Question from Jack:

A question from Jack, one of the subscribers to the MericleDiet newsletter, "Reference your tip regarding diabetes. The only sugar I use is brown and is this a concern in my case?"

Answer:

The word "brown" has gotten a lot of play lately regarding "healthy eating." Brown rice and brown bread are both "in" while white bread and white rice are known to be "unhealthy." It would be nice if brown sugar was as good for you as brown rice or some brown breads made from whole grains with no added sugar. Unfortunately, brown sugar is only white sugar that has been colored brown, usually with molasses. Sugar of some variety is the most common food additive today. Sugar is added to almost everything, even potato chips. I still can't figure out why they would add sugar to potato chips, as if the salt and fat were not enough.

Varieties of Sugar

White sugar is extracted from the juice of sugar cane or beets. Once is has been extracted it is processed extensively to form a granulated white substance. This is sucrose, also known as table sugar, cane sugar, beet sugar, grape sugar, refined sugar or granulated sugar.

Raw Sugar is produced in the initial stages of making white sugar. It is usually somewhat brown in color and may contain bacteria and molds.

Brown sugar is usually made by simply adding molasses (or caramel food coloring) to white sugar.

Confectioner's sugar is made by crushing or grinding white sugar. Corn starch is added to prevent the formation of lumps.

Molasses is a thick dark syrup that is produced during sugar refinement.

A brief look at the molecular structure of the three common disaccharides, sucrose, lactose and maltose.

The molecule sucrose consists of one moiety of glucose connected to one moiety of fructose via an O-glycosidic linkage. This is a "disaccharide" ie two sugar molecules hooked together. Two other common disaccharides are lactose from milk and maltose commonly found in beer. Lactose is one moiety of galactose hooked to one moiety of glucose and maltose is two moieties of glucose hooked together. Sucrose is the most dangerous of these because human biochemistry has no way to deal with equal loads of fructose and glucose presented at the same time, since fructose short circuits the glycolytic pathway for glucose.

There has been much written about the dangers of sucrose but suffice it to say, adult onset diabetes mellitus is now epidemic. I feel that while both adult and juvenile diabetes may have to varying degrees the same common cause, ie confusion of the immature immune system by cow's milk with different degrees of expression, without the ongoing record levels of sucrose consumption in America, we would not be having this explosion of adult onset diabetes mellitus( a polite and confusing term for sugar toxicity).

Today's Health Tip:

Be very careful of sugar in any form. Read labels of all processed food carefully. If you have adult onset diabetes or any symptoms of it, like hypoglycemia, try to avoid sugar completely.

Please stay tuned for more interesting facts about other sweeteners such as high fructose corn syrup, maltodextrin, artificial sweeteners like Nutrasweet and a little ancient history with "meli maenomenon."

The MericleDiet makes it as easy as possible to "kick" the sugar habit. To visit the MericleDiet follow the link below:

http://www.DrMericle.com

Thanks for your time.

http://DrMericle.com is devoted to achieving optimal health and peak performance through diet and lifestyle change. Dr. Mericle brings together a unique blend of formal organic chemistry, biochemistry and medical education, 29 marathons, 3 Hawaii Ironman competitions and a lot of practical real life experience.