INGREDIENT SPOTLIGHT

Brown Sugar/Hóng Táng 紅糖

Saccharum officinarum — unrefined "red sugar,"
the traditional warming sweetener of Chinese women's tonics, used to warm the middle, nourish blood, and carry other herbs.

FORMULA ROLE

Why LunarSip uses it.

Brown sugar gives LunarSip's Five Reds Energy Tea its warmth. In Chinese home tradition, red-food soups sweetened with brown sugar are simmered for women who feel cold, tired, and pale after their cycle. Brown sugar warms the middle and rounds red date, goji, red rice, and beetroot into one comforting cup, while longan adds the heart-nourishing sweetness that makes the blend taste like home.
Chinese brown sugar blocks (Hong Tang) – LunarSip Chinese herbal tea ingredient

HOW IT'S USED

The warming sugar of Chinese kitchens.

In Chinese herbal practices, Hóng Táng — 紅糖, "red sugar" — is the whole, unrefined cane sugar that keeps its molasses, minerals, and deep amber colour. Li Shizhen recorded cane sugar in the Ben Cao Gang Mu (1578), and in folk practice brown sugar is used to warm the middle burner (溫中), nourish and invigorate blood (補血活血), and harmonize the stomach (和胃). It is the base of "brown sugar ginger tea" and the Five Red tonic that Chinese mothers prepare for daughters during their cycle, after childbirth, and in cold weather. In this role it is not merely a sweetener but a warming carrier for the other herbs.

In Western nutrition science, unrefined brown cane sugar is studied under names such as non-centrifugal sugar, jaggery, and panela. Unlike white sugar, it retains polyphenols, flavonoids, Maillard-reaction antioxidants, and minerals including iron, calcium, potassium, and magnesium. Modern research has examined its antioxidant capacity and mineral content, though it remains a sugar and is used in LunarSip blends in modest, traditional amounts.

THE EVIDENCE

What the research says.

Modern research on unrefined cane sugar has focused on its polyphenols, mineral content, and antioxidant capacity compared with refined sugar.
FOOD COMPOSITION STUDY

Comparative study of the physicochemical, nutritional, and antioxidant properties of some commercial refined and non-centrifugal sugars

Food Research International · 2018

A 2018 analysis compared three refined and four unrefined commercial sugars. Unrefined non-centrifugal sugars contained markedly more phenolics, flavonoids and minerals and showed higher radical-scavenging and cellular antioxidant activity, while refined sugars were essentially pure sucrose. The authors concluded that degree of purification largely determines a sugar's nutritional and antioxidant value.

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IN VITRO · ANTI-INFLAMMATORY

Evaluating the Impact of Thermal Processing on the Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Non-Centrifugal Cane Sugar: Implications on Cytokine Secretion and TLR4 Signaling

Frontiers in Pharmacology · 2022

A 2022 Colombian study found that non-centrifugal cane sugar retains polyphenols that can dampen inflammatory cytokine release and TLR4 signalling in human immune cells in vitro. Gentler, lower-temperature processing preserved more polyphenols and gave stronger anti-inflammatory activity than traditional open-pan boiling. The work is laboratory-based; no human outcomes were measured.

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IN VITRO · HERBAL TEA BLEND

Investigation of the Synergistic Effect of Brown Sugar, Longan, Ginger, and Jujube (Brown Sugar Longan Ginger Tea) on Antioxidation and Anti-Inflammation in In Vitro Models

Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine · 2020

A 2020 Taiwanese cell study tested the popular brown sugar–longan–ginger–jujube tea. In human liver cells the blend improved mitochondrial activity and antioxidant capacity and reduced lipid content and inflammatory markers; in vascular endothelial cells it lowered expression of atherosclerosis- and thrombosis-related genes. The authors cautioned that solid evidence requires further investigation.

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FOUND HERE

In these LunarSip formulas.

Brown sugar is a key ingredient in our Five Reds Energy Tea:
Five Reds Energy Tea
Five Reds Energy Tea$34.00