Wiener Zucker
Sugar and nutrition
Sugar, or sucrose to be exact, is produced in Europe from local sugar beet. This process involves extracting syrup from cleansed and chopped sugar beet, passing through many stages of processing before being thickened and allowed to crystallise. After repeated crystalline transformation, the sugar is cleaned, resulting in pure, clear crystals which appear to be white because of light dispersion. These crystals are made of almost 100% sucrose. Sugar is also an extremely pure foodstuff which can be kept almost indefinitely if properly stored. In many parts of the world, sugar cane is one of the most important sources of sugar, although tree sap such as maple syrup is also popular.
What is sugar?
How is sucrose created?
What roles do sugar and carbohydrates play in nutrition?
Does sugar really make you fat?
Is sugar solely responsible for caries?
Does sugar really prevent us from absorbing nutrients?
Does sugar cause diabetes?
What are honey and other kinds of sugar made of?
Producing sugar from sugar beet
Producing sugar from sugar cane
What is sugar?
When talking about sugar by itself, you normally take that to mean household sugar or sucrose. However, the term “sugar” does not just refer to sucrose, but to a whole host of other sugar such as glucose, fructose and lactose. All of these are important carbohydrate food groups.
How is sucrose created?
Chemically speaking, sucrose, our household sugar, is a disaccharide (two-fold sugar) that is made up of the monosaccharides glucose and fructose.
What roles do sugar and carbohydrates play in nutrition?
Carbohydrates constitute the main form of nutrients needed by humans besides protein and fat.
1g of carbohydrates, i.e. 1g of sugar (sucrose), delivers 4kcal (17kJ), just as 1g of protein. Fat, by way of comparison, delivers 9kcal (37kJ) of energy, significantly more than protein or carbohydrates. The human body breaks down or transforms carbohydrates into glucose. This provides energy for our brain, muscles, renal medulla and the red blood cells.
According to German, Austrian and Swiss recommendations for the intake of nutrients published by the German (DGE), the Austrian (ÖGE) and the Swiss (SGE/SVE) Societies for Nutrition, 50 to 55% of a person’s daily intake of energy should come from carbohydrates, with sugar being consumed in moderation.
The carbohydrates in a human body are used first and foremostly to satisfy the body’s energy needs. Carbohydrates are only turned into body fat if consumed in large amounts (approx. 500 g/d or 2,000kcal) and with a huge amount of energy input. Conversely, nutritional fat is converted into body fat with little energy loss.
Does sugar really make you fat?
No. There is no scientific proof that sugar or carbohydrates make people fat. Quite the opposite in fact. According to epidemiological studies, overweight people eat considerably more fat and fewer carbohydrates than people of normal bodyweight. People who have a lower-than-normal bodyweight actually consume more sugar than they do other carbohydrates. As such, sugar or carbohydrates cannot be held accountable for obesity. This is due much more to an imbalance between energy intake and energy consumption which, in cases of excessive energy intake, leads to obesity.
Is sugar solely responsible for caries?
Caries is a tooth disease that is caused by a number of factors.
One of the factors leading to caries is bacteria in the oral cavity. These microorganisms are recognizable in the form of dental plaque and they feed on carbohydrates. These are turned into acids by bacterial metabolism, and these eat away at the dental enamel.
It is irrelevant how many carbohydrates are consumed, whether sugar, starch or any other kind of carbohydrate. Acidity can still form in the mouth. What is more important is the frequency with which carbohydrates are consumed. This means that frequent snacking between meals stimulates the growth of caries.
The most effective method to prevent caries is to practise good oral hygiene. Only then is it possible to reduce and remove existing dental plaque, whilst at the same time preventing further deposits.
Does sugar really prevent us from absorbing nutrients?
Sugar is an extremely pure product that has no noteworthy micronutrients. Vitamin B1 is necessary to utilize carbohydrates, acting as a catalyst to break them down. This has been taken to mean that consuming high levels of sugar leads to a lack of this vitamin. However, Vitamin B1 is not consumed when breaking down carbohydrates.
Investigations into the supply of nutrients have shown that consuming high levels of carbohydrates or sugar leads to neither a Vitamin B1 deficiency nor any other kind of nutrient deficiency. The reason for this is also that sugar is not usually consumed on its own, but is used as an ingredient with a multitude of different foods, thereby ensuring that the body is fed with enough essential nutrients. The basis of an optimal supply of nutrients is a varied and balanced diet, as no single foodstuff contains all nutrients in sufficient quantities, with the notable exception of a mother’s milk.
Does sugar cause diabetes?
Diabetes mellitus metabolic disease in which the blood sugar level is higher than normal.
Diabetes mellitus type I and II are the two main varieties of this disease that can have many different causes and effects.
Type I diabetes can result from viral infections or adverse reactions by the immune system. The pancreas produces little, if any, insulin, making it impossible for glucose transported in the blood to be absorbed by the body’s cells. In this instance insulin injections are necessary.
Type II diabetes, also known as adult onset diabetes, affects 90% of all diabetics and disrupts the distribution and the effects of insulin. This leads to higher-than-normal concentrations of glucose in the blood long after meals, which can damage vital organs. The main causes of type II diabetes are thought to be excessive weight and adiposity.
Consequently, the term “sugar disease”, often used in the German language, does not mean than diabetes is caused by sugar, but that blood sugar levels can no longer be properly controlled.
For many years, diabetics were instructed to avoid sugar altogether. More recent findings suggest, however, that consuming sugar to provide up to 10% of total energy needs is acceptable. In all cases, this should be discussed with your doctor.
What are honey and other kinds of sugar made of?
Brown sugar, yellow sugar, raw cane sugar, glucose, fructose and honey are generally accepted to be ‘healthier’ alternatives to household sugar. This is not the case, however. If you should look at what the above-mentioned products are made of, this wouldn’t require any further explanation.
Honey consists of fructose, glucose, sucrose and other sugars. Other ingredients include water, mineral compounds and small amounts of vitamins. These do not contribute significantly to meeting the body’s needs. Consequently, honey doesn’t offer any significant nutritional advantage over other kinds of sugar.
Brown sugar consists of sucrose, which is refined by mixing in sugar cane syrup and caramelized granulated sugar.
Yellow sugar is sucrose produced from sugar beet, which contains residual traces of syrup. These lend the sugar its yellowish tone and characteristic taste.
Glucose is a monosaccharide that can be found in all advanced plants. Glucose is particularly abundant in fruits and in honey. Glucose is obtained primarily by breaking down starch, and is sold as a crystallized product in shops or processed further in the food industry as glucose syrup.
Fructose, like glucose, is also a monosaccharide and can be found in fruits and honey. Pure fructose can be obtained by breaking down inulin or sucrose. By subjecting glucose syrup to isomerisation (converting part of the glucose into fructose), a glucose-fructose syrup is created which is of great importance to the food processing industry.
Producing sugar from sugar beet
Producing sugar from sugar beet is a multi-staged process that is carried out extensively in most European countries. Sugar beet takes two years to cultivate, recording its highest level of sugar content in the autumn of its first year of growth. It is harvested at this point and sugar contained in the cells of the sugar beet is extracted and crystallized. After being harvested, the amount of sugar reduces during storage, making it imperative to process it as quickly as possible in order to yield as much sugar as possible. As a result, the beet is processed every year between the end of September and the middle of January, necessitating a biologically based harvesting and processing system (sugar beet campaign).
The most important stages in producing sugar are:
- Processing the beet
- Removing the soil, extracting the sugar beet juice and separating the plant-based materials
- Juice cleaning/concentration
- Removing any non-sugar substances and water (storing the syrup)
- Crystallisation and storing the sugar
- Producing pure sugar and storing this in large silos under ideal conditions
Most of the processing stages are run continuously. The aim of the process is to produce a microbiologically stable commodity (granulated sugar or storable syrup) that can be stored for delivery throughout the entire year (granulated sugar) or for further processing (syrup).
Producing sugar from sugar cane
Sugar cane is obtained from sugar cane shoots called ‘sets’ that are ready for harvest after eleven to eighteen months. Each shoot can be harvested up to seven times before it has to be replaced. Harvesting is done either mechanically or by hand. The dried leaves, called ‘trash’, are often burned away first to make the subsequent processing easier.
The cultivated cane must be processed as soon as possible after being harvested in order to obtain the sugar and to prevent sugar being broken down by microorganisms. Raw cane sugar is thus produced in factories that are located close to the growing area. The sugar cane is cleaned, compressed and ground, before being sprayed with hot water to extract the juice. This juice is then filtered, concentrated by means of pressurized steam, and then crystallized. It is then passed through centrifuges to separate it from the remaining syrup.
At this stage, the sugar is partly clean and exists in a crystallized, microbiologically stable form. As a commodity it can now be stored and transported to refineries around world.
The most important stages in refining raw cane sugar are:
- Affination und dissolution
- Carbonation and filtration
- Decolourisation
- Evaporation and crystallisation
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