Craving Sweet but Don’t Know What Sugar's Best to Eat?

A Look at Sugar through the Lens of Āyurveda

Everyone wants to know which sugar is the healthiest; or, if there is a sweetener that they can use and not feel guilty about? Well, the short answer is not really. According to Dr. Lisa Nelson’s (MD) article Say It Like It Is: Sugar Is a Drug the problem with sugars comes when we extract them from natural sources and use them in concentrated form as sweeteners in our food. This refining process allows us to consume sugars at much higher rates than our liver can process, leading to an unhealthy addiction to sweeteners.  

How much can our liver process in 1-day? The American Heart Association recommends that the average adult male consume no more than 9 tsp. of sugar per/day, the equivalent of 36 grams. Putting this recommendation in terms of food, one 6 oz. Yoplait Original 99% fat free Lemon Burst has 31 grams of sugar, placing it (alone) close to the daily limit for an adult male, whereas a 16 oz. Arizona Ice Tea has 48 grams of sugar, well over the daily limit.

So what can we do to curb our intake, while still enjoying a bit every now and then? Āyurveda does offer some guidelines for healthy eating. One such tip is, favor sugars that are closest to their source and the least processed. With this in mind, some ideal forms of sweeteners would include fresh sugarcane juice, jaggary, raw sugar, and raw honey (uncooked). Even though these sugars still contribute to daily recommendations, they are considered less refined and therefore easier for the body to recognize, breakdown and assimilate, as compared to highly refined sugars like high-fructose corn syrup.

Are all sugars created equal then?

At the foundation of Āyurveda is the pancha mahabhutas, the five great elements, that come together in very specific ways to form the three-doshas: vātā, pitta and kapha.

The doshas can be seen in our personal body constitution, the elemental makeup of specific seasons, and even in the foods we eat (e.g. each food is said to provoke or pacify certain elements in the body). Sugars are no exception. In general, the sweet taste of sugar is considered to provoke kapha dosha, and pacify both pitta and vātā. For a modern analysis of a broader range of readily available sugars, Dr. Vasant Lad of the Āyurvedic Institute has put together a chart of common sugars according to their subtle effects on each dosha, offering a great jumping off point for considering what sugar you may want to favor or avoid depending on your constitution, imbalances that may be present, or the season at hand.

What about Stevia?

Everyone in the health world has been going crazy about stevia, and is suggesting that perhaps it’s the healthy answer to our sugar cravings? Let’s look at stevia through the lens of Āyurveda.

Stevia's main taste is very sweet. According to Joyful Belly, it is "up to 150 times the sweetness of sugar". Aside from the sweet taste that is found in most sugars, the secondary tastes include a mild, licorice-like aftertaste that's slightly bitter and astringent. What does this mean according to Āyurveda, these tastes would aggravate vātā and kapha, but be pacifying to pitta. It is also considered light, cold, and sharp because of its intensity. Because of the sharp and light guna, it would lack the sedating quality found in many sugars and instead it's intensity would suggest the opposite effect, activating.

What does this mean? Although the traditional texts don’t mention stevia, given its qualities it appears to have a more rajasic -movement oriented quality- than tamasic -lethargic quality. This means, if you’d like to enjoy stevia, it may be best to have early in the day, rather than later when you need more tamas to sleep. Additionally, because of it’s secondary tastes, we can draw the conclusion that it may be a nice sugar to enjoy in the summer, or when you’re experiencing higher pitta.

BIG Take Aways

Āyurveda favors less processing, as this ensures that whatever foods you are putting into your body are easily recognized, broken-down, and assimilated. Favor sugars that are closer to their raw form.

And, remember, everything in Āyurveda has a time and place, and an effect on the elements. Don’t create mental stress by eliminating all sugar. Instead enjoy sugar, but in moderation.

About the author

Emily Murphy Kaur, M.A. & M.S., and her husband Harmeet Singh own Sētu Vermont, an applied yoga and meditation research institute where they guide retreats, teach classes, and direct trainings with the goal of supporting individuals on a path to personalized wellness.