Stuck on Molasses

Whether on Valentine's Day or any other, we are drawn to sugary treats like cherubs to frilly hearts. We give sweets to those near and dear to us and associate candy with love. Yet, consuming large amounts of processed sugar provides our bodies with nothing but calories. And it's no small amount: 20 percent of the average American's daily calories come from sugar. Nutritionists refer to these calories as empty because, while they can be used as energy or stored as fat, sugar itself provides no vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals or other nutrients. Instead, when we eat too much sugar, digesting it can deplete valuable stores of vitamins and minerals that would otherwise be used to build new tissue, fight infections and perform other important functions.

To avoid the empty calorie issue, many turn to artificial sweeteners. These compounds contain no calories, but they aren't necessarily good for us. The debate continues over the safety of many of the artificial sweeteners on the markets, and some like saccharin, acesulfame-k and aspartame, have been linked to cancer in animal studies (see "Food Additives"). A 2004 study at Purdue University showed as well that artificial sweeteners may disrupt our bodies' ability to assess how many calories it has taken in, causing weight gain over the long-term.

Rather than relying on artificial sweeteners, we'd be better off enjoying the flavors of fruits, berries and other whole foods that aren't so saccharine. But when you want a sweetener for cookies or morning oatmeal, don't overlook blackstrap molasses and the nutrients it contains.

Molasses is produced during the refining of sugar cane into granulated sugar. The cane is washed, chopped and processed to liberate its sweet juice, which is then repeatedly boiled so that pure sugar crystals can be extracted. With each successive boiling more pure sugar is extracted and a thick syrup containing some sugar and all of the vitamins and minerals that were in the sugar cane remain.

Light molasses is produced from the first boiling. It is very similar to corn syrup, still contains quite a bit of sugar and has a light color and mild flavor. The second boiling produces dark molasses which has a darker color and slight bitter flavor—this is the molasses that is added to granulated sugar to make light brown sugar. Blackstrap molasses is the result of the third boiling. It has the lowest sugar content of the three, a very dark color and a deep rich flavor and retains all the minerals and vitamins from the sugar cane. (Sometimes sulfur is used in the processing of the sugar cane so make sure to purchase unsulfured molasses.)