For a good length of time, I have used granulated white sugar in all of my home remedies. They are cheap and handy. However, a little voice kept popping up in my mind, “Probably white sugar isn’t that good. Probably I should try raw sugar”
When my white sugar was used up, my chance to try out something new finally came. I went to City’Super, a local supermarket, to buy a packet of raw sugar. I couldn’t wait to know the result. Is raw sugar better than white sugar? Is it better to sprinkle raw sugar in our home remedy? Let’s …Wait! Before I tell you the result of my experiment, let’s first get familiar with this staple.
How Sugar Is Made?
Both raw sugar and white sugar are produced from sugarcane or sugar beets. But the process they undergo is slightly different. And that results in their different colors and flavors.
- Raw sugar: sugarcane plants are pressed to produce juice. After that, the juice is mixed with lime to achieve the desired pH level. The liquid is then evaporated and undergoes centrifugation before being dried to produce granules. The brown color common in raw sugar is due to the presence of molasses.
- White sugar: it undergoes a slightly complicated refining process to strip off the molasses in it. Sulfur dioxide is added before evaporation to bleach the juice. The result is a white, crystalline form of sugar without molasses.
Raw Sugar VS White Sugar
Is there a significant difference between raw and white sugar? The answer is “No.” As Nutrition Diva points out, there aren’t many nutrients in sugar cane. So, after being processed, raw sugar retains much fewer nutrients. As for calories, both types of sugar carry more or less the same amount of content.
Another report on ABC also says something similar: the nutritional value in raw sugar is no more than that of white sugar and brown sugar.
Thanks to marketers, many of us see raw sugar as a better choice and are willing to pay much more to get something of low value. Even the way it’s called “raw” is a misleading trick of marketers.
Home Remedy With Raw Sugar
Though I am a bit disappointed with what I find out about raw sugar, I still tried it out in my exfoliating routine. There are two points I want to highlight.
- The granules of raw sugar are much bigger than white sugar. I can’t locate any type of raw sugar with smaller granules. I guess that’s probably the way raw sugar is supposed to be.
- The granules of raw sugar are more angular than those of white sugar.
Because of the above two reasons, the textures of raw sugar feel rougher on my skin. But it’s probably for the same reason my skin feels smoother after the exfoliation.
Back to the question that I asked at the beginning: is it better to use raw sugar to replace the white one? Raw sugar may have a better exfoliating result, but I think the angular granules are too harsh on my skin. Also, raw sugar is a bit pricey considering that it doesn’t provide extra nutrient value. So, if I had to choose between the expensive raw sugar and the cheap white sugar, my take would be the latter.
Did you ever use raw sugar or white sugar in your home remedy? How do you like it?
