Brown sugars It's the same as normal caster sugar, but it's unrefined, so has more caramel flavours.
The sweetness level will be exactly the same, but the brown sugar may change the texture of your baked goods. You'll likely notice a more robust flavor and the color of the finished baked good may be darker as well.
Talking about sugar being good for health, then natural sugar or stevia is the best. They have many health benefits to offer apart from weight loss. It has all the essential nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that are essential for your body. While stevia is also known to be the best sugar for weight loss.
From a nutrition perspective, there's no advantage to using white sugar over brown sugar or vice versa, the Sugar Association says: "Nutritionally speaking, all natural sugars have relatively comparable nutritional value with approximately 15 calories per teaspoon (4.2 g)."
Side Effects
Brown sugar when consumed in limited quantity is safe and well-tolerated by most healthy adults. However, if consumed in large amounts may increase the risk of weight gain, yeast infections and diabetes.
Brown Sugar is equally high in carbohydrates. However, unlike white sugar, which is considered to have empty calories, brown sugar contains some traces of micronutrients like iron, calcium, zinc, copper, potassium, phosphorus, and vitamin B-6.
Moreover, processed, high fructose corn syrup may be the worst type of sugar a person can consume. Some medical experts relate sugar to cocaine in the way it has addictive effects on the brain in humans and in animals and this notion is supported by research.
Free sugars are found in foods such as sweets, cakes, biscuits, chocolate, and some fizzy drinks and juice drinks. These are the sugary foods we should cut down on. For example, a can of cola can have as much as 9 cubes of sugar – more than the recommended daily limit for adults.
There are several healthy alternatives to caster sugar. For hot drinks, we recommend stevia or honey to sweeten the drink and add nutrients to your drink. In baking, coconut sugar is a great caster sugar alternative, as are some sugar alcohols like xylitol, as well as monk fruit sweeteners.
Brown sugar is often used in baking for the flavor and moistness it adds to baked goods. The molasses in brown sugar also helps to prevent cookies and cakes from drying out. It generally makes baked goods softer and moister.
Because of its molasses content, brown sugar does contain certain minerals, most notably calcium, potassium, iron and magnesium (white sugar contains none of these). But since these minerals are present in only minuscule amounts, there is no real health benefit to using brown sugar.
Brown and white sugars both add sweetness to your bakes. But the molasses content of brown sugar makes it more suitable for goods that are supposed to be chewy and a little caramel-flavored.
Since it's finer than granulated sugar, caster sugar dissolves and incorporates more quickly — this makes it perfect for light and airy desserts like meringues and soufflés. It's also often used to sweeten beverages, such as tea, because it doesn't need heat to dissolve.
Detoxing from sugar can help you lose weight quickly. “We had over 80 testers from all over the country, and they lost anywhere between 5 to 20 pounds during the 31 days, depending on their weight or sugar addiction,” Alpert said. “Many also noticed that a lot of the weight was lost from their midsection.
Cutting down sugar helps in improving insulin resistance, makes you feel active and energetic and further boosts your kidney function and metabolism. "Cutting down sugar will reduce your hunger pangs and also prevent mood swings since they are mostly caused by sugar spikes," the expert added.
You will feel more energetic and a bit lighter as well. Within a week of quitting sugar, you will also notice your skin clearing up. Pimples and acne will reduce, your skin will become smoother and you will glow from within. Another big advantage that comes with quitting sugar is weight loss.
Sweeteners like fruit juice, honey, molasses and maple syrup contain natural sugar and have some nutritional benefits. Fruit has fiber, vitamins and antioxidants. Even raw honey and maple syrup can contain antioxidants and minerals like iron, zinc, calcium and potassium.
"Honey's advantages over sugar include a slightly lower glycemic index (i.e. it doesn't affect your blood-sugar levels as much)," Dr. Dixon says. "It also contains more vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, such as calcium, potassium, vitamin C, zinc, phenolic acids, and flavonoids."
Brown sugar contains anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial elements that help fight the bacteria and infections in the human body.
Brown sugar contains more minerals than white sugar but it will not provide any health benefits. Brown sugar has molasses and a little richer flavor. Intake of all types of sugar should be limited for optimal health. White sugar has no molasses and is just plain sweet.