Sugar
How does the use of sugar fit into the vegan diet?
There is quite a bit of contention surrounding the issue of sugar and the vegan diet. I have learned quite a bit since I first went vegan in 1998, and I am hoping that this revision of my sugar page on VeganMania.com will reflect that. Some of the things I originally posted about sugar on this site I no longer believe, or know to be true, and some I feel quite differently about, as my veganism has evolved.
The question I get asked the most via email is about whether or not white cane sugar is processed with the use of bone char. The answer is, yes, sometimes. Whether or not the sugar that YOU buy and use is, I have no idea. You will need to contact the manufacturer of that brand of white cane sugar and ask to be sure. Some manufacturers still use it, some do not. The real question for me has become, does the minute amount of animal product that may or may not be used in the production of cane sugar affect my veganism? Because one could reasonably argue that you simply cannot get away from all animal products in our modern world. The keyboard I am typing these words on likely has animal byproducts in it (as most plastics do). The grains, vegetables and fruits that I enjoy eating were harvested with machinery that killed many small animals like mice, voles, shrews, rabbits, invertebrates and insects. And on and on. The bottom line here, I guess, is that as a vegan you need to make a choice – are you a symbolic or a practical vegan?
My trying to delve more deeply into this issue would be akin to my trying to reinvent the wheel, when articles like this one already exist.
Up until very recently, I was using refined white sugar in much of my baking and cooking for lack of an affordable alternative. Now that organic, fair trade, vegan-safe refined cane sugar is more widely available I have made the switch.
Beyond the issue of whether or not white cane sugar should be considered vegan is the issue of our health. White sugar is considered a drug in most ‘health food’ circles, and from my own experience I judge this to be true. We should, from a health standpoint, strive to reduce the amount of sugar that we consume, if not remove it from our diets altogether. Its consumption is linked to a whole host of ailments that inhibit us. However, if you just want to enjoy a good sweet dessert, you should. You can minimize the damage that sugar does to you buy choosing to use an unrefined sweetener. These include (but are not limited to) maple syrup, brown rice syrup, barley malt syrup, agave syrup, fruit concentrate, SuCaNat (SUgar CAne NATurally), and stevia. Most of these sweeteners contain trace nutrients not found in your standard white cane sugar. Most also do not affect the your blood sugar levels in such a severe way.
When trying to substitute for white sugar in a recipe, here are some guidelines:
If you are replacing granulated white sugar with a liquid sweetener like maple syrup, reduce the amount of other liquids the recipe calls for slightly (by 1/4 to 1/3, usually). Also, you will want to beat the liquid sweetener into the wet ingredients, rather than adding it alone to the dry ingredients.
For information about substituting stevia in recipes that call for sugar visit http://www.stevia.com and if you try your hand at it, let me know how it goes.
Finally, a note about “brown” sugar. Unless the package specifies that the sugar is unrefined, you are likely looking at a product that has been completely refined into a white cane sugar, and then had some of the molasses that is removed, stirred back into it.
In closing, I’d like to reiterate the fact that I do think it’s important for our overall health to reduce or eliminate the amount of sugar that our diets contain. North Americans consume a ghastly amount of the stuff every year, pounds and pounds per individual, through convenience foods, and soft drinks, and ‘juices’ and candies and baked goods. It is a “hidden” ingredient in toothpastes and even table salt! I love sweets as much as the next person and sugar plays an important role in many different recipes for flavour and browning purposes. Try to find and strike a balance.