Man-refined sugar has not always been a part of the human diet. None of the ancient books such as: Mosaic Law, the code of Manu, the I Ching, the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine, the New Testament or the Koran mention sugar. The prophets did tell us a few things about sweet cane in ancient times: "It was a rare luxury, imported from afar and very expensive. What else they did with it except offer it up as a sacrifice, we can only surmise." (W. Dufty. Sugar Blues). The Greeks had no word for it. When Admiral Nearchus in the service of Alexander the Great explored the East Indies in 325 B.C, he described it as "a kind of honey" growing in canes or reeds. Herodotus called it "manufactured honey" and Pliny called it "honey from the cane". It was used as a medicine and a Roman writer of Nero's time recorded its latin name saccharum. I could go on for a very long time about the origins of sugar but one this is blatantly clear if you read the history of sugar - nothing good has ever come from the sugar trade.
With the introduction of sugar into human life, only bad things have happened. The sugar trade brought many riches to those who were rich and powerful enough to deal in it. However, it also brought slavery and illness. Sugar cane grew in tropical climes and when grown elsewhere, slaves were also imported to work the plantations. Invading armies found it fascinating but soon found themselves succumbing to illnesses they had never heard of. When it reached Europe, only the wealthy could afford it (the peasants living off the the land eating whole foods and a little meat and fish every now and again, couldn't afford it and strangely enough didn't succumb to the illnesses rife in the larger cities where sugar was available). The Portuguese, Spanish and British all did very well, financially that is, from the sugar trade. Americans soon outdistanced the British in sugar consumption - and almost every other nation too. The U.S. has consumed one-fifth of the world's production of sugar every year but one since the Civil War (1861-1865). By 1893, America was consuming more sugar than had been produced in the whole world in 1865. Sugar consumption has continued to rise consistently - through depression, prosperity, war, peace, drought and flood - nothing, it seems, can stop it.
Only one other plant has kept a parallel trajectory to sugar and that is Opium. Both began as a medicine; both ended up being used as habit forming sensory pleasures. The Opium Wars ended with the treaty of Nanking in 1842 and the British insisted in 1858 that Opium imports into China be reinstated.
By this time, chemists had managed to produce refined versions of both Opium (morphine) and sugar. "Morphine shots became the wonder drug of their time, a cure for all ills, including a new malady that had been discovered in sugar-bingeing nations called Sugar Diabetes. After the American Civil War, morphine addiction in the U.S. was called the "army disease". The abuse of morphine in the Union armies of the North was so widespread that thousands of veterans went home hooked on the stuff. During the Civil War years, soldiers also developed a yen for cans of condensed milk preserved with great quantities of sugar.
"When physicians belatedly discovered the addictive properties of morphine, the chemists went to work again and came up with a further refinement of morphine that was much touted by medical men as a new non-addictive painkiller. Its multisyllabic chemical name, diacetylmorphine, was soon supplanted by the name of Heroin. Heroin was hailed in its turn as the miracle wonder drug of its time. It replaced morphine in the TREATMENT OF SUGAR DIABETES." (W. Dufty, Sugar Blues).
There, I said it. Sugar and Heroin in the same sentence. We all know the dangers of Heroin and other hards drugs, but if Heroin was used way back when to treat sugar diabetes - what does that say about SUGAR?
By now (2012), most of the general public should at least be aware that sugar causes:
- Obesity
- Diabetes
- Heart Disease
- Cancer
- Low Blood Glucose
The brain is the most sensitive organ in the body. The difference between feeling up or down, calm or stressed, sane or insane, inspired or depressed depends largely on what we eat. For the body to work efficiently the amount of glucose in the blood must balance with the amount of oxygen in the blood. The adrenal glands have the job of maintaining this balance. When we eat sucrose (man-refined sugar), it is close to being glucose so it largely escapes chemical processing. The sugar passes directly into the intestines, where it becomes "predigested" glucose. This is then absorbed into the blood where the glucose level has already been established in precise balance with oxygen. The glucose level in the blood increases drastically, the balance is destroyed and the body goes into crisis mode.
So how does the body cope with the crisis? The brain registers it first and hormones are released from the Adrenals, Insulin from the Pancreas works specifically to hold down the blood glucose levels in direct antagonism to the adrenal hormones which are trying to keep the glucose level up. As a result of the emergency response to the crisis, it all goes too far. The blood glucose level drops drastically, the pancreas producing insulin shuts down and other adrenal hormones kick in to bring the glucose level back up to normal.
The late endocrinologist Dr. John W. Tintera, was very emphatic when he said: "It is quite possible to improve your disposition, increase your efficiency, and change your personality for the better. The way to do it is to avoid cane and beet sugar in all forms and guises."
In the 1940s Tintera rediscovered the vital importance of the endocrine system especially the adrenal glands. The adrenal glands, damaged from the constant whiplash caused by the consumption of sugar, were producing a state of mental confusion or "brain boggling". His patients' symptoms for mental confusion were incredibly similar to other patients who were unable to handle sugar: fatigue, nervousness, depression, apprehension, craving for sweets, inability to handle alcohol, lack of concentration, allergies and low blood pressure - the sugar blues!
He announced that many psychiatrically treated patients just needed to undergo a glucose tolerance test, if they couldn't handle sugar - remove it from their diet and they would be cured. "Nobody but nobody should ever be allowed to begin what is called psychiatric treatment any place, anywhere, unless and until they have had a glucose tolerance test to discover if they can handle sugar."
This all means that to the already substantial list of health problems created by sugar, you should add:
- Depression
- Fatigue
- Nervousness
- Apprehension
- Cravings for sweets
- Irritability
- Inability to handle alcohol
- Lack of concentration
As with most things, there are people who handle things like sugar or alcohol worse than others.
Sugar has become such a part of our lives that we hardly even notice it. All thanks to the riches from the sugar trade and huge efforts in political lobbying. Just because it is such an ingrained part of our lives does not mean you have to consume it. Life without sugar is possible and has a long list of benefits. Understanding the poisonous side to it is just the beginning which I hope will lead you to a sugar-free, healthful life.
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