Beet sugar or cane sugar?!
Beet sugar or cane sugar?
i understand that a sugar beet is the root underground and the cane is above gound... but which when is healthier for you? and how unhealthy is the worse of the two? why is beet sugar white? is it bleached?
Answers:
As far as health goes it's a toss-up, both are almost 100% pure sucrose! Overall it's my opinion that sucrose isn't as unhealthy for non-diabetics as mass media would have you believe and it's certainly healthier than any of the artificial sweeteners!
Here's a link that will give you the *basics* of sugar production:
http://www.sucrose.com/learn.html...
Note that no sugar gets bleached (as in meaning exposed to chlorine, oxygen or some other chemical to destroy coloration) but almost all cane sugar and some beet sugar is filtered through bone char aka activated carbon to remove the last traces of color (which is why white sugar isn't considered veggie friendly). Under most countries laws it's not permitted for manufacturers to label white sugar as being processed without bone
There IS a slight taste difference between the two sugars! It usually doesn't matter but becomes very noticable in candy making. The difference is from the trace (less that .1%) of molasses that remains even in 'pure' sugar.
Raw sugar aka Turbinado sugar is always from cane since it skips the final carbon filtration and retains about 1% molasses, it's also suitable for vegetarians/vegans since it isn't processed through bones. The molasses extracted from beets isn't edible (by humans) which is why there's no raw beet sugar. Some folks claim raw sugar is healthier than white sugar due to that trace of molasses, as a practical matter it's no better or worse than white sucrose since the amount of molasses is so tiny.
Source(s):
Vegetarians do not eat fish. A fish eater is a Piscivore. Spread the correct word!
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/piscivo...
In my opinion cane sugar is the better of the two.(cane sugar is brown before it is processed).I assume that beet sugar is also refined and processed the same as cane.Im really predudised here because I come from a town where sugar cane is grown and refined .anyway sugar is not really bad for you,the substitutes are more prone to giving you cancer and stuff like that I would say your own preference is the way to go.
Beet sugar is generally found in Europe, they also make sugar from a sap of the Palm tree, called Jaggery, it is a caramel colour and is nice in cooking.
There is not much diference in Cane sugar and sugar derived from sugar beets, there might be difference in glucides and carbs, they are processed in the smae way. They crush the canes and extract the juice, were beets are ground and boiled with a liquid base.
I am a chef from Canada, and found that the Europeans grow alot of sugar beets, and use it more, but the also use a lot of cane sugar more for candie and baking, it is only the U.S that relies on corn sweetener for food processing.
Beet sugar is better for you if you can get it. It's common, but what I'm talking about is the sort you can get from local co-op mills. I buy sugar that was grown, harvested, and processed about 30 miles from my home, and it tastes far better than the cane sugar that's shipped in from hundreds or even thousands of miles away. It is processed less, too, so it is more healthy.