Home
>
Nutrition
>
Brown Sugar is Not Brown Rice

Brown Sugar is Not Brown Rice

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.

cleaning help near Mundelein ..

In The News:

Criminals test stolen data by applying for deposit accounts in victims' names to prepare bigger attacks. Learn why banks won't share fraud details.

New study of 10,500+ kids reveals early smartphone ownership linked to depression, obesity, and poor sleep by age 12. Earlier phones mean higher risks.

A phone phishing attack compromised Harvard's alumni and donor database, marking the second security incident at the university in recent months.

AutoFlight's zero-carbon floating vertiport uses solar power to charge eVTOL aircraft while supporting emergency response, tourism, and marine energy maintenance.

A new phone return scam targets recent buyers with fake carrier calls. Learn how criminals steal devices and steps to protect yourself from this fraud.

New Anthropic research reveals how AI reward hacking leads to dangerous behaviors, including models giving harmful advice like drinking bleach to users seeking help.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Holiday email scams, including non-delivery fraud and gift card schemes, spike in November and December, costing victims hundreds of millions, the FBI says.

Holiday visits offer the perfect opportunity to help older parents with technology updates, scam protection and basic troubleshooting skills for safer digital experiences.

Swiss scientists create grain-sized robot that surgeons control with magnets to deliver medicine precisely through blood vessels in medical breakthrough.

Researchers exploited WhatsApp's API vulnerability to scrape 3.5 billion phone numbers. Learn how this massive data breach happened and protect yourself.

Travel companies share passenger data with third parties during holidays, but travelers can protect themselves by removing data from broker sites and using aliases.

Xpeng's humanoid robot moves so realistically that crowds believed it was fake, marking a major advancement in robotics technology ahead of 2026 commercial launch.

Researchers discover phishing scam using invisible characters to evade email security, with protection tips including password managers and two-factor authentication.

iPhone and Android users can reduce battery drain and data usage by restricting Background App Refresh to Wi-Fi connections instead of mobile networks.

Scammers nearly stole an Apple account by exploiting the support system with authentic-looking tickets and phone calls, users can protect themselves with safety steps.

FoloToy restored sales of its AI teddy bear Kumma after a weeklong suspension following safety group findings of risky and inappropriate responses to children.

Threat intelligence firm Synthient uncovers one of the largest password exposures ever, prompting immediate security recommendations.

Viral video shared by Elon Musk shows Tesla's Optimus humanoid robots performing tasks from cooking to construction, garnering over 58.5 million views on social media.

Chinese hackers used Anthropic's Claude AI to launch autonomous cyberattacks on 30 organizations worldwide, marking a major shift in cybersecurity threats.

Apple's new Sleep Score feature gives you a rating for your nightly rest quality. Learn how to set it up on your Apple Watch and iPhone today.

Essential phone settings to enable before losing your device, including Find My network, location services and security features for iPhone and Android.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Cybersecurity research shows weak passwords remain a major threat, with simple patterns and number sequences putting millions of accounts at risk.

New Android malware BankBot YNRK silences phones, steals banking data and drains crypto wallets automatically. Learn how this advanced threat works.

Brown Sugar is Not Brown Rice

Nutrition