By contrast, at the turn of the century, the average American was eating 5 to 8 pounds of refined sugar a year. Refined sugars are found in processed foods. Since refined sugars contain no vitamins or minerals, the body has to rob healthy cells of their vitamins and minerals in order to handle the sugar. B vitamins are especially exhausted in the assimilation of refined sugars. The ratio of calcium-phosphorous in the body is also adversely affected by eating refined sugars.
Fruit is a natural source of sugar and additionally furnishs fiber in the diet.
In replacing refined sugars, do NOT substitute artificial sweeteners of any kind. From my reading, none of the artificial sweeteners are safe to eat and they give me a headache. It has a thick, pudding-like consistency. It adds sweetness, moisture and leavening to bake goods. Barley malt is sprouted barley that is made into syrup.