Most of us are aware of the fact that brown rice is good for health and therefore better than white, Brown bread is better than white, but does this same logic apply to brown sugar as well?

Once, while with a friend at a coffee shop, she suddenly came up with this thought that white sugar is unhealthy and brown is very healthy and will help you not gaining weight. I wondered really?

I went back home and pondered over what she said. Next thing I decided do was to research on the subject-which sugar is better white or brown? Both tastes similar in sweetness and both have calories but, when I researched deep into the topic, I got to know lot more.

Let us first take a look at its nutrition value and after that we will look at its relation with weight gain

Although many people are of the opinion that brown sugar is a healthier option than white sugar, the truth is that they only have certain different nutritional values. White sugar is actually 99.9% pure sucrose, while brown sugar is 97% sucrose, 2% water and 1% other substances.

A teaspoon of white sugar contains 16 kilocalories, whereas one teaspoon of brown sugar has 17 kilocalories.

The molasses in brown sugar contains a number of minerals, which include calcium, potassium, magnesium and iron, but since only very small amounts of these minerals are present in brown sugar, they do not bring any health benefit to the body. It is known that sugar has very little nutrients, and both white sugar and brown sugar do not do much to promote health.

Because of its molasses content, brown sugar does contain certain minerals. (white sugar contains none of these). But, since these minerals are present in only minuscule amounts, there is no real health benefit to using brown sugar. The real differences between the two are taste and the effects on baked goods. Brown sugar is more likely referred as “raw sugar” because it is not refined

So now that it has been proved nutritionally, “Brown sugar and white sugar are not much different”, let us now look at the other aspects of sugar and weight loss. It is said that a person should have a minimum of only 2 spoons of sugar in a day but there again it’s a misconception, so how much of sugar a person should have in a day?

Unfortunately, there is no simple answer to this question. Some people can eat some sugar without harm, while others should avoid it as much as possible.

According to the American Heart Association (AHA), the maximum amount of added sugars you should eat in a day are

• Men: 150 calories per day (37.5 grams or 9 teaspoons).
• Women: 100 calories per day (25 grams or 6 teaspoons).

But, if you ask me I would say one should avoid excess sugar as much they can.

Whoever out there are consuming brown sugar as an alternative for weight loss or diabetic reasons should look out for better option and go in for natural sweetner’s like honey, jiggery, sugarcane, dates as these would be beneficial and more healthier for you rather than any white or brown or both.