Ingredient Information

Function

Turbinado sugar, also called raw sugar, refers to sugar which has not gone through the refining process. Turbinado sugar is obtained from the sugar cane plant. The cane is first pressed, the sugar is then extracted in water, which is then evaporated and seeded for crystallization. The product at this stage is turbinado sugar. The crystals have a sticky brown coating that is characteristic of turbinado sugar. This is coating is what is removed along with other impurities when making white or refined sugar.

Turbinado sugar is used in the same way as white sugar. There is a slight difference in taste.

Other Use and Industries

Turbinado sugar is used as an ingredient in facial and body scrubs.

Health Effects

Turbinado sugar is a simple sugar. It consists of sucrose. Consuming simple sugar instantly causes the blood to become acidic. Acidic blood, over time, leads to many common, serious health problems. Acidic blood is the root cause of arthrosclerosis, or the hardening of arteries, which leads to more types of heart disease. Cholesterol does form the plaque in the arteries, but the plaque forms as a protection against irritation, such as that caused by acidic blood.

Acidic blood creates the optimum conditions for cancer growth as cancer cells thrive in an acidic environment. When the pH of the blood is correct (7.4) it carries a sufficient amount of oxygen to discourage the growth of cancer cells. This is because cancer cells are anaerobic (without oxygen), as are several other types of disease-causing agents, and they cannot flourish in an oxygen-rich environment. Acidic blood depletes cells of oxygen, so it is perfect for anaerobic cells. For optimum health the correct pH of the blood must be maintained, and consuming simple sugar works against this aim.

There are often claims that turbinado sugar is better for the health than white sugar, but raw sugar is metabolized in the body in exactly the same way as white sugar, producing the same health effects. There are tiny amounts of minerals in turbinado sugar, but not more than are easily obtained from other daily eaten foods.

Sometimes the charcoal used in the sugar purification process is made from animal bones.

Origins

Turbinado is obtained from the sugar cane plant. Its name, turbinado, comes from the turbines which the sugar is spun in during processing.

In the United Kingdom, turbinado sugar is called demerara sugar after the Demerara colony in Guyana, which was the original source of sugar. In the United States, turbinado sugar is primarily produced in Hawaii.