Perhaps you have already heard or read about the potential health risks associated with sugar substitutes, and that’s why now you are again on the hunt for something that can make your favorite cup of coffee or tea, or homemade desserts taste sweet. Have you ever considered getting your hands on turbinado sugar?
Not heard of it before? No worries. This article will get you acquainted with this healthy sweetener!
Turbinado sugar got its name from the technique that is used for manufacturing this type of sugar, which involves the use of a turbine, a cylindrical machine. While it may sound like turbinado sugar is produced inside a factory where it has undergone intensive processing, the truth is it’s one of the least processed sugars on the planet.
It’s exactly for this reason why a lot of health-conscious people admire turbinado sugar — it still packs much of those beneficial vitamins and minerals present in sugar cane where this sweetener comes from.
Yes, turbinado sugar and refined sugar both come from the same source. However, the difference between these two lies in the amount of processing involved in their making.
Refined sugar has undergone a lot of processing before it gets to the supermarkets and ultimately everyone’s kitchen in order to make it look as pretty as it does. Unfortunately, this leaves refined sugar with nothing in it but calories — the vitamins and minerals present in sugar cane are all destroyed once it undergoes intensive processing.
This is why refined sugar is said to provide empty calories — it only gives you calories and nothing else!
On the other hand, turbinado retains most, if not all, of the beneficial nutrients present in sugar cane. Proof to this is the yellowish coloration that it has, which is really not as appealing as the color of refined sugar. But that’s okay because this only means that turbinado sugar is as close as it can be to sugar cane juice!
You will also notice that turbinado sugar has larger and coarser crystals than refined sugar, and the reason for this partly is the fact that its crystals tend to absorb moisture in the air.
Actually, it is considered as a good thing because it only means that every tiny bit of crystal contains less calories than each little grain of refined sugar. This is excellent news for individuals who like to shed off excess pounds but cannot entirely say “no” to satisfying their sweet tooth! So in other words, there is much less calories in a spoonful of turbinado sugar than a spoonful of refined sugar because the moisture content is taken into account.
However, it is a good idea for turbinado sugar to be stored in an airtight container. Otherwise, it will keep on absorbing moisture in the air, causing it to eventually cake.
Unlike refined sugar, there are actually nutrients present in every serving of turbinado sugar, and not just calories. It is said by nutrition experts that every 100 grams of turbinado sugar has the following:
Potassium: 100 milligrams
Calcium: 85 milligrams
Magnesium: 23 milligrams
Phosphorus: 4 milligrams
Iron: 1.5 milligrams
There are also trace amounts of niacin, copper, manganese and sodium found in turbinado sugar. So in other words, you are boosting the nutritional profile of anything that it is added to!
Did you know that refined sugar cannot be considered as vegetarian? That’s because processing it involves the use of bone char to make it appear as white as it does. And where does that bone char come from? Animals! On the other hand, there is no bone char use involved in the making of turbinado sugar, so it’s completely vegetarian.
Kindly repost this article on social media to let your family and friends know about turbinado sugar, too!
