Night_Hawk
Siasat.pk - Blogger
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Tis the season of sugar highs. Choose your poison. Will it be that glass of chilled red sherbet or the delectable crispy jalebi? Or a bowlful of that sumptuous looking fruit chaat loaded with both natural and processed sugar. And dont forget that date or should we say dates you downed before all else.
There was a time long ago when honey was the only sweetener available. You had to dip into a pot of liquid gold for a sweet fix. But then someone in ancient India realised that the juice from sugarcane which grew aplenty in the land can be boiled to form crystals which are easy to store and transport. The locals called this sweet substance Saccharum.
From the subcontinent, saccharum or sugar travelled through traders to China and the Middle East. The Chinese started cultivating sugarcane in the 7th century and sent at least two missions to India to seek assistance in sugar-refining techniques. The Arabs made their contribution by setting up large-scale facilities for the production of sugar, which probably gave rise to the popular saying Where the Arabs went, sugar followed. Their extensive dessert menu supports this sweet-tooth theory: flaky baklava, tahini-based halva, sticky cake-like basbousa and pistachio-intense mafruka are just a few examples.
In the 12th century, the crusaders took some of this sweet salt back home with them. It was expensive enough to be limited to the tables of the wealthy and powerful. In fact, up until the 18th century sugar was considered a luxury in Europe, but in the 19th century it began to be more widely used and quickly became a necessity.
[h=4]The bitter truth about the sweet stuff[/h]
Sugar may be considered the oil of its time. The search for cheap sugar led European powers to the Caribbean and the West Indies. They promptly colonised the region, one island after another, to gain access to vast sugarcane plantations and an endless supply of unpaid workers to handle the labour-intensive task of manufacturing sugar.
In 1792, an uprising in the French colony of Saint-Domingue led to a dramatic rise in the price of sugar in Great Britain. Lords and ladies were aghast at the impact this would have on their cakes and cups of tea. So along came Lieutenant J. Paterson of the East India Company to save the day. While presenting a report in the parliament related to the production of sugar in British India, he reported that sugar could be cultivated in Bihar with many advantages and at less expense than in the West Indies. As a result a number of sugar factories were established in Bihar.
Sugar exists under several pseudonyms in nature. Glucose occurs in fruits and plant juices. Fructose occurs naturally in fruits, some root vegetables, cane sugar and honey. Sucrose is found in the stems of sugarcane and roots of sugar beet. Maltose is found in certain grains, particularly barley which can be converted into malt, therefore the name. While lactose is the naturally occurring sugar found in milk. Most human bodies are able to absorb and digest these forms of natural sugar.
Its manufactured sugar that wreaks havoc on the human body. Devoid of any nutrients, vitamins or minerals, it consists of pure refined carbohydrates which turn into fat if not burned quickly. Some medical experts consider refined sugar to be a drug that makes the brain sluggish and causes the body to become used to spikes of high energy. Depression, dementia and diabetes can all be traced to the consumption of sugar. It also feeds cancer cells, contributes to the accumulation of belly fat and is the common cause of tooth decay.
Like drugs, sugar can be addictive. Many of us have experienced that craving for sugar. According to one estimate sugar is eight times as addictive as cocaine. And kicking the habit is made especially hard by the many tempting forms in which it appears. Supposedly healthy fruit juices and breakfast cereals, conveniently packaged snacks and crackers, and fat-free chips, ice cream and cookies are all loaded with sugar.
Sugar-laden liquids such as energy drinks, milkshakes and iced teas are among the worst culprits. A single can of carbonated soda, as most people known by now, contains more than 10 teaspoons of sugar. And if you just congratulated yourself for always choosing diet drinks think again. So-called sugar-free drinks are, in fact, sweetened with chemical substitutes such as aspartame, which can lead to epilepsy, birth defects and brain cancer in the long run.
There is a story told about shipwrecked sailors who were carrying a cargo of sugar. For nine days they sustained themselves on water mixed with sugar. Upon rescue they were all found to be in terrible physical condition. Drinking plain water, experts agreed, would have been the better option and it would have kept them alive just as long.
So forgo the red sherbet today and have a glass of cold water instead. Its time to kick the habit.
Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, July 6th, 2014
http://www.dawn.com/news/1116753/oh-sugar
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