anita@utastro.UUCP (Anita Cochran) (10/01/85)
The discussion of the "naturalness" of honey vs. sugar has gotten
to be quite amusing and just goes to show that authoritative
books may be found on both sides of the issue. Refining
sugar does NOT change it in such a way as to make it more harmful
than the original sugar cane (or beet) but it does rob it
of some of the more complex parts (and maybe nutrition).
However, the original request for no sugar recipes came from someone
who was concerned about sugar intake because of an inherited risk of
cancer. I have lived with a diabetic all my life (my father) and
this discussion of honey being better for you is just plain nonsense
from a diabetic point of view. When insulin production cannot meet
the demand for sugar consumption in the body, it matters little
whether the sugar in the body started out as a simple sugar (say
refined sugar or honey) or if it started out as a complex sugar (say
a starch such as bread). By the time the body has turned it into
sugar, all sugars are created equal to the diabetic. The degree
of complexity just dictates the speed at which is enters the
blood stream (incidentally, alchohol goes to sugar in the
blood stream very quickly). The important point for the diabetic
is that MANY foods contain sugar that are not as obvious as white
table sugar. For a diabetic, the chemical products such as nutrasweet
or sacharin which are non-nutrative sweetners are less harmful (for
their diabetes -- not necessarily cancer) than pure products such
as honey, white sugar, brown sugar, etc. If you really want a low
sugar diet to be proper for diabetes, I suggest you contact
the American Diabetes Association and ask about the Diabetic
Exchange Diet. This carefully thought out diet helps balance the
potentially harmful foods and alerts you to hidden sugars.
--
Anita Cochran uucp: {noao, ut-sally, ut-ngp}!utastro!anita
or seismo!ut-sally!utastro!anita
arpa: anita@astro.UTEXAS.EDU
snail: Astronomy Department
The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX 78712
at&t: (512) 471-1471