Although the harmful health effects of sugar are now indisputable, we are still eating an incredible amount of it.

In fact, the average American consumes three pounds of the sweet white poison per week! And it’s easy to understand why. As we’ve written about before, sugar is addictive, with some brain scans suggesting that it’s just as addictive as drugs like cocaine.

In light of this knowledge, many people are attempting to choose a “healthier” sugar, opting for the more natural sugar options at the grocery stores. You’ve probably seen many of these yourself. So what are these natural options—and are they any better for you than refined white sugar?

Here’s what you need to know:

Refined white sugar: You probably know this already, but it’s worth repeating. Refined white sugar is completely stripped of all nutritional value, and provides only empty calories. Furthermore, more than 65 percent of the white sugar available commercially is made from GMO sugar beets. Avoid it at all costs!

Brown sugar: Commercial brown sugar is nothing more than refined white sugar with some molasses added back in for color and flavor. Don’t be fooled by the color or claims. It’s just as bad.

Evaporated cane juice: Made from sugar cane (as opposed to sugar beets), evaporated cane juice is slightly less refined than white sugar, and therefore retains more color, flavor, and nutrients from the sugar cane. But really the only difference between commercial evaporated cane juice and white sugar is that the former goes through one less step of refinement.

Raw organic cane sugar: This type of sugar is less processed than refined white sugar, and still contains some of the original nutrients present in cane juice. These include amino acids, minerals, vitamins, and even some antioxidants. Because it’s organic, you also won’t be exposed to the pesticides present in commercially grown sugar. So, while obviously a better choice than refined white sugar, remember that it’s still SUGAR and should be consumed in minimal amounts.

Coconut sugar: Coconut sugar is harvested from the sap of the coconut plant through a very natural process of extracting the juice, and then allowing the water to evaporate. Process-wise, it is one of the most sustainable methods of sugar production, and the product also contains a small amount of fiber and other nutrients. Coconut also contains a lower percentage of fructose than the other sugars listed, which perhaps makes it slightly healthier than the other options.

Other than the different types of sugars discussed above, there is one "sugar" that — in its raw form — contains a highly concentrated dose of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that help nourish and revitalize your body.

From the office of Dr. Joshua Levitt:

Dear health-conscious friend,

A rising tide of doctors and health care providers are now urging their patients to eat the "life-giving" sugar every single day.

They're not just recommending it to give a "slightly better alternative" to other sweeteners either. They're prescribing it to treat life-threatening diseases, heal chronic conditions, and keep people looking and feeling their very best.

What is this sugar?

If you guessed honey, then you're absolutely right. For we've all heard about how honey is a remarkable substance. We've heard about how it "doesn't go bad". Or about how archaeologists found unspoiled, 2000-year-old honey in an Egyptian tomb.

Honey contains a concentrated dose of vitamins, minerals and nutrients that nourish and re-vitalize your body. And it possesses unique antimicrobial properties that help you fight off infections.

Throughout history, honey has been used to treat...

Coughs, Wounds, Indigestion, Skin infections, Fatigue, Flu's, Burns, and more!

 For example, honey was the most popular ancient Egyptian healing remedy (and was mentioned over 500 times in 900 remedies.)

Hippocrates (the father of modern medicine) used honey as a treatment for pain, dehydration, and fever. And this isn't just some "folk remedy" discredited by modern science either. Researchers (in thousands of peer-reviewed papers) continue to uncover just how healing honey can be.

I still remember how one patient, Rachel, just stood there, staring at me with her mouth open.

"Hold on. Let me get this straight." she said. "Did I really just hear my doctor tell me to give my seven-year-old son honey?!?"

I nodded. "Just a spoonful before he goes to bed. The cough will clear up in no time."

Her son, Kevin, had just recovered from the flu. And while the fever and nausea had faded, his cough hadn't.

Overcome by a fit of coughing every five minutes, he couldn't sleep at night (which made him cranky and miserable all day.)

Rachel was at her wit's end. The sleepless nights left her exhausted. And she'd done everything she could think of to help her son... Lots of water... Cough syrup... Even antibiotics.

We've all heard about how sugar causes obesity, diabetes, and a bunch of other chronic diseases.

We've also heard how it costs the United States over $150 billion dollars each year in medical expenses or, how leading health figures like the Dutch health minister, Paul Van der Velpen, proclaim sugar to be worse than alcohol, tobacco, and cocaine combined.

Sugar can be extremely hazardous to your health.

But this depends on two critical factors...

1. How much sugar you consume.

2. What kind of sugar you eat.

 

Consumed in moderation, sugar is a helpful source of energy. That is... provided you get it from the right sources.

We humans evolved to get our sugar by eating whole foods like fruits, vegetables, and yes, even honey. Your body knows how to extract the maximum benefit from these whole foods.

Honey, in particular, has three critical healing effects...

First, honey supports your immune system and fights off harmful bacteria.

As you know, your body is under constant assault by numerous viruses and bacteria that threaten to tire you out, make you sick, and even kill you.

Fighting off this threat is key to staying healthy.

One of the vital components in honey is an enzyme called glucose oxidase. This enzyme, when exposed to oxygen, produces hydrogen peroxide -- a strong acid that dissolves the cell walls of bacteria. (Most human cells have thicker cell walls and can resist the low amounts of acid honey produces.)

This makes honey a powerful tool for fighting skin infections, healing wounds, and otherwise supporting your immune system. (And it’s why honey is able to last for so long in your cupboard without going bad.)

Second, it supplies the "building blocks" for healthy cells.

In addition to giving you sugars, honey equips your body with a complex array of proteins, enzymes, minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, and other nutrients. The second these nutrients hit your body, they go to work...

 Tuning up your heart, lungs, stomach, brain, eyes, and skin...

Controlling cancer-causing free-radicals and stopping cell damage in its tracks...

Detoxifying your body of harmful pollutants and other toxins.

 

However, honey still has a very high sugar content (70%-85% depending on the type of honey you get.) And as just about any health official will tell you, sugar is a major cause of obesity, diabetes, and all the other chronic illnesses we see in abundance today.

So shouldn't we avoid honey despite its antimicrobial and nutritional properties?

Well, that brings me to the third healing effect of honey. It turns out...

You've probably experienced just how rapidly most sugar burns in your body -- how it gives you a sudden surge of energy followed shortly by a complete crash.

Yet when you eat honey, you don't get that same "flare effect". Instead you get a slow, even burn of energy -- which you can put to use for things like working, playing sports, or spending time with your family.

That's because all the extra enzymes and nutrients in honey not only help the body rebuild itself -- they also regulate how the body uses the sugar.

It's kind of like the flame on your stove.

Contained and controlled by the burner, valves, and the rest of the stove, you can safely use the fire for cooking.

But take that flame out of context -- by putting it on your living room floor for example -- it can quickly burn out of control and cause all kinds of damage.

 

In the same way, sugars eaten outside their normal context of whole, complete foods run riot in our bodies -- leaving us exhausted, overweight, and sick.

The sugar you find in grocery stores, processed foods, and packaged desserts is made in large scale, industrial refineries using cheap, mass-farmed crops like sugar beets.

Food manufacturers extract the sugary pulp from the rest of the plant.

They strip away all trace of healthy minerals and nutrients.

And they leave you with a hyper-concentrated dose of empty calories that cause all kinds of chaos in your body.

Without the "burn-control" you normally get when you eat sugar that's part of a whole food, the body can't control the fire. And so we end up with...Heart disease, Weight gain, Chronic fatigue, Weak immune systems, Gut problems, Cancer and more...

 It's not just white sugar either. Many so-called "natural sweeteners" like raw sugar, corn syrup, and agave nectar are all highly refined. One study done at Princeton found these alternatives cause just as much (if not far more) damage to your body than white sugar.

The body just doesn't know how to properly use these concentrated, "unnatural" sugars.

So why do we even bother with these harmful sweeteners in the first place? Why don't we all just use honey? It’s healthy and really the way to go.