Sweeteners are popular for baking, cooking, and sweetening your favorite beverages. If you’re looking for more natural, unrefined sweeteners to be healthier, where do you start? And are they really healthy? (We’ll answer that question!)
We’ll explain what unrefined sweeteners are, if they’re healthy, and review some of the most popular ones, including:
- Honey
- Maple syrup
- Raw cane sugar
We’ll review nine of the most popular natural, unrefined sweeteners below!
What is a refined sweetener?
When a sweetener is refined, it means it’s processed so that only simple sugar remains. The process of refining also involves removing impurities and can include changing sugars from their natural form through the addition of enzymes and other substances.
Refined sweeteners come from natural sources like sugarcane, beets, and corn, but are considered highly processed to produce a simple sweetener. (So natural doesn’t necessarily mean healthy!)
Refined sugars are also different from natural sugars, such as the kind found naturally in milk (lactose) and fruit (fructose).
Some forms of refined sweeteners are made through enzymatic processes, such as corn syrup.
Examples of refined sweeteners include:
- Corn syrup and high-fructose corn syrup
- Brown sugar
- White sugar (table sugar, regular sugar)
Refined vs. processed sweeteners
The terms refining and processing are often used interchangeably with foods and drinks. Most forms of food are processed to some extent (for instance, washing and bagging spinach is a form of processing), but highly processed foods like white bread and cookies tend to be lower in nutrients than less processed foods.
The same is true for sweeteners. Even unrefined sweeteners are processed a little (maple syrup is made by boiling sap and bottling it, date sugar is made by drying and grinding up dates, etc.), so unrefined sweeteners undergo the least amount of processing compared to highly processed refined sweeteners.
Are refined sweeteners bad for you?
Eating too many refined AND unrefined sweeteners can be bad for your health. Unrefined sweeteners are considered more “natural” by many, but that doesn’t equate to being healthier.
Refined sweeteners are used to sweeten processed foods and sugary drinks, which are some of the leading contributors of added sugar in a typical American diet. These foods are often thought of as being “bad” for you (but everything in moderation, right?).
Processed foods can be sweetened with unrefined sweeteners as well, but it’s less common since refined sweeteners (like corn syrup) are generally less expensive to use.
…and are unrefined sweeteners good for you?
You might think you’re doing yourself a favor by choosing unrefined sweeteners, but they are still sugars. Eating too much sugar, regardless of how unrefined it is, can be problematic for your health.
The bottom line: unrefined sweeteners can be a better choice compared to refined sweeteners (they can contain more nutrients and have lower glycemic indexes, for instance), but they aren’t necessarily a healthy choice in terms of a whole food diet.
9 most popular unrefined sweeteners
Brown rice syrup
Brown rice syrup is a popular sweetener for people following a low FODMAP diet for digestive issues like Crohn’s disease, colitis, and other gastric problems. A low FODMAP diet is low in fructose, and brown rice syrup doesn’t contain fructose.
To make brown rice syrup, cooked brown rice is exposed to enzymes that break down the starch in the rice and turn it into sugar.
Coconut sugar
This sweetener is made from the sap of the coconut palm tree itself – not the actual coconut. Coconut sugar is made from the nectar of the flower bud stem and is minimally processed and unrefined.
Date sugar
Date sugar is made by drying pitted dates and grinding it into a powder. You can also use date syrup, which is made by pureeing dates and then boiling them to remove the liquid.
Honey
Likely the most popular unrefined sweetener, honey is made by bees and other insects through collecting flower nectar. Unlike most sweeteners, honey isn’t vegan-friendly.
Maple syrup
Maple syrup is made by collecting the sap from maple trees and boiling it to remove the liquid. Maple syrup is Paleo-approved, unlike many sweeteners (refined and unrefined).
Molasses (unsulphured)
This dark, thick syrup is made during the process of making sugar from sugar cane. Molasses is the leftover byproduct after sugar is removed from the sugar cane juice through boiling.
Unsulphured molasses is considered the least processed because it doesn’t have the addition of sulphur dioxide as a preservative.
Turbinado cane sugar (“raw sugar”)
“Sugar in the Raw” is turbinado sugar, which is minimally processed and minimally refined. Its coarse crystals are a result of boiling sugarcane juice, turning it into crystals. Then it’s spun with a centrifuge to remove excess moisture.
Turbinado sugar contains some molasses, which gives it an amber-brown color.
Unrefined agave nectar
Many types of agave nectar are refined, so it’s important to choose raw agave nectar if you want an unrefined sweetener.
Agave nectar is made from the leaves of the same plant tequila is made from!
Unrefined cane sugar
Refined cane sugar (white sugar, regular sugar, etc.) is the most common sugar used in households in the United States. Unrefined cane sugar has larger grains and it isn’t bleached to give it a white color like refined white sugar is.
There isn’t a significant difference between unrefined cane sugar and regular cane sugar (white sugar), so keep that in mind! Unrefined cane sugar is the most similar sweetener to white sugar on this list.
FAQs:
Unrefined sweeteners are minimally processed compared to refined sweeteners like white sugar and corn syrup. Examples of unrefined sweeteners include molasses, honey, and maple syrup.
Even the most natural unrefined sugar isn’t necessarily considered “healthy” (sugar is sugar, after all!).
However, unrefined sweeteners like blackstrap molasses, honey, and maple syrup can contain more minerals and nutrients compared to more refined sweeteners. (For example, did you know that blackstrap molasses is high in iron?)
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