3 ms·

>I don't doubt that white sugar is damaging to arteries and effects the microstructure of arterial walls, but I'm skeptical that there's a statistically signifi

>I don't doubt that white sugar is damaging to arteries and effects the microstructure of arterial walls, but I'm skeptical that there's a statistically significant difference between white and brown sugar for cardiovascular health. Can you cite any studies that break out white vs. brown sugar? I have no studies to cite right now, my son just did a research paper for school on the effects of white processed sugar though. He may have something, but I feel this would require more effort than just googling this. The source I got from this was a doctor at the Mayo Clinic, who treated my friend. I would consider this a reputable source. (but hard to properly reference) Modern brown sugar is just white sugar with molasses added back to it. I have no sources for this though, just info I've run into, and my experiences with real brown sugar (looks nothing like the stuff in the store). Look up Sucanat, a brand of unprocessed sugar, it still has the molasses in it, but it's dry. :P Edit: This article from Mayo Clinic seems to saying the connection between refined sugar and heart disease is unclear, the message I got from my friend (through doctor at Mayo) was that it was not unclear. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/added-sugar/art-20045328 https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-h... Also, another friend (don't talk to her as much so I forgot this one) is that refined sugars cause inflammation in arteries. I can't recall if she had gone to Mayo as well, but that was from her doctor as well.

KMag 9y ago
Ahh, you sound confused by the sugar industry marketing. Brown and "raw" sugar are still processed sugars by many definitions. For instance, see [https://www.cancercenter.com/discussions/blog/natural-vs-refined-sugars-whats-the-difference/ https://www.cancercenter.com/discussions/blog/natural-vs-ref...] Brown, raw, and white sugar are all extracted and highly concentrated from the harvested plant products. When you read about processed suger in medical research, they're almost certainly making a distinction between extracted and concentrated sugars vs sugars that are still bound in plant products such as fruits. I don't doubt that these studies and the Mayo Clinic doctor warned your friend about processed sugars. However, they were almost certainly directing towards fruits and vegetables and away from white sugar, brown sugar, and "raw" sugar (which is a marketing term for a still highly processed sucrose extract from plants). And while we're throwing around Mayo Clinic doctors, my dad recently retired, but he was a practicing physician who did his residency at the Mayo clinic, and he certainly considers brown and "raw" sugar to be processed sugar.
- RobertRoberts 9y ago
  >Ahh, you sound confused by the sugar industry marketing. I don't think so, I agree with you. All of those sugars are processed. What did I write that made you think otherwise? I don't need a doctor to tell me if something is bad for me or not, but it seems to be very useful for many people, hence the Mayo sources. But my point in referencing Mayo was also to demonstrate that this is becoming common knowledge. Sucanat is simply juice from a cane plant with the water removed. This is not a "processed sugar". My personal opinion is this is a plant extract.

KMag 9y ago

Ahh, you sound confused by the sugar industry marketing. Brown and "raw" sugar are still processed sugars by many definitions. For instance, see [https://www.cancercenter.com/discussions/blog/natural-vs-refined-sugars-whats-the-difference/ https://www.cancercenter.com/discussions/blog/natural-vs-ref...] Brown, raw, and white sugar are all extracted and highly concentrated from the harvested plant products. When you read about processed suger in medical research, they're almost certainly making a distinction between extracted and concentrated sugars vs sugars that are still bound in plant products such as fruits. I don't doubt that these studies and the Mayo Clinic doctor warned your friend about processed sugars. However, they were almost certainly directing towards fruits and vegetables and away from white sugar, brown sugar, and "raw" sugar (which is a marketing term for a still highly processed sucrose extract from plants). And while we're throwing around Mayo Clinic doctors, my dad recently retired, but he was a practicing physician who did his residency at the Mayo clinic, and he certainly considers brown and "raw" sugar to be processed sugar.

RobertRoberts 9y ago
>Ahh, you sound confused by the sugar industry marketing. I don't think so, I agree with you. All of those sugars are processed. What did I write that made you think otherwise? I don't need a doctor to tell me if something is bad for me or not, but it seems to be very useful for many people, hence the Mayo sources. But my point in referencing Mayo was also to demonstrate that this is becoming common knowledge. Sucanat is simply juice from a cane plant with the water removed. This is not a "processed sugar". My personal opinion is this is a plant extract.