Brown Sugar vs. White Sugar: Which One Is Better for You?

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Keeping yourself healthy means asking questions and making good choices: Is coffee better for you than tea? Are carbs good for you? And most importantly…is brown sugar better than white sugar? Some people seem to have it in their heads that brown sugar is better for your health. “People tell me all the time they put four teaspoons of brown sugar in their coffee instead of white sugar, so it’s OK,” says Brooklyn-based dietitian Shira Sussi MS, RDN, CDN. The reality is that practice… is not OK. In fact, it’s no different than putting four teaspoons of white sugar in your coffee. (Sorry to burst your bubble!)

There are two types of brown sugar, according to Sussi: factory or natural brown sugar, which maintains the natural cane juice, or refinery brown sugar, which is white sugar coated with a thin film of syrup or molasses. All have different percentages of sucrose, glucose, fructose, minerals, and water. Their flavours and textures may be slightly different. Sussi says the darker the sugar is, the stronger the flavour. But they’re all practically the same when it comes to how they affect your health—just take a look at all of these things that sugar does to your body.

“When it comes to comparing white and brown sugar, the two are almost identical nutrition-wise,” says Alida Iacobellis, MHSc, RD, owner, of ALIVE Nutrition Solutions. “White sugar is slightly more processed seeing as it has the molasses completely stripped out of it, whereas brown sugar is the result of stopping the production process a bit early while a tiny amount of molasses remains. What you end up with is a deeper flavour and colour with brown sugar.”

Iacobellis says less processing means brown sugar does contain trace amounts of minerals like calcium and potassium whereas white sugar is pure sucrose with no vitamins or minerals. The natural juice retained in natural brown sugar also means it’s more flavourful, allowing you to maybe use less says Hailey Crean, MS, RD, CDE, CSOWM, dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator at Hailey Crean Nutrition. But that doesn’t mean you should be bulking up on brown sugar –– stick with the Heart & Stroke’s recommendation of no more than 48 grams of sugar a day, no matter what kind you use. Need some help curbing your sugar intake? Here are 25 reasons why cutting back on sugar could benefit your health.