer drug.   Aspertame has been linked to cancer–particularly brain cancer and there continues to be a controversy surrounding its use.

The Bottom Line

Modern, processed sugars and their modern, chemical-based substitutes are a result of deep and complicated manufacturing processes that render the food less nutrient-dense and even dangerous.   White sugar and foods with unnaturally high   fructose content (like high fructose corn syrup and agave nectar) have been linked with a myriad of diseases including nutrient-deficiency, premature aging, poor eyesight, high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, obesity and other ailments [1. 146 Reasons Why Sugar is Ruining Your Health. Appleton. http://rheumatic.org/sugar.htm].

Sugar and corn syrup manufacturers are quick to warn you that their foods are fine when consumed in moderation, but that leaves the public in a remarkable bind considering that these foods have been found to be addictive [2. Sugar May Be Addictive. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_72652.html] and are so rampant among modern processed foods that eating modern sugars in moderation is not possible if you consume the Standard American Diet.

Your best bet: go through your cupboards and pantry and remove these modern sugars from your home.   Toss baking sugar.   Ditch the corn syrup and examine all the ingredients listed on your boxed and canned foods.   If those foods contain the ingredients listed above, get rid of them.   Next week I’ll introduce you to some natural, traditional alternatives to these modern sweeteners that have pervaded our homes to the detriment of our health.

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