Sugar Me Sweet

photo by JadeGordon

by Chewy

When you hear the word “sugar”, what comes to mind? Perhaps, for most of us, it is the white flowing crystals in the 5 pound bag, suitable for strength training. I soon discovered how limited a view this was and really quite modern. When I started doing research for this article, I did not realize the volume of  information that I would  be delving through that has widened my perspective.

   
Let’s break this down into two groups. First, we have the sugars that come from nature that man has “discovered”  feeds his natural desire (from birth!) for a little sweet. Second, we have sweeteners that are created in the lab for the sole purpose of “fooling” that natural inclination into thinking it has ingested something luscious without the subsequent feelings of guilt. For the purposes of this post, we will be considering only the first.

Honey

Perhaps the earliest and one of the most natural forms of  sweetener, due to its lack of processing, is honey. While noted quite often in the Bible, my favorite example is that of John the Baptizer, who, while in the wilderness, dined on locust and wild honey. Now, it doesn’t say if he ate these items as a combined product, but in my mind, this would make the locusts go down easier. Makes that whole cicada ice cream thing seem more natural now, doesn’t it? The only problem with honey is that you have to compete with the bees and they can be a formidable obstacle. Coming in literally endless flavors and varieties, it has antibiotic and antioxidant properties that may appeal to the consumer who desires more than a quick sugar fix.

Maple Syrup

Maple syrup is derived from the sap of various maple trees. These trees store starch in their trunks and roots before the winter. Come spring, this starch is converted to sugar that rises in the sap and it is at this time that the trees are bored and the sap collected. It then goes through a refining process by heating and causing most of the water to evaporate. This leaves a heavy syrup that took gallons of sap to create one pound of sugar. First produced by the aboriginal people of North America, they valued this sap as a source of  energy and nutrition. Culinary experts have praised its unique flavor, although the chemistry responsible is not fully understood.  Similar syrups can be made from birch and palm trees (one of my favorites and will discussed in further detail at a later date) .

Sugarcane appears to have first been cultivated in the Indian subcontinent and one of the earliest historical references comes from 8th century BC Chinese manuscripts that refer knowledge of sugarcane to be derived from India.  Extraction of sweetness, at this time, was limited to chewing on the raw sugarcane. But circa 500BC, there was a sucrose epiphany and India began making sugar syrup from sugarcane, cooling it in large flat bowls and thus creating crystals that were easy to store and transport. These crystals were called khanda and is the origin for our word candy. Unlike honey and maple syrup, sugarcane’s sole purpose appears to be to delight the palate and appease the sweet tooth.

The sugar beet is a tuberous root, cultivated in temperate regions and requires adequate rainfall and fertile soil. The root is harvested, washed, sliced and the sugar extracted by diffusion (going from higher concentration to lower concentration). The raw juice is purified in a number of stages, water is evaporated by boiling under a vacuum and the resulting syrup cooled and seeded with sugar crystals.

Brown sugar, which comes in light and dark varieties, gets it’s deeper taste and color from adding molasses syrup  to fully refined sugar. This also adds more moisture resulting in the clumped texture. The less common free-flowing brown sugar goes through a unique crystallization process that loses the moisture but retains the color and taste. Turbinado is a type of raw brown sugar. Muscovado is an unrefined, darker natural brown sugar that is produced without spinning in a centrifuge.

photo by JadeGordon

Undeniably, the least expensive and most widely used sugar in this country is the traditional free flowing white crystals. Hopefully, this information will encourage you to think beyond the norm and experiment with the wide variety of sweeteners available.

Another Addiction Added

by Chewy

     Of all the things we can form an addiction to, sugar has to be one of the more pleasant dependencies. So it never comes as any surprise to me when a new study concludes that our cravings for chocolate, cake, cookies, etc are in fact enslaving addictions. In past blogs I have contemplated the vagus nerve and the hormone gherlin and sugar’s  impact on both. Real chemistry folks. If that wasn’t enough proof of the drug like quality of sweets, along comes ANOTHER study that deals with pleasure centers in the brain.

     Researchers at the Oregon Research Institute hypothesized that if something gives pleasure like a drug, creates cravings like a drug and requires more of said substance over time to reach same effect like a drug, then it must be just as addictive as drugs. Here’s the scientific explanation of this phenomenon: over time, the constant stimulation lowers the “density of specific versions of cellular receptors for the brain chemical dopamine.” This results in the blunting of the ability to enjoy.  Unthinkable!

     The study included 151 adolescents of healthy weight. They were questioned as to their recent eating habits and how much specific foods were craved. Brains were scanned in an MRI machine while being shown a cartoon featuring a milkshake. Those who had consumed the most ice cream over the recent past weeks had lowered activity in the reward centers of their brains. Kyle S. Burger (researcher) explains that “over consumption of these foods down regulate reward processes. That may, in turn make you eat more” as you strive to create the same pleasure you once did. This could legitimately explain why that ½ cup of ice cream before bed has turned into a full quart with ½ gallons looking more appealing as time passes and ultimately ending in the purchase of a Baskin Robbins franchise.

      So can foods REALLY be addictive? Yale psychology PhD candidate, Ashley Gearhardt, agrees that “hyper-rewarding foods cause changes in the brain akin to what we see with tobacco and alcohol.” However, she concludes that the case for food addiction “is not open and shut.”. Burger goes on to state that he personally does “not say food is addictive.” but then goes on to add that “high sugar food can elicit neural responses during consumption that parallel those seen in drug addiction.”, i.e. addictive -like properties.

     These studies prove to me that the human body, both physically and mentally, is a complex thing that requires endless examination and that these assessments often end in more questions asked than answered. Will this study change my indulgence in confections? Not one iota. But if you hear I am scouting to buy a bakery, candy shop, or ice cream store, you may want to organize an intervention!

Sweet Relief

   You’ve just finished the meal, asked for the doggie bag because you couldn’t possibly eat another bite, and your server asks if you’d like to see the dessert menu. You look at him thinking, “Are you nuts? I’ve just eaten most of a seven course meal!”. But in the back of your head a little voice is saying, “Call me crazy, but I could go for a little sweet!”. Norwegian researchers are suggesting this is exactly what you should do.

     The Journal of the Norwegian Medical Association published a paper last month that stated that sugar appears to stimulate the vagus nerve, which controls digestion, speech, breathing and other functions. Now that’s a prescription for sugar if I ever heard one. I’m all for stimulating conversation and who doesn’t like their breathing exhilarated (as opposed to depressed), but the truly intriguing portion is the effect on digestion. According to Dr. Arnold Berstad, of Lovisenberg Diakonale Hospital in Oslo “A sweet taste can allow the stomach to hold more and we can eat a little more without experiencing discomfort.”.

     What does this mean? That I am thankful for my vagus nerve and that it is so delightfully energized! This invigorated vagus signals the stomach muscle to loosen up and allows a tad more edibles to fit in. On the plus side, the loosened stomach muscles also give relief to the “over-stuffed” as it allows already consumed vittles to settle comfortably.

     Now for the down side. This reaction can be so successful that the relaxed stomach doesn’t have a clue it is full. This effect also explains why it is so easy to overdose on sugary sweets. Now you know there is a medical reason for eating that entire sleeve of Oreos at one sitting. Your vagus nerve made you do it.

     So the next time you push yourself away from the table with a groan, don’t reach for the Rolaids. Head for the mint bowl, take two and call me in the morning.

by Chewy