bruceco@shark.UUCP (Bruce Coorpender) (09/30/85)
> Subject: Re: sugarless recipe (really: sugar) > I have since switched completely to whole wheat flour and > dark bread, but still use white sugar occasionaly when making icings, > whipped cream etc. because brown sugar and raw sugar just will not do. Henry Chai wrote an article containing the above. I agree with his position on the use of whole wheat, and unrefined sugars. I would point out that there are some reasonable substitutes for white sugar in dessert toppings. (I am a certified dessert addict). You can create a much more manageable sugar from turbinado sugar by powdering it in a blender. It ends up with a consistency between that of powdered sugar and "regular" sugar. Also, fructose is available in most health food stores which is a good (read better) substitute for white sugar. For receipes which really need powdered sugar, use lactose also available in health food stores. You can make a lot of tasty desserts with honey, but Henry, you are right there are some that need sugar or GOOD substitutes to taste right. BC
sdyer@bbncc5.UUCP (Steve Dyer) (10/06/85)
> Henry Chai wrote an article containing the above. I agree with his > position on the use of whole wheat, and unrefined sugars. > ... > Also, fructose is > available in most health food stores which is a good (read better) > substitute for white sugar. For receipes which really need powdered > sugar, use lactose also available in health food stores. Um, perhaps someone could tell me why fructose and lactose, two chemically pure entities, and hence about as refined as you can get, are somehow "better" for you than white sugar (meaning, I assume, another chemically pure entity, sucrose.) Also, lactose isn't very sweet--I would think it looks better than it tastes (or smells :-)). -- /Steve Dyer {harvard,seismo}!bbnccv!bbncc5!sdyer sdyer@bbncc5.ARPA
billw@Navajo.ARPA (10/06/85)
AAARRRGGGHHH!!! Humans are so illogical. "Composition of Honey: (percent) Water 17 Fructose 38 Glucose 31 Sucrose 1.5 Other Di-saccarides 7 Higher sugars 1.5 Acids 0.6 Minerals 0.2 It is worth noting briefly that despite the claims of some "natural" food advocates, honey is no wonder food. Its vitamin content is negligible; bees get most of theirs from pollen. Also, because the B vitamins are a part of the machinery that liberates energy from carbohydrates and fats, a given amount of honey actually uses up more B vitamins than it supplies. It contains only about 3% of the thiamine and 6% of te niacin necessary to convert its sugars to energy. : : In the last few decades, great claims have been made for the nutritional excellance of molasses. Though it is true that, compared to 99.8% pure sucrose, molases contains large amounts of minerals and B vitamins, it is also true that in absolute terms, these amounts are minor. A table- spoon of blackstrap molasses - which, given its flavor, is a lot - contains less than a thirtieth of the recommended daily dose of B vitamins and about a sixth of the iron and calcium allowances. Premium molasses carries about half these amounts. : Similar claims of nutritional value have been made for brown sugar, which is essentially a mixture of white sugar, and so even a less likely candidate than molasses. It is also thought that brown sugar is somehow less "Processed" than white and therefore more healthful. : Brown sugar IS refined. It is made by adding special syrups that have undergone the ideal amount of browning to refined, redisolved sucrose. : Truly "raw", unrefined sugar contains soil, microbes, and other contami- nants, and the FDA classifies it as unfit for direct use in food. "Turbinado" sugar whichis edible, is partially refined by washing the initially crystalized sucrose with steam in the centerfuge, but is not redisolved or treated further. Turbinado has much the same composition as brown sugar. : : Perhaps because its name invokes fruit, fructose has been praised as more "natural" than table sugar, more healthful, and less conductive to weight gain. However, any fructose sold in crystalline form as a replacment for table sugar is likely to be even more refined and less "natural" than sucrose, since it is usually obtanied by dividing pure sucrose into its glucose and fructose halves, and then isolating the latter. It is true that because fructose tastes sweeter than sucrose but contains only half the calories - it being only half of a sucrose molecule - fructose supplies more sweetness per calorie consumed." [Source: "On Food and Cooking" by Harold McGee, Carles Scribner's Sons, 1984. An excelant book - highly recomended. It was voted one of the best reference books of the year, and so is likely to be in your local library. Otherwise it's $29.95 at better bookstores. ] BillW
scott@cdp.UUCP (10/08/85)
I seem to remember reading that sucrose is the only sugar that causes
tooth decay, but I've been skeptical. Does anyone know if this is
the case? If so, honey at least won't rot your teeth as much
as table sugar, since honey is only 1.4% sucrose.
Scott Weikart
Community Data Processing: 415-322-9069
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