Jasper County Democrat, Volume 20, Number 92, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 February 1918 — AVE MUST LEARN TO WANT LESS SUGAR. [ARTICLE]

AVE MUST LEARN TO WANT LESS SUGAR.

By Harvey W. Wiley, M. D. Sugar is the only food product of ■which the American people have been deprived by reason of the existing war. The scramble to get sugar has been pretty general all over the country, and much complaint has arisen respecting the scarcity thereof and the reasons therefor. A few facts in connection with this staple product will be of interest. First, sugar belongs to that class df food known -as carbohydrates,■ of which starch is by far the most abundant member, pietetically, sugar and starch belong to the same category. * In regard to taste they are

radically different. Pure starch is practically tasteless, while sugar produces the sensation of sweetness which has come to be regarded as one of the essentials of a carbohydrate diet. In regard to digestibility, sugar being readily soluble enters the circrtlation and becomes utilized much more quickly than starch. It is estimated by competent physiologists that sugar when ingested into the stomach will be found in the blood within a very few minutes. Sugar is essential to the proper functioning of the body. It is the ■muscle stimulus and is burned readily to furnish heat and energy. Therefore its dietetic value must not be minimized. Starch before entering the circulation is converted into sugar by the digestive processes but it is not the kind of sugar that we think of when we hear the name. The sugar which is made from starch is much less sweet than the natural sugar of plants, but its digestive and dietetic power is just as great. It requires from two to three hours for starch after it reaches the stomach to be completely converted into sugar. In fact, starch is not digested to any extent in the stomach. The Ferment which changes the starch into sugar is found first in the saliva and then subsequently in the ferments excreted in the small intestine. For this reason, the only sugar that is formed in the stomach from starch is that which is produced by the saliva incorporated with it during mastication, hence, the great necessity of thoroughly and carefully masticating all starchy foods. All vegetable foods contain either sugar or starch or both. When we eat fruits and succulent vegetables, we have a diet which is rich in carbohydrates. As far as necessities of digestion are concerned, we need not add any sugar to our foods. Nature furnishes an abundant supply. The real hardship that we feel when vv e e.ui'l buy sugar is because our taste for sweets is not gratified. The absence of sugar is not much of a dietetic misfortune. The lesson of today will be o|f value in this respect, namely, to. show to our people how little sugar thfey- can get along with and be entirely happy.

Before the war we were consuming about eighty pounds of sugar per head of population. Only England consumed more sugar per head. The taste for jams, jellies, canai<\s and confections is largely an acquired one, and as we accustom ourselves to do without our supply of sugar the craving for it will diminish. Children do not have a craving for sugar unless the taste for it is artificially produced. The United States and its possessions, th© Philippines, Hawaiian Islands and Porto Rico, produce pretty close to half the sugar we consume. Cuba furnishes the rest. Louisiana produces 200,000 tons, the '.Hawaiian Islands 500,000, the Philippine Islands 60,000 and Porto Rico 300,000 tons of cane sugar; in all 1,060,000 tons. The United States also produces 800,000 tons of beet sugar, giving a total production of sugar in the United States and its

dependencies 0f,1,860,000 tons. Cuba produces in round numbers 3,000,000 tons. If we used all the Cuban sugar we would be consuming 4,860,000 tons of sugar, which would give us nearly 100 ipounds per head. We must make up our minds to eat less sugar. We must supply our allies with a part of the Cuban sugar, and it would be an excellent idea i/f we would so regulate our own consumption as to use not more than 3,000,000 tons during the next year. That is more than ample for all gustatory and dietetic purposes. Especially should we cut out the supply of candy and sweets of all description to the greatest possible degree.