What's the Best Type of Sugar for Your Body?

Sugar is the essential nutrient that is the power fuel for our cells. Without sugar consumption, our cells would not have the basic capabilities to perform the essential metabolic functions that keeps us alive.

But sugar comes in many different forms and variations that affect our health differently. In general, we want to do our best to avoid simple sugars. Since it's a simple sugar, this variation gets sent straight into our bloodstream. This causes glucose levels in our body to skyrocket—bringing many negative health issues along with it. If left unchecked, high rates of sugar consumption can lead to weight gain, diabetes, and even tooth loss later in life.

We want to do our best to reduce our consumption of sugars that are monosaccharides, nicknamed "simple sugars." These include foods like fructose, which are found in numerous sweeteners in our food. Here are some of the best types of sugar you can eat that will not elevate your glucose levels and keep your health in check.

Raw Sugar Cane

This type of sugar is extracted directly from the sugarcane plant and it's not refined. Raw sugar cane is significantly less processed than tradition table sugar. This form of sugar is healthier because it's sucrose, meaning that it's not a simple sugar. Also, raw sugar cane still retains molasses and water from the plant.

Thus, you're eating less calories that contribute to your total caloric intake. This sugar is considered to be a diuretic food. This means that urinary production is promoted by the raw sugar cane. So expect better kidney functioning to treat kidney stones and urinary tract infections.

Stevia

This is a natural sweetener that is technically calorie-free and sugar-free. Stevia is extracted from the leaves of the stevia plant. Since it lacks sugar, it will not raise your glucose levels in your blood. This is a good thing because random glucose level spikes could lead to diabetes. Also, this is a good sugar to use if you're trying to lose excess weight since there are no calories in stevia.

But stevia's secret power might be its cancer prevention properties. Stevia is a rich source of antioxidant compounds. Antioxidants are known to help prevent cancer since they help remove free radicals in our body that are known to be cancer causing.

Coconut Sugar

Coconut sugar is made from the sap of coconut trees that are then left in the heat to dry. This sugar contains more nutrients than standard table sugar— including vitamin C, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, and calcium. Also, coconut sugar has less glycemic impact on your body, meaning it will not cause dramatic glucose spikes. Coconut sugar contains less fructose than other sugar types. This is a good thing because fructose is the sugar that turns to fat the quickest in our bodies, and that kind of visceral fat needs the most direct work to get rid of.

As we've seen, there are numerous different types of sugars that are metabolized very differently in our bodies. Since it takes no effort for our bodies to metabolize simple sugars, they go straight into our bloodstream and raise our glucose levels to unhealthy levels. This is one of the biggest risk factors for numerous lifestyle diseases that affect millions of Americans. Try to consume natural unprocessed sugar sources that your body is able to metabolize correctly, and you would automatically lower your chances of developing many of these diseases.

At The Chattanooga Butter Co., we only use unbleached, unrefined organic sugar cane in our sweet spreads. Many have no added sugars at all. Shop our assortment of delicious flavors today!