I have never used white or refined sugar. But I know I get it from many sources like commercially prepared foods. When I was very young, my mother told me brown sugar is better because it is more nutritious. I suspected it had something to do with the price, as brown sugar is far cheaper than white.
Later, I was taught in school that sugarcane rods are bathed in a pool of chlorine to bleach the sugar into white. That forever veered me away from white sugar.
I have been happy with my brown sugar until I came to know of something better - muscovado or unrefined raw sugar. Muscovado is also known as kalamay or mascobado. It is even closer to natural sugarcane juice than brown sugar. Muscovado sugar went through little processing and thus retains more of the vitamins and minerals of natural sugarcane.
Compared to white sugar, muscovado has 40 times more calcium, 6 times more phosphorus, 12 times more iron and has magnesium and zinc which have been stripped altogether from white sugar. Wouldn't it be nice to have a sugar which is a multivitamin and mineral supplement, too?
The drawback with traditional muscovado is that they are processed under unchecked sanitary conditions. Thus, a common comment I grew up hearing was of cockroaches or soil in sacks of mascobado. It is usual to see in public markets basins of muscovado sugar left open for flies and other insects to hover over.
Recently, however, as researchers uncovered the nutritional superiority of muscovado over other sugars, stricter sanitary checks and quality control have made available safe and clean muscovado sugar.
Supermarkets now have BFAD-approved and well-labeled muscovado sugar packages. They sell for almost twice the price of brown sugar. Brown sugar currently sells for 53 pesos per kilo while muscovado sells for 86 pesos a kilo. I would not mind spending some more since I know I am paying for the calcium, phosphorus, iron, magnesium, zinc and all other vitamins and phytochemicals which researchers may not yet have found.
This does not mean, however, that we can consume muscovado sugar as much as we like. We should observe the correct RDA or recommended dietary allowance. Muscovado sugar is classed under carbohydrates and our consumption of them should be calculated accordingly.
The brand of muscovado I am using claims that it is made from organically-grown sugarcane. Which means no chemical fertilizers or pesticides have been used in the sugarcane farm. This adds more value to the sugar.
With muscovado sugar, my comfort drinks become even more comforting.
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