Zeitschrift für Ernährung und Gewichtsverlust

Abstrakt

Alternative and Complementary Health Model for Traditional Sugars

Karthikeyan Nagarajan, Acharya Balkrishna, Paran Gowda

This article examines the nutraceutical properties of traditional processed sugar products with a view to their implications for food policy in India. This investigation assumes importance in view of the excessive consumption of foods rich in sugar, salt and fat in the last few decades and the associated epidemic of non-communicable diseases in India and the rest of the world. Food policy in India does not take into account the traditional sugars. We have presented an alternative health model to analyze the nutraceutical properties of traditional sugars and differentiate them from refined sugars. We have further developed this model using the ancient health knowledge of India. Traditional sugars differ from refined sugars in terms of composition, nutritional value, energy release rate and medicinal value. The traditional sugars are rich in nutraceutical properties while the refined sugars contain empty calories. Research results show that the traditional sugars possess immunological properties, cell-protective properties, antitoxic effects and anticariogenic properties. The traditional products have also been shown to have beneficial health effects in diabetes and hypertension. However, the refined sugar products do not possess any such properties. We recommend that policymakers take steps to list the nutraceutical properties of traditional sugars in international scientific databases. We also suggest to Indian policymakers that traditional sugars must be differentiated from refined sugars in food labelling.