What is the difference between cane sugar and brown sugar

A vegan-friendly process used to refine sugar is called ion exchange resin. Here are some cane sugars that are brown all the way through:. Brown sugars from sugar beet are produced in Sugar Factories by refining beet juice to white sugar and then adding a film of cane molasses via the painted method described above.

Cane molasses is used as beet molasses — the by-product of beet sugar refining — is not palatable, has a strong, unpleasant odor, and is mostly used for animal feed. Brown beet sugar is made from GMO sugar beet: The United States is one of the only countries in the world that grows both cane and beet plants.

Only genetically modified varieties of sugar beets are planted. As mentioned above, any brown sugar itself is GMO-free, as the sucrose molecule is identical whether it comes from GMO plants or not. For more about refined sugars, read my previous posts:. Cane Sugar: Unrefined, Raw and Refined.

What Is Refined Sugar? Cane vs Beet Sugar: A Difference? Misconception 1 : Brown sugars are healthier than white sugar. Truth: Our body can hardly distinguish between brown and white sugar as, chemically speaking, both are a blend of sugar sucrose, fructose, glucose and water.

White sugar is made up entirely of sucrose but brown sugars contain sucrose and a small amount of invert sugar—a mixture of glucose and fructose. Table sugar is Because enzymes in our digestive tract quickly convert sucrose into glucose and fructose, when it comes to digestion and metabolism, our body will recognize both sugars like glucose and fructose. The cane molasses in brown sugars add trace amounts of nutrients, but it does not significantly increase their nutritional value, nor affects their metabolism.

Both white and brown sugars provide 4 calories per gram, 16 calories per teaspoon, 48 calories per tablespoon, and about calories per cup. As the image below shows, their glycemic index varies from 60 to 64 to compare brown sugars. Truth : Brown sugars are not a significant source of nutrients other than calories from sugars. Unrefined brown sugars contain minuscule amounts of micronutrients, such as minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants per serving.

They might be perceived as more nutritious or healthier than refined sugars, but we would have to eat a truly unhealthful amount of them g or even a cup to get our daily micronutrients requirement or the positive health effects from them. The calories and sugar content in brown sugars outweigh the advantages of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. Misconception 3 : Once brown sugar gets dry, hard, and lumpy, just throw it away. Truth : All, except two , brown sugars tend to dry out after we open the original package.

E ven when we think we properly stored in an airtight container or resealable plastic bag, they often clump , cake, or harden. That does not mean they have gone bad. Hardened brown sugar can be softened by returning the moisture to it as I wrote in a previous post titled Never Toss Harden Brown Sugar. Learn How to Keep it Soft Indefinitely.

Misconception 4 : If a recipe calls for brown sugar, don't substitute for table sugar, and vice versa. Truth : Any brown sugar—be it refined, raw, or unrefined— can be used as a substitute for table sugar in cookies and some cakes, but not for fine-textured and fancy cakes and desserts. Brown sugars are used mostly to give color and a molasses flavor to recipes. White and brown sugars have the same sweetness but different taste. That means brown sugar is a one-to-one replacement for granulated sugar in regards to the sweetness but not to taste and color.

Recipes made with brown sugar will have a distinct molasses flavor. Experiment to find the appropriate replacement level, but consider that table sugar and brown sugar have different moisture content. White sugar contains less than 0. Cookies will be less crisp, but chewier, whenever we remove a dryer sweetener and substitute it with another with higher moisture.

Brown sugars contain a small amount of invert sugar—which is fructose and glucose in equal proportions— and table sugar doesn't. But those small amounts have little, if any, effect on baked goods. To help dissolve and incorporate unrefined sugars in recipes, grind them and sift the firm clumps of syrup coated sugar they might have.

If you have any brown sugar in your pantry and a recipe that calls for table sugar, try an equal amount of firmly packed measure of brown sugar and slightly reduce the liquid content by one to two tablespoons. If you don't have brown sugar but have table sugar and molasses, you can combine them for an easy substitute for store-bought brown sugar. To make light brown sugar, pulse one cup 7 ounces or grams of table sugar in a food processor with one tablespoon of dark or blackstrap molasses or a quarter of a cup of light molasses.

For a dark brown sugar, pulse two tablespoons of dark or blackstrap molasses or half a cup of light molasses instead. If a recipe calls for brown sugar, add the amount of molasses along with wet ingredients and table sugar along with the dry ingredients.

If you're looking for a less processed sweetener, unrefined and raw sugars are for you. Unrefined cane sugars offer a more complex flavor and boost to your recipes. Unrefined, raw, and regular brown sugars can be used interchangeably. All brown sugars will give a molasses flavor to your recipe. One does not necessarily taste better than the other.

Nutritionally speaking, one is not better than another. Unrefined and organic brown sugars cost much more than refined ones. Choose unrefined sugars for their unique taste, aroma, culinary benefits, and your satisfaction.

Both white and brown sugar come from sugarcane, a grass that is cut, milled and refined in order to make various forms of sugar. There is a type of sugar that has a brown color which is typically called turbinated sugar or "sugar in the raw. It naturally contains molasses, which is where the brown color comes from and contains minerals such as potassium, calcium, iron and magnesium.

Most sugar becomes white because of a bleaching process. White sugar goes through a full refinement process, where it is stripped of any nutritional value it may have had. This kind of sugar also contains molasses, but the natural brown color goes away during the refinement process. Brown sugar is not as detrimental to a person's health as white sugar because in most cases it hasn't been refined or as processed , which essentially means stripped of any possible nutrients like the ones mentioned above.

Think of it as the emaciated offspring of sugarcane. It offers no substantial health benefits because all the wholesome stuff has been thrown out during its production. Table sugar increases type 2 diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease risks. High intake of refined white sugar can also lead to the following conditions:. High fructose corn syrup is perhaps neck-and-neck with refined white sugar, as both are notorious for being empty calories, or calories that do not confer any nutritional benefit to the consumer.

HCFS has been linked to hypertension, high uric acid levels , diabetes, pancreatic cancer , obesity , and cardiovascular disease. Read more about it here. Refined white sugar and HCFS are the top 2 empty-calorie offenders. But there are others. To learn about them — including those that are being promoted by some weight loss advocates in spite of actual consumer complaints on their negative side effects — along with some healthy alternatives, visit Part 2 of this sweet series!

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