How Sweet It Is!

Jackie Gleason, of "The Honeymooners" fame, would often say "How Sweet It Is!" when talking about life and love. He played Ralph Kramden, the short-tempered yet kind-hearted bus driver for the Gotham Bus Company. He was always working on get-rich-quick schemes with his best friend Ed Norton.

Jackie was born and raised in Brooklyn. His quote is on a street sign welcoming visitors to the city when they cross the Brooklyn Bridge. He also is quoted as saying: "Our dreams are firsthand creations, rather than residues of waking life. We have the capacity for infinite creativity; at least while dreaming, we partake of the power of the Spirit, the infinite Godhead that creates the cosmos." showing that he believed that we can be connected with God at least in our dreams, if not in our daily work.

Welcome to Brooklyn road sign by Sledgeh101

Like Jackie's quote, we sometimes talk of sugar as "How Sweet It Is!", using it as the standard of sweetness for other substances. But sugar is more than that! It is an essential source of energy that supports life as we know it. Scientifically, we use sugar as a general name for the sweet, short-chain, soluble carbohydrates found in many foods.

There are various types of sugar. Simple sugars are called monosaccharides and include glucose (also known as dextrose), fructose and galactose. The white or granulated sugar most customarily used in foods is sucrose, a disaccharide. Other disaccharides include maltose and lactose. Glucose, found in all three of the disaccaharides mentioned, is one of the primary sources of energy in our bodies.

• Lactose (Milk Sugar) = galactose + glucose
• Maltose (Starch Sugar) = glucose + glucose
• Sucrose (Cane or Beet sugar) = fructose + glucose

Lactose is the naturally occurring sugar found in milk. A molecule of lactose is formed by the combination of a molecule of galactose with a molecule of glucose. Lactose is broken down during digestion into its constituent parts by the enzyme lactase. Children have this enzyme but some adults no longer form it and they are unable to digest lactose (lactose intolerant).

Maltose is formed by the combination of two molecules of glucose. It is less sweet than glucose, fructose or sucrose. It is formed in the body during the digestion of starch by the enzyme amylase and is itself broken down during digestion by the enzyme maltase. Starch is composed mainly of long chains of glucose molecules.

Sucrose occurs naturally alongside fructose and glucose in other plants, in particular fruits and some roots such as carrots. The different proportions of sugars found in these foods determines the range of sweetness you experience when eating them. A molecule of sucrose is formed by the combination of a molecule of glucose with a molecule of fructose.

Although sucrose is found in many plants, it exists only in sufficient concentrations for commercial extraction in sugar cane and sugar beet. Sugar cane is cultivated in the tropical climates of Southeast Asia, the West Indies and Americas. Sugar beet is grown in cooler climates.

A method to crystallize sugar was discovered in India around the 5th century AD. It produced crystals that were called, in the local language, "khanda" which is the source of our word, candy. The evolution of taste and the demand for sugar as an essential food ingredient unleashed major economic and social changes. Sugar production and trade changed the course of human history, influenced the formation of colonies and the migration of peoples, resulted in wars between sugar trading nations, and impacted the ethnic composition and political structure of the New World.

Today we are focusing mainly on sugar as sucrose and its two monosaccharides, glucose and frutose.

Sugar as sucrose is refined from sugar cane and sugar beets. Most sugar used in the Western world is derived from sugar cane (80%). Beet sugar is extracted from the roots by diffusion to produce a juice which is then treated with calcium hydroxide and carbonatation to produce a pure sugar liquid. Water is then removed by boiling the juice in a vacuum and pure sucrose crystals are formed by seeding the resulting syrup. The crystals formed are relatively pure sucrose and are generally not refined further.

Sugar from sugar cane is treated in a similar fashion except that the final crystals are not as pure, but have a sticky brown coating. This sugar can either be used as is (raw or Turbinado sugar) or further refined to remove this coating. The by-product of the refining process results in molasses which contains significant amounts of vitamin B6 and minerals, including calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, and potassium. Brown sugar is typically produced by taking refined sugar and adding back some of the molasses although raw or Turbinado sugar can be considered "brown" sugar as the molasses has not been fully extracted. Raw sugars are touted as more healthy though really are not significantly different than commercially prepared brown sugar.

When baking with sugar, some recipes call for one sugar or the other, brown or white, or a combination. Slightly acidic brown sugar causes baked goods to rise higher since it activates any baking soda in the recipe. It also retains moisture. White sugar is not acidic and adds no leavening power, so you end up with less rise and a crisper crust. Sometimes it is possible to substitute one for the other, or even to use fruit juices or apple sauce to replace the sugar and get more nutrients into the finished baked goods.

Heating also impacts the taste and texture of foods containing sugar. As sugar caramelizes, it turns brown and breaks down into a complex chemical mixture that produces the caramel flavor and brown color. Caramelization is a reaction between different types of sugars and usually is used to produce that sweet confection, Caramel. It is the result of Pyrolysis. This process is somewhat different than the Maillard Reaction which is a chemical reaction between sugars and amino acids. This reaction is what makes the tasty brown goodness of a well seared steak or the crunchy brown crust on your favorite french fries.

Sugar (sucrose - see photo) contains one molecule of fructose and one molecule of glucose with a chemical formula of C12H22O11. By enzymatic action, our body breaks down sucrose into these two monosaccharides during digestion. The resulting fructose and glucose molecules are then rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream. Glucose is taken up directly into the cells while fructose passes to the liver, where it is metabolized into triglycerides.

Magnification of grains of refined sucrose

Fructose and glucose are simple sugars with the same chemical formula C₆H₁₂O₆ although they have different structures (see illustration above). They have five hydroxyl groups (−OH) and a carbonyl group (C=O) and are cyclic when dissolved in water. They each exist as isomers with dextro- and levo-rotatory forms that cause polarized light to diverge to the right or the left. The dextro- isomers (e.g. dextrose) are the ones commonly found in nature. Fructose, or fruit sugar, occurs naturally in fruits, some root vegetables, cane sugar and honey and is the sweetest of the sugars. It is the primary component of high-fructose corn syrup, which is manufactured from hydrolyzed corn starch. Glucose, or dextrose, occurs naturally in fruits and plant juices and is the primary product of photosynthesis. Most ingested carbohydrates are converted into glucose during digestion and it is the main form of sugar that is transported by the bloodstream. It can be manufactured from starch by enzymatic hydrolysis.

The average person consumes about 75gm of refined sugars each day, equal to 15 teaspoonfuls. At 4 calories per gram, this is and extra 300 calories a day! This is more than double the recommended allowance. Since the latter part of the twentieth century, it has been questioned whether a diet high in sugars, especially refined sugars, is good for human health and may potentially be a cause of obesity.

Much ado has been made of sugar but most other natural sweeteners are also a combination of glucose and fructose. Sucrose is 50% glucose and 50% fructose. Honey, Agave nectar, invert sugar and high fructose corn syrup all contain similar mixtures of these two simple sugars. Substituting one of these for sugar still results in the same number of extra calories. We will cover these alternative natural sweeteners (and others, including artificial sweeteners) in subsequent blogs.

One main concern with excessive intake of these sugars is their metabolism. Glucose is mainly used directly as a source of energy and causes the release of insulin into the bloodstream. Insulin is required for cells to absorb glucose. Chronic excess glucose in the bloodstream is call hyperglycemia. Excessive sugar or glucose intake can lead to obesity and Type 2 Diabetes. Fructose does not affect insulin levels and is metabolized mainly in the liver and is converted into triglycerides. Excess fructose increases the likelihood of fatty liver disease and insulin resistance.

Table 1. Sugar content of selected common plant foods (g/100g)[Ref]

Food Item	Total  Carbs	Total  Sugars	Free  Fructose	Free  Glucose	Sucrose	Fructose/  Glucose Ratio	Sucrose as a % of  Total Sugars
Fruits
Apple	13.8	10.4	5.9	2.4	2.1	2.0	19.9
Apricot	11.1	9.2	0.9	2.4	5.9	0.7	63.5
Banana	22.8	12.2	4.9	5.0	2.4	1.0	20.0
Fig, dried	63.9	47.9	22.9	24.8	0.9	0.93	0.15
Grapes	18.1	15.5	8.1	7.2	0.2	1.1	1
Navel orange	12.5	8.5	2.25	2.0	4.3	1.1	50.4
Peach	9.5	8.4	1.5	2.0	4.8	0.9	56.7
Pear	15.5	9.8	6.2	2.8	0.8	2.1	8.0
Pineapple	13.1	9.9	2.1	1.7	6.0	1.1	60.8
Plum	11.4	9.9	3.1	5.1	1.6	0.66	16.2
Vegetables
Beet, Red	9.6	6.8	0.1	0.1	6.5	1.0	96.2
Carrot	9.6	4.7	0.6	0.6	3.6	1.0	77
Corn, Sweet	19.0	6.2	1.9	3.4	0.9	0.61	15.0
Red Pepper	6.0	4.2	2.3	1.9	0.0	1.2	0.0
Onion, Sweet	7.6	5.0	2.0	2.3	0.7	0.9	14.3
Sweet Potato	20.1	4.2	0.7	1.0	2.5	0.9	60.3
Yam	27.9	0.5	trace	trace	trace	na	trace
Sugar Cane		13-18	0.2-1.0	0.2-1.0	11-16	1.0	high
Sugar Beet		17-18	0.1-0.5	0.1-0.5	16-17	1.0	high

The best way to get sugars into your diet is naturally. Refined sugar is considered to be just empty calories and it lacks the nutrients that could be obtained by getting our daily allowance from fruits and vegetables. As you can see from the table above, many fruits and vegetables are good, balanced sources of sugars. Avoid sugary soft drinks and even many fruit juices and smoothies as they are heavier in sugars than the raw fruits and many have added sugars. God gave us the plants for food, enjoy them as close to their natural state as possible!

Genesis 1:29 (NLT) Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food.

Proverbs 24:14 (NLT) In the same way, wisdom is sweet to your soul. If you find it, you will have a bright future, and your hopes will not be cut short.