Mishri vs sugar: difference, calories and which to choose

Same substance. Mishri is sugar re-crystallised into lumps, so a piece of mishri is a piece of sugar; the difference is the shape and the making, not the kind of sweetener.

One set of calories. White sugar carries 387 kcal per 100 g, all carbohydrate, per the USDA FoodData Central record; IFCT 2017 records no composition for mishri, so no number is given for it.

One GI question, one answer. Sugar has a GI of 70, the mean of 25 recorded tests; mishri has no GI entry, so no GI is claimed for it. The swap that matters is not between the two but between using more and using less.

The table carries white sugar per 100 g from USDA FoodData Central, the only side of this comparison with a composition on record. Mishri has no entry in IFCT 2017 and no USDA FoodData Central record, so its column stays empty; plan for it as sugar.

Read across the table and the story is short: 387 kcal from 100 g of carbohydrate, with protein, fat and fibre at zero and the minerals barely measurable — 0.05 mg of iron, 1 mg of calcium and 2 mg of potassium per 100 g. The Dietary Guidelines for Indians put it in one line: refined extracted sugars have no vitamins or minerals.

What the word mishri means across languages is on the mishri in English page.

Per 100 g raw, edible portion. Composition: USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy), FDC ID 169655, NDB 19335. GI: University of Sydney GI database. — means not reported. These are average values for the food; the label on a pack gives the values for that product.

Per spoon, white sugar comes to 387 kcal per 100 g, so a level 5 g teaspoon carries about 19 kcal. The Dietary Guidelines for Indians put the day's line plainly: one may consume sugar, but it must be restricted to 25 to 30 g a day, and 25 g or more a day counts as high sugar on a 2000 kcal diet. Five level teaspoons already make 25 g.

On the glycemic index the comparison is one-sided. The University of Sydney GI database records 25 tests of granulated sugar — sucrose dissolved in water, from all countries — and their mean is a GI of 70, which is where the high band starts, since the same source puts the low band at 55 and under and the high band at 70 and over. Mishri has no entry in that database, so no GI is assigned to it. The WHO classes every sugar the manufacturer, the cook or the consumer adds to food as a free sugar, and its guideline is to keep these sugars under 10 percent of the day's energy, with a cut toward 5 percent as a further, optional step; mishri stirred into a dish lands in that class.

For diabetes the practical reading is the same as for anyone else: the portion size and the foods around it are what you can steer, and neither sweetener is a free food. With diabetes, talk to your doctor or dietitian about how either sweetener fits into your eating plan.

The making is where the two part ways. White sugar is the refined, extracted form; the Dietary Guidelines for Indians say refined extracted sugars have no vitamins or minerals. Mishri starts from sugar itself: dissolved in water, boiled to the thread stage, then left to crystallise into lumps, as the guide on how mishri is made walks through.

The two methods leave their mark on the shapes: sugar as fine, dry grains that pour and dissolve fast, mishri as large, hard crystals that dissolve slowly, some grown on a thread (dhaga mishri). Both are dry sugars, and both keep best sealed on a cool, dry shelf; open air softens the lumps.

In taste the two essentially match, because they are the same substance; what differs is the doing. Sugar dissolves fast even in cold drinks, batters and baking; a mishri lump needs hot liquid and a little time, so it suits tea and warm drinks, while fine sugar is the surer choice for iced drinks and cake batters. Broken small, mishri dissolves faster.

Where the crystal itself is wanted — a lump in a cup, pieces crushed over a dessert — mishri is the choice; where only sweetness is wanted, sugar disappears without a trace. Prices depend on brand, pack size and city, so none are listed; what decides is the job.

• Diabetes: sugar has a GI of 70, in the high band, and mishri has no GI on record — a blank, not a pass, so plan for it as sugar. Before either sweetener goes back into a diabetic meal plan, check with your doctor or dietitian.
• Weight: a 2012 BMJ review of trials and cohort studies found that among adults eating freely, cutting dietary sugars was associated with a decrease in body weight of 0.80 kg on average, and increasing them with an increase of 0.75 kg; exchanging sugars for other carbohydrates, calorie for calorie, changed nothing. The portion, not the choice between the two, is where the difference lies.
• Children under two: the ICMR-NIN guidelines allow no added sugar at that age, mishri included.
• Everyday sweetening: pick by the job: sugar for anything cold or baked, mishri for a hot cup or a dessert that shows its crystals. The wider list of what rock sugar does and does not do is on mishri benefits.

For the names, the making and the rest of the story, the mishri hub is the starting point.

What is the difference between mishri and sugar?

Form, not kind. Sugar is fine, dry grains of refined sugar; mishri is sugar re-crystallised into hard lumps, some grown on a thread. White sugar carries 387 kcal per 100 g; IFCT 2017 has no composition entry for mishri, so no calories are on record for it. Both count as added sugar, and neither is a free food.

Is mishri better than sugar?

No. Mishri is made from sugar, and no composition table or GI database gives it a figure, so there is no recorded number by which it could be the better choice. The two differ in shape, hardness and how fast they dissolve, not in what they are. Using less of either beats swapping one for the other.

Is mishri and sugar same?

In substance, yes; in shape, no. Mishri is made from sugar, so a lump of mishri is sugar by weight, and the two differ only in crystal size, hardness and the time a lump takes to dissolve. The page on how is mishri made shows where the shapes come from.

Is mishri healthier than sugar?

There is no recorded basis to say so. IFCT 2017 has no composition entry for mishri and the GI database has no mishri entry, so no figure exists by which mishri would come out healthier; the figures on record are sugar's: 387 kcal and 100 g of carbohydrate per 100 g, GI 70. Plan for mishri as sugar, and use less of either.

Does mishri contain sugar?

Yes — mishri is sugar. It is made by dissolving sugar and re-crystallising it, so the rock is sugar through and through. That is why the day's sugar allowance covers mishri the same as table sugar.

Can mishri be used in tea?

Yes, and hot tea is where the two sweeteners meet. A mishri lump does the same job as sugar but takes longer to dissolve, so stir and wait, or break the lump small; in iced tea, fine sugar is the surer choice because it dissolves cold. Either way it counts toward the day's added sugar.