Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site utastro.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxn!ihnp4!qantel!dual!lll-crg!mordor!ut-sally!utastro!anita From: anita@utastro.UUCP (Anita Cochran) Newsgroups: net.cooks Subject: re: sugar vs. honey Message-ID: <4@utastro.UUCP> Date: Tue, 1-Oct-85 13:55:15 EDT Article-I.D.: utastro.4 Posted: Tue Oct 1 13:55:15 1985 Date-Received: Sun, 6-Oct-85 04:45:22 EDT Distribution: net Organization: U. Texas, Astronomy, Austin, TX Lines: 36 The discussion of the "naturalness" of honey vs. sugar has gotten to be quite amusing and just goes to show that authoritative books may be found on both sides of the issue. Refining sugar does NOT change it in such a way as to make it more harmful than the original sugar cane (or beet) but it does rob it of some of the more complex parts (and maybe nutrition). However, the original request for no sugar recipes came from someone who was concerned about sugar intake because of an inherited risk of cancer. I have lived with a diabetic all my life (my father) and this discussion of honey being better for you is just plain nonsense from a diabetic point of view. When insulin production cannot meet the demand for sugar consumption in the body, it matters little whether the sugar in the body started out as a simple sugar (say refined sugar or honey) or if it started out as a complex sugar (say a starch such as bread). By the time the body has turned it into sugar, all sugars are created equal to the diabetic. The degree of complexity just dictates the speed at which is enters the blood stream (incidentally, alchohol goes to sugar in the blood stream very quickly). The important point for the diabetic is that MANY foods contain sugar that are not as obvious as white table sugar. For a diabetic, the chemical products such as nutrasweet or sacharin which are non-nutrative sweetners are less harmful (for their diabetes -- not necessarily cancer) than pure products such as honey, white sugar, brown sugar, etc. If you really want a low sugar diet to be proper for diabetes, I suggest you contact the American Diabetes Association and ask about the Diabetic Exchange Diet. This carefully thought out diet helps balance the potentially harmful foods and alerts you to hidden sugars. -- Anita Cochran uucp: {noao, ut-sally, ut-ngp}!utastro!anita or seismo!ut-sally!utastro!anita arpa: anita@astro.UTEXAS.EDU snail: Astronomy Department The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX 78712 at&t: (512) 471-1471 Brought to you by Super Global Mega Corp .com