Honey vs Sugar in my morning Oatmeal

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W_Stewart
W_Stewart Posts: 237 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Is honey a better alternative than granulated sugar in my morning oatmeal? I usually put 1.5 teaspoons of sugar in my oatmeal (along with some raisins). This only adds 23 calories.

Today I tried the same amount of honey and it tasted about the same. Adding the honey to my food diary showed it has a few more calories and a slightly higher Sugar content. This surprised me although the differences are not a big deal.

So what is it about using honey as a replacement that make sit better than sugar (in my example)? I did not add both to my oatmeal but added it to my diary just to compare the numbers.

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Replies

  • ew_david
    ew_david Posts: 3,473 Member
    edited April 2015
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    Choose the one that tastes better and/or fits in line with your goals. There really is no benefit in choosing one over the other.

    Also, a half a tsp of honey is nothing.*

    *derp...reading fail
  • slaite1
    slaite1 Posts: 1,307 Member
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    I think it's usually just the sugar police that push honey over sugar. Use what you like
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
    edited April 2015
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    _dracarys_ wrote: »
    Choose the one that tastes better and/or fits in line with your goals. There really is no benefit in choosing one over the other.

    Also, a half a tsp of honey is nothing.

    he shows half a Tablespoon, which is the same as 1.5 tsps.

    The only reason I could see Honey being more cals is that it is heavier/teaspoon, as it is liquid there is no air between the granulars like there is with sugar
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 5,951 Member
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    wahoowad wrote: »
    So what is it about using honey as a replacement that make sit better than sugar

    It's not...

  • HeidiGrrrl
    HeidiGrrrl Posts: 81 Member
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    Honey and sugar are basically the same thing, just made differently. Both have the same amount of carbs, both have the same amount of sugars, although table sugar has a few more calories (in large quantities). One is not fundamentally better than the other. Choose whichever one you prefer.
  • williams969
    williams969 Posts: 2,528 Member
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    Use what you like. I like honey on my oatmeal, but I prefer sugar on my Cheerios. Taste preference--the calories (and as we can see, the macros) are pretty much the same (9 calories is "nothing", really).
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,021 Member
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    Because honey is natural and sugar comes from middle earth. j/k The caloric difference is in the density.
  • danjbadassery
    danjbadassery Posts: 90 Member
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    From my limited understanding, the natural sugars in honey are supposedly easier for your body to use over the processed sugars in white sugar but that may be a negligible amount.
  • HeySwoleSister
    HeySwoleSister Posts: 1,938 Member
    edited April 2015
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    erickirb wrote: »
    _dracarys_ wrote: »
    Choose the one that tastes better and/or fits in line with your goals. There really is no benefit in choosing one over the other.

    Also, a half a tsp of honey is nothing.

    he shows half a Tablespoon, which is the same as 1.5 tsps.

    The only reason I could see Honey being more cals is that it is heavier/teaspoon, as it is liquid there is no air between the granulars like there is with sugar

    yeah, you compared equal amounts by volume, not by weight. So....unequal amounts. 1 gram of honey is listed as having 3 calories, 1 gram of granulated sugar has 4 calories. Not a significant difference.

    Why choose honey? Taste, preference, etc. That's all.
  • ew_david
    ew_david Posts: 3,473 Member
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    erickirb wrote: »
    _dracarys_ wrote: »
    Choose the one that tastes better and/or fits in line with your goals. There really is no benefit in choosing one over the other.

    Also, a half a tsp of honey is nothing.

    he shows half a Tablespoon, which is the same as 1.5 tsps.

    The only reason I could see Honey being more cals is that it is heavier/teaspoon, as it is liquid there is no air between the granulars like there is with sugar

    reading fail...carry on
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    HeidiGrrrl wrote: »
    Honey and sugar are basically the same thing, just made differently. Both have the same amount of carbs, both have the same amount of sugars, although table sugar has a few more calories (in large quantities). One is not fundamentally better than the other. Choose whichever one you prefer.

    This.
  • slaite1
    slaite1 Posts: 1,307 Member
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    neanderthin wrote: »
    Because honey is natural and sugar comes from middle earth. j/k The caloric difference is in the density.

    HA! I laughed too much at this
  • OldHobo
    OldHobo Posts: 647 Member
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    100% agree with the "use the one you like best" camp.
    Honey and sugar are not the same though.
    1. First there is the sciencey stuff about honey made up of several kinds of sugars and our bodies expend a few calories breaking the various sugars down into glucose.
    2. Honey tastes sweeter than sugar, so you may not need as much honey as sugar.
    3. Honey has flavor in addition to sweetness. And the flavor varies depending in part on what the bees are making it out of. So honey made in your neighborhood probably tastes different than honey made two counties up the road.
    4. When you buy a jar of honey you are supporting a smaller scale, more sustainable and environmentally friendlier industry than the international corporate agribusiness of the refined sugar industry.
    The original post was about sweetening the morning oatmeal.
    Have you tried cane syrup? I used it for several years and liked it better than sugar. Not sure if it's available everywhere but I like Steen's 100% Pure Syrup.
    I find that steel cut oats have more flavor by themselves and need less sweetener than rolled oats. Now days I just sweeten oats with 1/4 cup raisins to 1 cup oatmeal.

  • HeavyMetalHeavierWeights
    HeavyMetalHeavierWeights Posts: 8 Member
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    no is addressing the rasins. Just one of those little single serving boxes of rasins, that you could buy in packs, is 90-100 calories....there's a good chunk right there, just saying

    it turns your 300 calorie cup of oatmeal into a 400 calorie cup, just for a handful of rasins

    I usually have my 1 cup with 2 packets of Stevia and one of those boxes of rasins, just make sure it fits in my day.
  • urloved33
    urloved33 Posts: 3,323 Member
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    six of one half a dozen of the other.
  • acord123
    acord123 Posts: 6 Member
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    I had heard that honey has food value content unlike sugar, but in order to get the nutrients one must get the pure natural honey and not the typical one from the bear. In the bear, the vital nutrients are extracted. I would spend a little more money and get the natural honey from a health food store or health section. Peace.
  • kampshoff
    kampshoff Posts: 133 Member
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    acord123 wrote: »
    I had heard that honey has food value content unlike sugar, but in order to get the nutrients one must get the pure natural honey and not the typical one from the bear. In the bear, the vital nutrients are extracted. I would spend a little more money and get the natural honey from a health food store or health section. Peace.

    what is this I don't even

    I put "bear" honey in my oatmeal every morning, because I like the flavor better than sugar. I guess I'm missing out on some vital nutrients, whatever those happen to be.
  • HeySwoleSister
    HeySwoleSister Posts: 1,938 Member
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    kampshoff wrote: »
    acord123 wrote: »
    I had heard that honey has food value content unlike sugar, but in order to get the nutrients one must get the pure natural honey and not the typical one from the bear. In the bear, the vital nutrients are extracted. I would spend a little more money and get the natural honey from a health food store or health section. Peace.

    what is this I don't even

    I put "bear" honey in my oatmeal every morning, because I like the flavor better than sugar. I guess I'm missing out on some vital nutrients, whatever those happen to be.

    35 fewer milligrams of Woo per gram.
  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
    edited April 2015
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    Well...


    100g of granulated sugar contains:

    100g of carbs/sugar (duh)
    is 387 kcal
    1.0 mg of calcium
    2.0 mg of potassium
    and 0.6mcg of selenium

    100g of honey contains:

    82.4g of carbohydrates, 82.1g of which are sugar
    0.3g of protein
    0.5mg of Vitamin C
    0.1mg of niacin
    2.0mg of folate
    0.1mg of Pantothenic Acid
    2.2mg of choline
    1.7mg of Betine
    6.0mg of calcium
    0.4mg of iron
    2.0mg of magnesium
    4.0mg of potassium
    51.0mg of phosphorus
    4.0mg of sodium
    0.2mg of zinc
    0.1mg of manganese
    0.8mcg of selenium
    and 7.0mcg of flouride


    So, yes, honey is significantly healthier for you than granulated sugar.

    However, 1.5 tsp of sugar is 3g and 1.5 tsp of honey is 10.5g, so the actual amount of micro nutrients you are receiving is negligible.

    Source: http://nutritiondata.self.com/

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