There are many reasons to make some changes to your recipes. Recipe makeovers can be fun and the end results, delicious and healthy. There are many suggestions for ingredient substitutions, many with the potential to improve the nutrition profile of recipes. Options for reducing sugar, calories or fat can be found in many places. There are also many recipes that claim to have been improved, or made healthy, already. The devil, as always, is in the details.
If you are trying to cut back on refined carbs or calories you may have come across recipes for baked treats claiming “no added sugar”. Many consist of the standard recipe for banana bread, but instead of granulated sugar, honey or maple syrup makes an appearance.
Many forms of sugar
The first time I opened a recipe with that claim I expected that bananas would be the only source of sweetness listed. I was surprised to see honey in fairly large quantities (⅔ or ¾ cup depending on the recipe). Having seen this enough times I began to understand that the author means refined sugar when stating “no sugar” in the title. Here is the thing, honey is a type of sugar. A natural, unrefined form but sugar nonetheless. If you add honey to a recipe you are adding a form of sugar.
Natural, liquid, unrefined, it’s still full of calories
Honey, maple syrup or agave nectar are all forms of natural unrefined sugars. Their unrefined nature means the sugar molecules come with some additional nutrients/compounds thrown in. These compounds add to the flavor profile, color, form and may have some other benefits (antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties for example) but the basic, and main component is some form of sugar (glucose, fructose and sucrose for honey; sucrose for granulated sugar). In fact, honey and maple syrup contain deceptively high amounts of the sweet stuff. These liquid forms of sugar are heavier than their refined cousin and so contain more calories for the same volume. Simply put, these liquid forms cram in more grams of sugar in a cup than the granulated forms. One reason, there are no spaces for air in the liquid like there are in between the crystal forms (an oversimplification but you get the picture).
More calories than you think
That weight difference can translate to a lot of calories. What do I mean? 1 cup of granulated sugar has about 778 calories and weighs 200g. Honey has about 1031 calories and weighs 339g for each cup; 1 cup of maple syrup has 819 calories and 315g. The other compounds and liquid account for some of the weight in honey and maple syrup. Unfortunately sugar is still the predominant ingredient. In fact, ¾ cup of honey has the same amount of calories as one cup of refined granulated sugar. A substitution of 3/4 cup of honey for 1 cup sugar does not make the item a healthier choice. In fact, many recipes using honey end up being higher in calories than their refined sugar versions. The only difference is us congratulating ourselves on a healthy choice and having another slice while unknowingly undermining our weight loss efforts.
No matter what the math, a baked good that includes honey, maple syrup or agave nectar is not a “no-sugar-added” option. Honey is sugar, made by bees, not humans, but sugar nonetheless.
Health Halos affect our interaction with food and can have a significant impact on our health. The “no-sugar-added” misnomer fits squarely in the Health Halos category. Understanding Health Halos is one of the steps to living a healthy and delicious life. “How to eat Mindfully and Mindlessly lose weight” explains how Health Halos impact our life. “Your food life” can help you discover your own health halos and design a path for healthy living. Pickup your copy today.