Brown Sugar Benefits (According to Ayurveda)

CLINICAL AYURVEDIC REVIEW

When Brown Sugar is called for in a recipe, you know that the result will be not only sweet, but rich in flavors and rustic. Brown sugar's homey-ness conjures images of Grandma's kitchen, breakfast pastries on winter mornings, rich and sweet. This is no ordinary sugar.

Brown Sugar is white sugar with molasses. The molasses gives it a warm brown hue. The addition of molasses to sugar, while adding a rich nourishing flavor and warm brown hue, is high in minerals and you feel an immediate wave of energy.

Unfortunately, the molasses, normally present in unrefined sugar, is usually added back into refined white sugar after processing. Although true unrefined sugar is best among sugar cane products, brown sugar remains a healthier alternative to refined sugar, which is wholly unsatisfying by comparison. The stark austerity of refined sugar, completely void of nutrients, leads to addiction and confusion as your body realizes, no matter how much refined sugar you consume, you still feel hungry.

It is still a sugar though, so if you eat it excessively, brown sugar can slow an alrady sluggish Kapha metabolism and promote weight gain. As with all food in Ayurveda, a little is medicine, a lot is poison.