When invited to functions or visiting family and friends, I’ve often been tasked with trying to explain why I’m not able to eat without offending anyone (In the South, it’s seen as offensive if you’re at an event and not eating).  When someone is more interested in understanding how I eat, they ask a lot of questions, and I’ve found that the topic of sugar can get confusing very quickly.  This confusion is not unfounded.  There are many different types of sugar available in stores, and the average consumer is unable to navigate the differences between them.  If you then add the topic of organic sugar, it makes things even more confusing.  My success with these diseases came down to monitoring things happening to my body, and understanding the different types of sugar I was consuming, specifically cane.

On ingredient lists, you see several different varieties of cane sugar; sucanat, dehydrated cane juice, evaporated cane juice, turbinado, dark brown, light brown, and white (most common).  If you add honey into the equation, you soon realize that there are hundreds of different varieties of honey that exist all with very different flavor profiles.  In addition, there are also other varieties of sugars ranging from beets to coconut that are also found in stores.  That’s not to mention dextrose, agave nectar, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, and all of the sugar substitutes.  There are even some products that list fructose, glucose, sucrose, sucralose, galactose, etc.  Trying to understand all of these things is quite daunting.

In this post, we’ll simply go over what it means when you see “Organic Sugar.”  According to the FDA website, the organic label is regulated by the National Organic Program, a department within the USDA.  The USDA website defines organic as “Organic is a labeling term that indicates that the food or other agricultural product has been produced through approved methods. The organic standards describe the specific requirements that must be verified by a USDA-accredited certifying agent before products can be labeled USDA organic.  Overall, organic operations must demonstrate that they are protecting natural resources, conserving biodiversity, and using only approved substances.”  These standards can be cumbersome not only for the farmers that must adhere to them, but also the consumers trying to understand them.  On top of that, there can be different standards for the different outputs; livestock, vegetables, cotton, fruit, etc.  But, the USDA makes a clear disclaimer “Our regulations do not address food safety or nutrition.”

This disclaimer leads me to the point of this post.  Just because its organic doesn’t mean it’s healthy.  The exact health benefits of eating organic vs. non-organic have been long debated by scientists.  That we won’t get into.  In my own life, I have observed stark differences when consuming refined sugars vs. raw sugars.  I had to learn that a sugar can be organic but still be refined (not raw).  A lot of theories exist as to why sugar hasn’t been identified as harmful through science and policy.  Theories range from scientists being silenced, mob-style interference from the sugar lord families that date back to colonialism, sugar lobbyists influence on capitol hill, only mouse models being used to study sugar toxicity, not enough clinical trials studying sugar consumption, the list goes on.  Regardless of the reason, each person cannot solely rely on science, research, publications, policy, doctors, others to make responsible health choices for themselves.  Everyone must work diligently to observe their own bodies, communicate with responsible doctors, and design a plan that works for them.  I was lucky enough (for lack of a better word) that refined flour, rice, and sugar was so toxic to me that if consumed, I would have boils within 24 hours.

I had to learn; Though a bag of sugar is labeled “Organic Sugar,” one must still observe the reality of what that really means.  The more processed a food is, the more it’s natural state has been interfered with, the more it is theorized to be unhealthy.  Therefore, just because it meets government standards for it’s processing, doesn’t negate the fact that it is severely processed in the first place.