Nature's Pharmacy: Ancient Knowledge, Modern Medicine

Sugar

Throughout history some form of sweetener has been used in making medicine. Sugar was used for curing nose and throat ailments and for constipation. We still use sugar in some medicines, but today it is used to disguise a medicine's unpleasant taste, not for therapeutic reasons.

Earliest sugar production is believed to have started on the island of New Guinea in the South Pacific, about 8,000 years ago. Over the centuries it spread to the Solomon Islands, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. By 800 B.C.E. sugarcane arrived in China from India and then Persia in around 500 C.E. Persia and Egypt adopted the cultivation of sugarcane, when they were conquered by the Arabs. From Egypt, sugarcane culture reached Northern Africa, then crossed the Mediterranean and reached Europe in about 630 C.E. The Crusades in Europe from the 11th to the 13th centuries, helped spread the word about sugar across the continent.

Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum)
Sugarcane is a tall grass plant (7 to 15 feet), that grows in tropical and semitropical climates. Ideal temperatures for growth range between 75° F and 86° F; cane needs 80 to 120 inches of rain per year. Sugarcane currently grows in Brazil (the leading producer), India, Cuba, The United States and Mexico. In the United States the leading cane-producing states are Florida, Hawaii and Louisiana. Sugarcane grows in the form of stalks, consisting of small sections called internodes. The cane is harvested between 8 to 16 months after planting. In the United States and Australia harvesting is mechanized. In most other countries farmers cut the sugar cane by hand with a large steel knife or machete with a blade about 5 inches wide and 18 inches long with a hook at the back for stripping off the leaves of the stalk. For centuries, many cane fields were harvested following the burning of the dry cane field before the stalks were cut. The fires cleared the stalks of leaves and burned out undergrowth, but were very dangerous and particularly hard on the workers' health. Firing has been discontinued in most countries because of environmental concerns about air pollution, and problems with over-depletion of soil nutrients. Depletion resulted from lack of plant materials to rebuild the soil or replace soils washed away following the burning of the cane fields.

Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris)
The sugar beet plant consists of a cluster of dark green leaves atop a short stocky stem called the crown. Beneath the crown is a creamy-white, fleshy, cone-shaped root, in which the plant stores sugar. Sugar beets grow best in regions that have sunny days and cool nights. Sugar beets that are grown for sugar are usually harvested in late September or early October. They supply about 40 percent of the world's commercial sugar; only sugarcane provides more. The former Soviet Union grows most of the world's sugar beets. In the United States the chief beet growing states are California, Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota and Wyoming. Sugar beets have been grown as an experimental crop on selected sites in Iowa.

According to some scientists the beetroots' history begins in Egypt around 2000 B.C.E. But it wasn't until the early 18th century that scientist Andreas Sigismund Marggraf discovered that the beetroot contained sucrose. However, his process of developing sugar from the beet was too expensive at the time. In 1799 one of Maggraf's students, Franz Carl Achard, developed a practical method of removing sugar from sugar beets. Achard's achievement was much appreciated by King Frederick William IV of Prussia and the Anti-Slavery Movement. The king gave him a grant of land and a gratuity, so Achard could carry on with his work. The beetroot seemed a good alternative to sugarcane, which required backbreaking labor for its manufacture.

The sugar beet industry developed at the beginning of the 19th century during the Napoleonic Wars. The Wars involved most of Europe; Napoleon's goal was to become ruler of as large a territory as possible. Napoleon issued the Berlin Decree, which barred British ships from the ports under French control, i.e. most of Europe. The decree was aimed at destroying British trade with continental Europe. England, the biggest sugarcane producer and France's primary enemy, answered with a blockade of the continent. However, the demand for sugar was so important in Europe, where it was recognized as a "necessity", the decree banning import prompted them to cultivate the sugarbeet as a viable source of sugar, and the industry developed.

The Triangular Trade and Slavery
In the beginning of the 1500s Spain and Portugal colonized parts of South and Central America. The Indian population was forced to work in silver mines, but also in the cultivation and processing of sugar, tobacco, coffee and cocoa. They were grievously used and many died. The Portuguese also used convicts, debtors and Jews who refused to be converted to Christianity, as laborers.

Sugar grew increasingly important to the European population. The price of sugar rose steeply but people still demanded it, because they had become addicted to sugar. Around 1530 there were about a dozen sugar plantations in the Caribbean. The Netherlands, France and England began to explore the Caribbean in the 1600s and the triangular trade - a trade route between Europe, West Africa and the Caribbean that lasted about 200 years (1600 to 1800) - developed. The first leg of the triangle - from Europe to West Africa - transported manufactured goods, weapons, rum and salt. There, all the goods were traded for slaves. The Africans actually needed only salt, but used weapons and rum to obtain slaves for the trade. The second leg - from West Africa to the Caribbean - transported the slaves that were sold to sugar plantation owners. Sugar, coffee and tobacco were bought for export back to Europe - the final leg of the triangle.

Conditions under sugar slavery were considered far crueler than those under cotton slavery. During the Atlantic slavetrade from the 1500s to 1800s about 10 million Africans were taken from their home country to become slaves. About 65 percent of the Africans were brought to Brazil, Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti and other sugar colonies. Brazil alone received around 38 percent. North America received 6 percent of all the slaves transported from West Africa. About 2 million died during the trip. The voyage from Africa took several months and the ships were haunted by filth, disease and death. Some captains used a system called loose packing, to deliver slaves. Under that system, captains transported fewer slaves than their ships could carry in the hope of reducing sickness and death among the slaves. Other captains preferred the opposite system known as tight packing. They believed that many slaves would die on the trip under any circumstances so they packed in as many slaves as their ship could hold. On the slaveships the Africans were chained and kept below deck, except for brief periods of exercise.

How do we get sugar from the plant to the bowl?
The stalk of the sugarcane contains the sugar. In the sugar factory the stalks are washed and shredded. A crushing machine then squeezes a sugary liquid from the stalks. Water is added and cane juice, a mixture of sugar and water, undergoes the purification process. The cane juice is heated and lime is added. The juice is put through a clarifier and a filter, to make it clearer. After being clarified it goes to an evaporator, where the juice gets thick and syrupy. Still more water must be removed, so the syrup goes into a vacuum pan, where it is heated to drive the water out. The remains - syrup and sugar crystals - are put into a centrifuge that spins at a very high speed, separating the syrup from the crystals until raw sugar is obtained.

The raw sugar is refined before it goes on the market. In the refinery raw sugar's brown color is rinsed off and the sugar crystals are dissolved in water. The liquid is poured through filters until it becomes clear and colorless. After that it is put into an evaporator, so crystals can form again. The crystals are again put into the centrifuge and from there the white sugar goes into a drying drum, so any remaining moisture will disappear. The sugar is then packed and shipped.

Obtaining sugar from sugar beets is similar to the sugarcane process, but it is done in one continuous process without the raw sugar stage. The beets are washed, sliced and soaked in hot water to separate the sugary juice from the beet fiber. Then the juice is purified, filtered, concentrated and dried in many steps that are similar to sugarcane processing.

Why is sugar (sucrose) bad for you?
You have probably heard that sugar is bad for you. But why? And does sugar have any redeeming qualities?

All animals, including man, convert the fiber and starch in food into sugar, by biochemical means. Sugar is then made available in the bloodstream as a source of energy. All fruits and vegetables contain starch and sugar in the form of fructose. When we consume refined sugar in large quantities, our metabolism is altered. If a person eats a piece of fruit containing, say, 10% fructose and 10% glucose, the remaining 80% of dry matter has to go through a number of digestive processes to make the sugars available. When white refined sugar is consumed, the stomach has less work to do, and energy is produced and used up in a sudden flood rather than as a steady drip.

The production of important enzymes is inhibited once the body habitually gets its sugar requirements from sucrose, so the body finds it difficult to digest any accompanying starch or fiber. Food manufacturers have reduced the fiber content in processed foods to accommodate the lack of enzymes. A vicious circle is created in which people become addicted to a constant flow of refined sugar to the blood stream, and cut down on fiber.

Because white sugar becomes available to the metabolism so quickly, the addict's blood-sugar level rises and falls very rapidly as the pancreas works hard to deal with high inputs of sucrose to the stomach. The body becomes used to a feast/famine syndrome in the blood-sugar, and this produces an addiction which is chemical, not psychological. The bloodstream signals a deficiency which is self-induced, and the whole cycle may be repeated within an hour. A true sugar addict cannot do without some kind of reinforcement at very frequent intervals.

Sugar addiction can lead to obesity, dental problems and malnutrition; after illegal drugs, tobacco and alcohol, sugar is the most damaging addictive substance consumed.

How can we avoid refined sugar?
Try to limit use of candy, soda, canned fruit, jams, jellies and bakery products that contain a large amount of sugar. Rather than drinking pop, try some sparkling mineral water with a splash of fruit juice.

• Read the labels when you buy processed foods; these foods often contain much sugar.
• Instead of putting sugar in your coffee, brew it with a small piece of cinnamon stick or vanilla bean.
• Use pure fruit purees instead of sugar and syrup on your pancakes and waffles.
• Avoid grocery shopping when you are hungry and are more likely to buy foods with high sugar content.
• Try to make major shopping trips without small children. Markets often put sugary cereals and candy at children's eye levels, to encourage impulse buying. If you have to bring children, keep them busy with a toy or a book.
• When you feel like snacking, choose a fruit instead of a candy bar!!!