Sugar: Naturally Degrading to Our Health

Sugar cane returns to the western diet, as the NY Times reports companies begin to sell sugar as a natural product in soft drinks, cupcakes, and bread. The negative PR for high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) finally bit itself in the butt and consumers are demanding sugar. Some consumers say sugar tastes better and others express the desire to eat more natural sugars.

The NY Times nailed the truth in denouncing any perceived benefits of sugar over HFCS. Sugar cane is just as harmful as excessive amounts of HFCS and if we truly want to go back to where our diets were, we should stop putting sugar in everything. No matter how “natural” the initial product is, sugar is sugar and it hurts your body in the same way.

In fact, sugar compromises your immune system and hurts your liver much like alcohol can. People who switch from “primitive” diets to more “modern” diets often concede their health. Perhaps the only benefit of sugar is that it is not as highly subsidized with our tax dollars and has a more environmentally friendly process (of course sugar cane production has more instances of slave labor) than HFCS. I have not been able to prove that sugar cane requires less energy to produce, but growing cane requires less fertilizer than GM corn which means less oil. The sugar processing plants are able to use bagasse, the fibrous renewable by-product from processing cane, to power their machines. All signs point to sugar being the environmental champion of the two, but all health signs point to problems with excessive use.


Update: Oddly enough, the NY Times just released an article on sugar and economic "meltdown."