Health Focus: Sugar

Sugar

With schools starting soon, I thought it best to do a post about sugar and if it is good or bad for your health.

So hear goes...


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Sugar, that is also known as soluble carbohydrates, can be found in many types of food. Sugar can be derived from different sources.

Types of sugars

  1. Granulated Sugar
  2. Caster Sugar
  3. Confectioners Sugar
  4. Pearl Sugar
  5. Sanding Sugar
  6. Cane Sugar
  7. Demerara Sugar
  8. Turbinado Sugar
  9. Muscovado Sugar
  10. Light Brown Sugar
  11. Dark Brown Sugar


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Watch this video on how granulated sugar is made:


Video Source

What can sugar be used for?

Sugar has a variety of uses:

  1. It can be used as an ingredient in recipes and food preparation.
  2. A variety of glass-like materials can be made from crystals form from sugar.
  3. Sugar crystals can be useful in organic synthesis. It is also used in the pigments, agriculture, plating, and chemical sectors.
  4. People also use it to lighten spots on their skin.

Fun science experiments with sugar

Activity 1: Density rainbow


Image by Little bins for little hands.com

You will need the following:

  1. 6 glasses or cups
  2. water
  3. 1 measuring cup
  4. sugar and measuring teaspoon
  5. food coloring (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple)
  6. spoon and baster
  7. Test tubes

Instructions:

  1. Measure one cup of water into each glass.
  2. Mix the colors so that you have six different colored water.
  3. Add sugar according to the following instructions:
    3.1. 2 teaspoons to orange
    3.2. 4 teaspoons to yellow
    3.3. 6 teaspoons to green
    3.4. 8 teaspoons to blue
    3.5. 10 teaspoons to purple
  4. You will notice that red didn't receive any sugar.
  5. Stir until all or as much as possible of the sugar has dissolved.
  6. Now you use your baster.
    6.1. Suck up a little bit of red water with the baster and then squeeze it in the test tubes.
    6.2. Follow the same route with all the other colors.
  7. You will notice that at first some of the colors will mix, but when it stands a bit the different colors will separate due to the increased water density created by the sugar.
    Image by Little bins for little hands

Activity 2: Yeast and sugar experiment


Image Source
You will need the following:

  1. 2 tablespoons of sugar
  2. 1 packet of active dry yeast
  3. Warm water
  4. Balloon
  5. Measuring spoons
  6. Bottle ( a balloon must be able to fit over)
  7. Mixing bowl
  8. Funnel

Instructions

  1. Mix the yeast and sugar with the warm water and stir.
  2. When everything is dissolved pour the mixture into the bottle and cover the bottle with a balloon.
  3. Ask the children what do they see: When the yeast and sugar mixture activates gas builds up and fills the balloon.
  4. To see how much gas builds up due to the sugar and yeast mixture put the balloon outside and measure it every few minutes. DON'T DO IT INSIDE!!!


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