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Brown sugar is not rich in minerals

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By MARY A. KEITH

Tribune correspondent

Published: November 1, 2009

How much brown sugar should I eat in a day to get the health benefits? Which minerals will I get most of that way?

Your biggest health benefit would come from eating less brown sugar - and less of all sugars.

The amount of minerals in brown sugar is so low you'd have to eat it by the truckload, or at least by the pound, to get a significant amount. But you'd be getting so many calories, they would negate any benefit from the minerals.

Although molasses does have more minerals than brown or white sugar, it, too, has so many calories it's not worth using as a mineral source. Honey and agave syrup are in the same boat - lots of calories, not many nutrients.

Eat less sugar and more fruits, veggies and whole grains, and you'll get the health benefits you're looking for.

What's the difference between a serving and a portion? How much is each? All these different diets are so confusing!

That's an excellent question, with no short answer.

A serving is usually a certain amount of a food recommended for consumption in a day. A portion is usually what we serve ourselves, or are served. These days, a portion is often two to five times bigger than a recommended serving.

A standard serving size for grains is 1 ounce, or 1 slice of bread or 1/2 cup of cooked rice or pasta. However, one chain pasta restaurant usually puts about 11 half-cups, or 11 servings, on a plate of spaghetti!

A serving of fruits or vegetables is 1/2 cup, except for raw leafy greens, which have a 1 cup serving size. Milk and yogurt have a 1 cup serving size, cheese is 1 ounce. Meats usually have a 3-ounce serving size. How many menus have you seen recently announcing a 3-ounce steak?

Is palm oil a good oil or a bad one? I thought all plant oils were OK, and just the animal fats were the bad ones, but my cousin told me that's not true.

Unfortunately, your cousin is closer to correct. Both palm oil and palm kernel oil have a lot of saturated fats even though they are plant products. Palm kernel oil actually has more saturated fat than lard does. These are not healthy vegetable oils.

Both palm and palm kernel are being used in more baked and processed foods these days to take the place of hydrogenated oils. They do not get rancid as rapidly as some other vegetable oils, and they can slow the development of rancidity when they're mixed with other oils. That's why they're even showing up added to peanut butter.

On the good side, palm and palm kernel oils are not hydrogenated, so they don't have trans fats. Also, because they are plant oils, they do not have the cholesterol lard and butter do. But those few benefits do not make them healthy for your heart. It's best to avoid them.

Mary A. Keith, a nutritionist and health agent at Hillsborough County Extension, can be reached at mkeith@ufl.edu.

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