Difference Between Natural And Refined Sugar

About natural and refined sugar

What is natural sugar?

Generally, sugars refer to simplest carbohydrates (all mono-and disaccharides) . Monosaccharides include galactose, glucose and fructose, and disaccharide include lactose, sucrose, trehalose, and maltose.¹

Natural sugars are found naturally in food such as milk (lactose) and fruit (fructose) are called natural because they are not processed or  extracted by humans and they occur on their own.²

Natural sugar is a sugar (sugar is sucrose, a disaccharide  that is made up of fructose and glucose bound together) that is naturally made by green plants and found in all green plants.¹

Sources of natural sugar

Source of natural sugar include:³

1. Production of sugars through photosynthesis: through the process of photosynthesis all green plants naturally make sugar

2. Sugar in Vegetables and Fruits: sucrose is found in vegetables and fruits.The sucrose in your sugar bowl is the same sucrose found naturally in sugar beets, sugar cane, oranges, apples, carrots and other fruits and vegetables. In fact, all fruits and vegetables naturally contain sucrose, as well as fructose and glucose in varying amounts. Peaches, sweet peas and bananas contain primarily sucrose, whereas pears and tomatoes contain glucose and fructose as the main sugars

What is refined sugar?

Refined sugar is sugar that has been heavily processed. After undergoing the process of refinement, sugars become more concentrated and lose their nutrients. The result is a seriously sweet substance which is high caloric count (super energy dense) but no nutritional value.⁴ 

Through slight adjustments in the process of crystallising, cleaning, and drying the sugar and varying the level of molasses different sugars are produced. Sugars are classified according to:⁵

1. Crystal size (granulated, superfine, or powdered)
2. Colour (white or brown): sugar colour is determined by the amount of molasses

Sources of refined sugar

All sugar is made by extracting sugar juice from sugar beet or sugar cane plants. This results in many types of sugars produced[4].

1. Added sugars: added sugars are sugars that are added during the processing of foods, or are packaged as such, and include free, mono and disaccharides. The sources of these sugars include sugars from syrups and honey, and sugars from concentrated vegetable or fruit that have the same value of fruit or vegetable juice of the same type. Examples of added sugars include agave nectar, brown rice syrup, brown sugar, coconut sugar, honey,invert sugar, corn sugar, maple sugar, molasses, nectars, malt sugar, rice syrup, high fructose corn syrup, and white granulated sugar.¹ The major source of added sugars are sugary beverages, sweet snacks, sweetened tea and candy, desserts, and sweet snacks²
2. Alternative sweeteners: sugar alcohols

Which sugar is good for the health

Natural sugar is more healthy than added or refined sugar. Natural sugar is much healthier than refined sugar because refined sugar has severe disadvantagesIt is healthier than added sugar because the sources of natural sugars contain vitamins, important elements (such as potassium, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus,.ect) in addition to sugar.³

FAQs

How much sugar should I consume?

The government recommends that free sugars - sugars added to drinks or food, and sugars found naturally in syrups, honey, and sweetened vegetable and fruit juices, smoothies and purees - should not make up more than 5% of the calories you get from food and drink each day. This means[6]:

1. No more than 30g of free sugars a day (7 sugar cubes) for adults
2. No more than 24 g of free sugars a day (6 sugar cubes) for children aged 7 to 10
3. No more than 19 g of free sugars a day (5 sugar cubes) for children aged 4 to 6
4. Children under the age of 4, recommended they must avoid food with sugar added to it and sweetened drinks because there is no guideline limit for them
5. Free sugars are found in food.The sugary food that we should cut out is the food that contains free sugar such as cakes, chocolate, sweets, biscuits, and some juice drinks and fizzy drinks

What will happen if I stop eating sugar?

Natural sugar is healthy and helps your body but refined sugar is bad . The benefits of cutting out refined sugar include:⁴

1. Potential weight loss
2. Lower the risk of cardiovascular disease
3. Better sleep : high sugar associated with poorer sleep quality
4. Less brain fog

You may experience some symptoms when you cut out. These include:⁴

1. Nausea
2. Cravings
3. Headaches
4. Irritability
5. Fatigue

Natural or refined, which should I choose?

You should choose natural sugar because it is more healthy than refined sugars and refined sugar metabolises rapidly which causes sudden rise of blood glucose and insulin levels within the bloodstream. Refined sugar has no nutritional values. Recent studies show there are no advantages of refined sugar, but there are several disadvantages.⁴

What diseases can I get from sugar?

1. Excessive consumption of sugars promotes development of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease: directly by unregulated hepatic uptake and metabolism of fructose result in dyslipidemia, liver lipid accumulation, increase uric acid levels, and decrease insulin sensitivity. Indirectly by increased fat gain and body weight⁷
2. Increase risk of obesity , non alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD)⁸

Summary

Natural sugars are found naturally in food such as milk (lactose) and fruit (fructose). They are not processed and extracted by humans and they occur on their own. Refined sugar is sugar that has been heavily processed. After undergoing the process of refinement, sugars become more concentrated and lose their nutrients. Sources of natural sugar include: sugar in vegetables and fruits, all green plants.All sugar is made by extracting sugar juice from sugar beet or sugar cane plants. The result of this extraction leads to many types of sugar that can be produced. Added sugars: added sugars are sugars that add during the processing of foods, or are packaged as such, and include free, mono and disaccharides. The sources of theses sugars include sugars from syrups and honey, and sugars from concentrated vegetable or fruit that have the same value of fruit or vegetable juice of the same type. Natural sugar is more healthy than added or refined sugars. Natural sugar is much healthier than refined sugars because refined sugar has severe disadvantages. The government recommends that free sugars - sugars added to drinks or food, and sugars found naturally in syrups  honey, and sweetened vegetable and fruit juices, smoothies and purees - should not make up more than 5% of the calories you get from food and drink each day. Excess sugar increases the risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and non alcoholic liver disease.