Raw Sugar Vs White Sugar

It’s a sweet pandemic! It has taken over everything! It’s in your tea, your coffee, the sweets you have, and even in the food you eat. Just relax, for we are not talking about any biological warfare. Here’s a hint – if ever your sweet tooth had sensors stuck up inside it, it would go off as an alarm with red light at the mere thought of this thing. Got it yet? Okay one more - no meal, no joyous occasion, no getting over hurtful stuff and no casual craving is complete without it. How about now? Yes, it is the delectable sugar that we are talking about. Made up from sugarcane and sugar beet, sugar has been produced and used as a primary sweetening agent since centuries now (originating in Indian subcontinent). Over the years, sugar has been processed into a few forms namely raw sugar, white sugar and brown sugar. Though each form has its own texture and taste, for various health reasons ranging from diabetes to obesity, there’s an ongoing debate as to which form is the safest to consume. The following part of the article will provide you with information about the raw sugar and white sugar, thus easing up on your search for the perfect form of sugar.

 

Sugar is made directly from sugarcane. Here’s how – juice is extracted out of the sugarcane, which is then mixed with a little lime to ease it up on the impurities. The juice is then dried up through continuous boiling; leaving behind tiny crystals after it evaporates completely. These crystals are nothing but raw sugar. During the process of evaporation, various chemicals such as sulfur dioxide and phosphoric acid are added to take away the impurities, thus forming refined white sugar.

 

Color and Size - The raw sugar is brown in color with bigger granules. The white sugar, as the name suggests is white in color with smaller granules.

Nutrients - Raw sugar contains molasses that contain minerals and nutrients like phosphorous, iron, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. On the other hand, white sugar is free from molasses and have harmful chemicals instead that are added to refine the sugar during the evaporation process. It is made up of pure carbohydrates.

Health - Excess of sugar consumption is not feasible, health wise. So, it’s better to derive at least some health benefits out of it. And these benefits aren’t going to come from white sugar but from raw sugar as the molasses present in it contains some natural minerals and nutrients, whereas white sugar is completely devoid of any of it. Moreover, one teaspoon of raw sugar contains about 11 calories whereas close to 18 calories are present in the same quantity of white sugar.

 

Choosing between raw sugar and white sugar is not an ordeal now, is it? It’s crystal clear that raw sugar is an absolute winner with qualities of natural minerals and nutrients in the form of molasses that are otherwise absent from its distant cousin, white sugar.