Sugar

What's a mother (or father) to do? A report published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine - the people who brought us the ThighMaster scare - concluded that sugar doesn't make kids bounce off the walls. Many kids, we're told, are just naturally bouncy. Sugar may even have a slightly calming effect on some. So what now? Are we supposed to run out now and stock up on Snickers? Has Halloween come early for millions of children? Don't count on it. Whether you're a wheat-germ-and-brown-rice fanatic or you believe a Twinkie a day keeps the blues away, one study isn't likely to change your mind about sugar.

They perfected the art of making cake without the "c. " But can the pastry wizards at Tasty Baking Co. preserve the love in their confections with fewer carbs and no sugar? After a sneak preview tasting of the new line of Sensables treats, I'd say that depends on how desperately you need that Tastykake fix. There is no way a devotee of the company's standard iced fudge bar will consider the Sensables chocolate-chip cookie bar an equal substitute. The rich shmear of icing on the original is replaced by a brittle snap of tiny sugar-free chocolate pebbles.

Your columnist, Mubarak S. Dahir, has a point in his column (Jan. 13). He should have carried his thoughts further. His lament that the public and the homosexual community are being duped and co-opted by language that "sugar-coated" more serious realities is correct, but his own suggestions that protected anal sex is somehow safe is itself nothing more than a "sugar-coated" expression. I would like to see the empirical evidence for that conclusion. The evidence is just the opposite.

Cardinal John Krol was listed in good condition yesterday at St. Agnes Medical Center, where he was being treated for low blood sugar. The 78-year-old cardinal, who has diabetes, was hospitalized Thursday after he complained of feeling faint and weak while golfing at the Jersey shore. Yesterday afternoon his condition was upgraded from "serious but stable" to "good and stable" after tests identified the problem as low blood sugar. And by late yesterday afternoon, hospital officials said the cardinal was "continuing to improve.

Q. I bought some Kern's Apricot Nectar in a bottle but did not realize until I got it home that six ounces contained 110 calories. This is high when one is trying to lose weight. How many teaspoons of sugar do six ounces contain? Why is so much sugar added to apricot drinks? The fruit itself is sweet enough, I would think. - H. Campbell Cotati, Calif. A. If you put some apricots in a blender to make yourself a drink, what you would get is not juice but rather pureed apricots.

Dear Polly: I know I should cut back on the sugar I use in baking, but doesn't altering recipes affect the finished product? When you cut back on sugar, should you make any substitution? - Jennifer Dear Jennifer: It's true that sugar does more for baked goods than simply sweeten them. Sugar can act as a tenderizer, a browning agent, food for yeast, etc. In an angel food cake, for example, it is difficult to reduce the amount of sugar without making the cake tough. That's because angel food cake has no fat in it, and the tenderizing role of the sugar is extremely important.

What: Fruit Juice Freezers Maker: Cool Fruits Inc. Where: ShopRite, Fresh Fields, and natural-food stores Size: 14 (1-ounce) squeeze-pops Price: $1.99 These all-natural, no-sugar-added pops appeal to adults as well as children. Moving from natural-foods stores into supermarkets, they are the 23-calorie alternative to artificially colored and flavored sugar water ices. Freeze pops as needed. For mail order and other products, see www.coolfruits.com Tasting: In natural cherry and natural grape, these squeezable freezables have fresh fruit flavors but faded color.

Dear Polly: My husband, a baker and pastry chef for over 60 years, has a good way to make colored sugar. He suggests putting the sugar and a few drops of food coloring into a plastic sandwich bag, then closing with a twist-tie. Shake the bag back and forth to quickly coat the sugar with color without making a mess. You can do five or six colors in less than 10 minutes this way. By mixing the sugar in a bowl, as you suggested, one almost always manages to spill the sugar out of the bowl while mixing.

So what, exactly, makes honey such a popular ingredient? "Honey is so versatile. Honey is used all over the place," said John Brandt-Lee, chef at Avalon Restaurant, in West Chester and a longtime advocate of using local honey. "It is a great emulsifier," he said. "It is great at bringing things together. " By way of example, he cited two of his favorite vinaigrette recipes, balsamic-honey and orange-vanilla. In the first, honey binds the olive oil and balsamic vinegar the way a raw egg would, he said, but without the health risks that come from raw eggs.

Researchers for the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia say they have developed a non-caloric form of sugar that appears to have potential as an appetite regulator. The substance suppresses the appetite of laboratory rats when the animals are hungry and normally would be feeding. But the unusual sugar also produces the opposite effect under certain conditions, according to Michael DiNovi and Robert J. Rafka, two organic chemists who synthesized the substance. The sugar appears to boost the appetite of rats when it is given to the animals when they normally would not be feeding.