The Dark Side of Sugar
Not all that glitters is gold
Table sugar may seem sweet, but the devil is often in disguise. I would argue that sugar has made its mark as one of the largest downfalls of American culture, impacting social justice, our economical system, and our health. What used to be an expensive ceremonial food has now become one of the most manufactured, cheap, easily available ingredients making its way into almost every processed food.
HISTORY OF WHITE GOLD:
In order to discuss the implications of sugar on the diet, I think it is valuable to discuss the history of this crop and how it has become a staple in America. The extraction of sugar from the sugarcane plant dates back to around 4,000 BC in tropical India and South East Asia.
Originally sugarcane was used as a fattening agent for domestic pigs, and people rarely had the opportunity to chew on raw sugarcane to extract its sweetness (Daniels, 1993).
In about 350 AD, Indians discovered how to crystallize the grass by pressing and drying out the juices. Soon, the crop made its way east when traveling Buddhist monks brought sugar crystallization methods from India to China. Eventually, the crop made its way into Europe from India, where Venice became its main importer before expanding to the rest of Europe.
In 1493, the crop made its way across the Atlantic Ocean and to the Americas and West Indies, when Christopher Columbus made his second voyage, bringing sugar-cane stalks with him. At the time, in Europe, the processing of sugar was extremely expensive and labor-intensive as the juice had to be cut by hand and immediately pressed to avoid rotting, making it a luxury and exotic spice used for elite and mostly medicinal purposes. However, large plantations of enslaved laborers in the Caribbean grew rapidly and slaves were forced to embark on dangerous and grieving agricultural and industrial work (Aronson, 2010).
The popularity and availability of sugar were made possible by the destruction of countless indigenous lives and enslaved Africans, all in the name of economic efficiency.
Sugar soon coined its name "white gold" and became a staple in the triangle trade. In the 1720s, New York became a central port for sugar arriving from or heading to the Caribbean. Sugar consumption continued to increase along with the demand. In 1975, the first sugar crystals were granulated in the Louisiana Territory. The possibility of local production brought forth the largest number of sugar plantations along the Mississippi River. Within five decades Louisiana planters were responsible for 25% of the world’s cane-sugar supply. However In 1977 sugar tariffs significantly increased the cost of the imported crop and U.S. producers needed to find a way to produce the sweetness without the cost (Muhammad, 2019). High-fructose corn syrup soon came to the rise through the cheap processing of corn and became a replacement for cane sugar. I believe this history is critical to discuss, as a crop is not only detrimental to our health but is not possible without the destruction of so many lives.
THE RISE IN SUGAR CONSUMPTION:
Today, the average American consumes 300% of the daily recommended amount of added sugar (Faruque S, 2019).
In the past decade consumption of sugar and highly palatable processed food has continued to rise. According to Statistica In 2022, Americans consumed about 11 million metric tons of sugar, 1 million more than that consumed in 2010. The average American adult consumes 77 grams of sugar per day. Refined sugar- like table sugar and fructose- is highly processed and was never meant for human consumption.
Sugar is an important macro-nutrient and offers the body a steady supply of energy to your cells. Sugars occur naturally in fruits, vegetables, and dairy, and consuming these whole foods with natural sugar is an important part of our diet. Plant foods that deliver sugar as an energy source come along with loads of fiber, essential minerals, and antioxidants that allow your body able to digest these foods slowly. Unlike complex carbohydrates, processed sugar breakdown rapidly without the presence of fiber and other macronutrients which causes our blood sugar and insulin to spike (Southgate, 1995). When consumed in excess like most Americans are consuming sugar today, it can lead to long-term health implications such as insulin resistance, diabetes, obesity, and cancer. Further table sugar, fructose, and all forms of processed sugar, including stevia and monk fruit are highly addictive. “Hyper-palatable” processed foods have the power to hijack reward centers in the brain thus impairing the decision-making process and leading to the overconsumption of sugar and the "sweet tooth" and "cravings" that so many Americans are afflicted with today.
Recently, the rise of a low carbohydrate, low sugar diet has become quite popular as a way to lose weight and improve metabolic health. While it is true that sugars and carbohydrates both break down as glucose in your body there are a few key distinctions that make these two macronutrients different.
COMPOSITION OF SUGAR VS CARBOHYDRATES:
Recently, the rise of a low carbohydrate, low sugar diet has become quite popular as a way to lose weight and improve metabolic health. While it is true that sugars and carbohydrates both break down as glucose in your body there are a few key distinctions that make these two macronutrients different. All food are substances that are ingested by the body and provide heat when consumed. Foods are divided into categories including carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.
Proteins are complex molecules that are classified as the building blocks of the human body. Proteins are composed of carbon, hydrogen oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur. Fats act as a storage system for our bodies and help provide "back-up" sources of energy in the absence of carbohydrates and are composed of high content of carbon and hydrogen. Carbohydrates are complex molecules made from one or more simple sugars (G Harvey 2003).
Food may be defined as substances that serve to nourish or build tissues or provide heat when consumed by the body. These foods may be categorized as carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Proteins are the building blocks of the body. They are complex molecules composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen along with nitrogen and sometimes sulfur. Fats act as the storage products of the body. They are responsible for providing the extra caloric needs when required by the body. They are also composed of relatively high content of carbon and hydrogen. Carbohydrates are complex molecules made up of an aggregation of multiple types of simple sugars. Simple sugars are the molecules that are released in your body to digest starchy foods, such as glucose, fructose, and galactose, to name a few. These simple sugars can be divided into monosaccharides (one molecule of sugar) and disaccharides (composed of multiple monosaccharides). Sugars and carbohydrates differ in that sugars are soluble in water and have a sweet flavor, whereas carbohydrates are insoluble and water and assimilated by the body into simple sugars. This extra step allows the digestive process of carbohydrates to be longer than that of simple sugars.
DIGESTIVE PROCESS OF GLUCOSE:
One large distinction between the digestive process of simple sugars (like table sugar and high fructose corn syrup) versus carbohydrates is the time it takes to process and digest these foods. The Glycemic index is a scale that is utilized to rank carbohydrates based on their rate of digestion and absorption and ultimately the rate at which they increase blood glucose levels in the body. Foods that are digested or absorbed faster have a quicker and larger effect on spiking blood sugar levels as opposed to carbohydrates that are digested slower. The quick spike of blood sugar from simple sugars releases dopamine in the brain, leads to blood sugar spike and crash, and does not leave the body with feelings of satiation (G Harvey, 2003).
In the presence of fiber, sugar is broken down much slower, allowing your body to use this essential nutrient as fuel, without the implications that come with consuming processed simple sugars.
IMPLICATIONS OF SUGAR ON LONG-TERM HEALTH:
There is an undeniable link between higher sugar intake with increased risk of weight gain, inflammation, heart disease, and stroke. Today in the modern American diet, processed sugars are found in almost every product. Even more natural sugars, like maple syrup and honey. while they do have a more complex profile, can still pose some of the same health implications as table sugar. Similarly. although stevia and monk fruit may not have the same metabolic or caloric effect as table sugar, studies have found the brain actually craves more food when it consumes highly sweet food without the presence of calories (Yeung, 2020). Although simple and refined carbohydrates such as highly processed bread, and white flour also have health risks. Highly processed nutrients used to form nutrient-depleted highly palatable foods are largely contributing to the health epidemic in the united states.
The best alternative is to eat a diet full of whole real foods, with fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, and mostly plants.
REFERENCES:
Daniels, John; Daniels, Christian (April 1993). "Sugarcane in Prehistory". Archaeology in Oceania. 28 (1): 1–7. doi (Links to an external site.):10.1002/j.1834-4453.1993.tb00309.x
Faruque S, Tong J, Lacmanovic V, Agbonghae C, Minaya DM, Czaja K. The Dose Makes the Poison: Sugar and Obesity in the United States - a Review. Pol J Food Nutr Sci. 2019;69(3):219-233. doi: 10.31883/pjfns/110735. PMID: 31938015; PMCID: PMC6959843.
Galloway, J. H. (2005-11-10). The Sugar Cane Industry: An Historical Geography from Its Origins to 1914. Cambridge University Press. ISBN (Links to an external site.) 978-0-521-02219-4 (Links to an external site.).
G Harvey Anderson, Dianne Woodend, Consumption of sugars and the regulation of short-term satiety and food intake, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 78, Issue 4, October 2003, Pages 843S–849S, https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/78.4.843S (Links to an external site.)
Muhammad, Khalil Gibran. “The Barbaric History of Sugar in America.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 14 Aug. 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/sugar-slave-trade-slavery.html (Links to an external site.).
Southgate DA. Digestion and metabolism of sugars. Am J Clin Nutr. 1995 Jul;62(1 Suppl):203S-210S; discussion 211S. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/62.1.203S. PMID: 7598078.
Yeung, Andy Wai, and Natalie Sui Wong. “How Does Our Brain Process Sugars and Non-Nutritive Sweeteners Differently: A Systematic Review on Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Studies.” Nutrients, vol. 12, no. 10, 2020, p. 3010., https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12103010 (Links to an external site.).
