Health

The Irony of Refined Sugar

Today I am joining Five Minute Friday. We write fast and free for five minutes. Today’s prompt is REFINE.

The dictionary gives these definitions: to reduce to a pure state, to improve or perfect by pruning or polishing, to become pure or perfected.

When I think about refined white sugar I notice great irony. Cane sugar is refined to a white sweetness that we add to food. The irony is; the refining process depletes the nutritional content of sugar.

When sugar is refined the byproduct is molasses. Molasses contains the minerals and B vitamins that have been stripped from the white crystals. Blackstrap molasses is richest in mineral content.

Blackstrap Molasses

Refined white sugar makes baked goods less healthy. Our body must use up its store of stress vitamins to metabolize the sugar into energy. I recently came across a recipe for healthy ginger muffins that includes blackstrap molasses. You can find the recipe here.

Words are sometimes misleading. The descriptive term may be deceiving. It is important to search for the truth. The Bible will always point us to truth.

When the Bible mentions refinement it likens it to purifying silver and gold. The result is truly better. When we are refined, we are becoming more like Christ. The book of Malachi looks ahead to the coming of Jesus Christ.

He [Lord] will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver . . .   Malachi 3:3

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Carol is a follower of Jesus and a wife, mom & grandma. She worked for many years as a childbirth nurse and prenatal educator. She recently retired from clinical work. She has written articles for nursing journals and devotionals. Her novel, Aliisa's Letter, was published in 2010 and she is currently working on another project.

6 Comments on “The Irony of Refined Sugar

  1. I love molasses and until now I had no idea that it was such a distinctive part of refining sugar. You gave me food for thought on both ends of the word refine.

    Thank you for the recipe too.

  2. Interesting- I never thought about how misleading the term “refined sugar” could be. Definitely important to look to the Bible for truth!

  3. What a good reminder to look at things through the Lord’s perspective and not just our definitions. Thanks for sharing! Visiting from FMF

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