I posted this on AIBU as a result of another thread :-) And thought I would try here for the "science" behind it, IYKWIM. TIA.

[NAB3littlemonkeys]

I would like to ask a serious question.

I have just made some chocolate muffins, chocolate brownie cake and maple syrup muffins and I am quite surprised at how big the pile of sugar is that goes in them. As I have been very strict in the past, I am trying to realx a bit and let the kids have some treats, (I figure home made are better than shop bought), and I think the children need a certain amount of sugar to grow and for energy. Am I right, or not?

They need the carbs and fat nore than the sugare, as long as they are not going to eat it all in one go I don't see a problem with having a treat.

you said it, they're treats, not to be eaten all the time, so relax and enjoy them !! sounds yummy, especially maple syrup thing

That's what I figure as they don't have sweets at all and they have fruit every day. I was just wondering whether I was trying to justify to myself that they need the sugar for energy/to grow because I want them to have treats and I love baking!

I go by the theory that my children have a well-balanced diet

and a little bit of what you fancy does you good

chocolate muffins have about 6 oz sugar in them .. but you can make 12 - 14 huge ones and about 24 fairy-caked ones out of that so that would be about 1/4 oz per treat

children don't 'need' added sugar but surely eating is a delight and the delight is having the mixture of all tastes and textures

I am not that controlling and I believe as a result my children will leave cake / chocolate / sweets they don't want on occasion

NAB they need energy and all that, but not added refined sugar

they can get enough calories from carbs, fruit, grains, etc, so you don't need to worry about giving them cakes and so on from a health point of view, they don't NEED them

whether you like to give them sometimes is another matter

Mine do surprise me by leaving pudding if they have had enough. I only recent started doing that, I want to loose a few pounds or 10, but have a bit of a food issue as I wasn't fed much as a child so used to clear the plate even when I had had enough.

So the feeling it is okay to take one in their lunch boxes? Have one for tea maybe instead (as well given half the chance!)

yes !

Life is too short not to enjoy the odd sugary treat now and then! The fact that you are concerned about it shows that your DCs won't overdose on these things. You need to teach your DCs moderation otherwise once they are old enough to make their own decisions, they'll stick 2 fingers up at you and eat nowt but sugar and crap!!

All carbohydrates are broken down in the digestive tract to release glucose.

Glucose then undergoes respiration to produce a chemical called ATP which is the energy 'currency' of all living cells.

All living things respire, and most will use glucose as a substrate.

If you live on a carb free diet (most silly) your body will convert fats and even proteins into glucose to allow your cells the glucose they need to stay alive.

If you don't have glucose in some form. You die.

If you are interested in the biochemistry of it, goggle 'The Krebs Cycle' or the 'Citric Acid cycle'.

Beautiful chemistry worked out by Hans Krebs. Who taught some one, who taught me

i always cut down sugar in recipes, up to half if there is choc in (and i wouldn't put any in with maple syrup) but always by at least a third. and i always use brown sugar too.

i think a lot of people are accustomed to sugar and so don't notice when things are really sickly, nigella recipe especially bad.

Ah MB- why didnt I pester you for this info in May when I did this for my exam?

I got excited reading your post as I knew exactly what you was talking about.

'Krebs cycle'- dreamt about it for weeks.....

Gets under your skin, doesn't it?

and quite beautiful, unlike the Calvin cycle, which I always think is 'clunky' for some reason. two photosystems, and they name them the wrong way round! Horrid!

Yes- I found it fascinating but im not of a 'science mind' and really struggled to understand it all. Very interesting though.

Like fishie, I cut down the amount of sugar that goes in when I bake something. I'm amazed that no one notices the difference!

tmsmj Cheeky!!!!

martianbishop

ooh, the science of it is sexy!
i enjoyed reading that!
but must confess only science i did was a chemistry and food and nutrition 'o' grades!

love the periodic table esp inert gases
dont mean to dumb down

All children need carbohydrates and sugar is one of them, all get broken down into glucose, so in energy terms bread, potatoes, pasta and the granulated stuff are all the same.

The issue is more of empty calories imo, particularly in the case of very young children who need nutrient dense food for growth and development. Sugar has no nutritional value other than calories. Fruit, for instance, also contains sugar in the form of fructose, but it also contains various vitamins and minerals, as well as soluble fibre. In the debate of whether one should give one's DC a sweet or an apple, I'd go for the apple any time. Or a slice of bread. Raisins may rot your teeth but they contain iron, a haribo doesn't (and it rots your teeth anyway).

When I bake I also use less sugar or substitute it to some extent with blackstrap molasses or dried fruit, recipe permitting (both contain iron, so some nutritional value at least). I made a double chocolate cake for DP recently and used about a third of the sugar indicated in the recipe and it was fine. Probably had something to do with the 2 bars of plain chocolate melted into the mix.

Yes we do need carbohydrates but adding a sponfull of sugar to anything is totally superfluous, we get more than enough from fresh fruit/fresh milk/flavoured yogurt/cereals/juices/sweets etc....you name it, it's alredy everywhere!

Now that's not going to stop us from the pleasure of baking!
I always cut down as much sugar as possible and replace with grated carrots/pumpkin/pineaple/apple/pear + dried fruit and/or mix in spices/dark choc/vanilla and other essences.

So, really sugar - granulatd or caster - has no value other than taste so I could try baking without it? It isn't like yeast where you need it for the bread to work.

No. Otherwise how would you manage to make cheese scones?

granulated

nab, if you are going to use yeast without some sugar you will have to wait longer to get the bread to do its first rising cycle.

the sugar is present in with the yeast to allow the yeast to divide rapudly, and to respire quickly. It is the CO2 given off from the yeast's respiration that makes the bread rise.

the yeast can start to break down the starch in the flour, but that will take time., and you may get a less well risen/ heaveier texture bread.

Given that the yeast breaks down the sugar anyway (into water and CO2) the amount of sugar in bread isn't that much of an issue.

And it is needed to get the yeast dividing rapidly (which you need)

If you do want to avoid refined sugar, its possible to make muffins with mashed banana and some apple juice concentrate instead. These still contain a lot of sugars of course but probably a bit better than pure sucrose.