Vegan Nutrition with Dina Aronson, M.S. R.D.

Dina Aronson, MS, RD is a vegan dietitian whose specialties include chronic disease prevention, vegetarian/vegan nutrition, and lifestyle management. She is the founder and director of VeganRD.com, a nutrition consulting company. Active in many vegetarian nutrition organizations, Dina was the recipient of the American Dietetic Association's Recognized Young Dietitian of the Year Award in 2002.

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Is evaporated cane juice/crystals, turbinado sugar, natural brown sugar, and raw sugar as detrimental to your body as refined sugar? What about honey, and pure maple syrup? - Pat

Dear Pat,

All the sweeteners you mentioned have the similar quality of providing many calories without much in the way of nutrition. After all, sugar is 100% simple carbohydrate. Sugar is not health-supporting, but it does make food taste great. I believe that using sugars in moderation, as long as there are no related health conditions (such as diabetes or Candida infection) is perfectly acceptable. After all, eating is a pleasure, and sometimes the most nutritious food is simply more appetizing when a bit of sweetness is added. Of course, the trick is to use sugars in small amounts, focusing on whole foods as the bulk of your diet.

Being a foodie as well as a nutritionist, I find that the most appropriate way of choosing sweeteners is to select based on my specific needs. For example, for baking cakes and sweet breads, I have better luck with granulated sweeteners such as evaporated cane juice or turbinado than I do with liquid sweeteners. However, on my morning pancakes I find a bit of maple syrup to be a welcome special treat. When cooking acidic foods like tomato sauce, sometimes the flavor balance improves with a touch of sugar, but I use Florida Crystals because maple syrup or brown sugar would not be an acceptable flavor. However, I find that nothing beats brown sugar for making a sweet fruit crisp topping.

Some sweeteners are more nutritious than others because some have trace minerals. The less refinement a sweetener undergoes, the better its nutritional profile. But if we are following the advice to use sweeteners sparingly in the first place, the differences are quite minimal. That said, the top sweetener is blackstrap molasses. This thick, rather bitter-tasting, gooey syrup is a pretty decent source of iron, calcium, and B vitamins.

It is worth mentioning a couple of things about sweeteners and veganism. Honey is not vegan because its production is dependent upon the exploitation of bees. Read more about honey and veganism here. Some vegans will eat foods made with honey or buy it jarred; it is a personal decision. Also, white granulated sugar refined with cow bone char is not considered vegan, strictly speaking. Some brands of sugar are truly vegan (such as the organic varieties), while others are not. Since production methods change and because of regional differences, it is difficult to determine which brands of white sugars are truly vegan.

For those with a sweet tooth, nothing beats fruit. Nature has packaged its "candy" ready for us to eat and enjoy. Aim for 2-4 servings of fiber-, mineral-, and phyto-nutrient-packed fresh and dried fruit per day.

Disclaimer: The advice given here is for eductional purposes only. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease without consulting with a qualified health care provider.

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