According to savuer
10,000 B.C.: Before sugar ruled the world, honey was queen. Basically any part of Europe, Africa, or Asia that isn’t covered in ice had bees, and thus honey. There are no bees in the Americas, though, so their sweeteners are syrups from trees, agave nectar from cactus, or mashed fruits.
8,000 B.C: Sugar is native to, and first cultivated in, New Guinea. Initially, people chew on the reeds to enjoy the sweetness. 2,000 years later, sugar cane makes its way (by ship) to the Philippines and India.
Up until this point sugar was mostly enjoyed in its natural state.
Which is better for human consumption and health.
According to healthline honey is a good source of antioxidants, helps digestive issues, a potent prebiotic and much more. These benefits can promote good gut health and even support sustainable weight management.
An article on healthambition states that The processing of the sugar cane plant into table sugar essentially removes all of the phytonutrients from sugar cane juice. The nutrients play a role in fighting disease and free radicals.
Sugar is first refined in India: the first description of a sugar mill is found in an Indian text from 100 A.D.
According to cancercenter , Foods with natural sugar have an important role in the diet of cancer patients and anyone trying to prevent cancer because they provide essential nutrients that keep the body healthy and help prevent disease. Refined sugar comes from sugar cane or sugar beets, which are processed to extract the sugar. It is typically found as sucrose, which is the combination of glucose and fructose. We use white and brown sugars to sweeten cakes and cookies, coffee, cereal and even fruit. The article continues to explain that the body breaks down refined sugar rapidly, causing insulin and blood sugar levels to skyrocket.
Now, with the birth of sugar manufacturing, many cultures started to call on it for desserts, like rice pudding, sweet barley meal and fermented drinks.
327: Greeks and Romans learn about sugar during visits to India. Nearchus, Alexandria’s general, writes of “a reed in India that brings forth honey without the help of bees, from which an intoxicating drink is made, though the plant bears no fruit.” Small amounts are brought back to the Mediterranean and traded to physicians who use it for medical purposes.
500-600 A.D.: A university in Iran, becomes the meeting place for the world’s scholars (at least those west of China). Greek, Christian, Jewish, and Persian scholars gather to create the first teaching hospital. They study texts from various cultures, and by 600 A.D. They are writing about a potent Indian medicine: sugar. They also develop better methods for processing sugar cane into crystallized sugar.
1801: Franz Carl Achard, a student of Margraff, is credited as the first person to extract sugar from beets on a commercial level. Around 1837, As slavery dies out in the Caribbean, European governments enact policies to support their beet growers. With governmental support, the European beet sugar industry expanded through the 20th century.
1879: A graduate student at Johns Hopkins refines saccharin, a crystalline powder 300 to 500 times sweeter than sugar but with no calories.
1952: Calcium cyclamate starts appearing in diet sodas
1965: Aspartame (a.k.a. NutraSweet and Equal) was invented in 1965, and by the late 1970s is used in diet sodas.
1967: The bad boy, High-fructose corn syrup hits the scene.
1998: Sucralose, which goes by the brand name of Splenda and is a whopping 600 times sweeter than sugar, is approved for use in the U.S. Artificial sweeteners supplement or replace sugar in all kinds of food products.
Artificial sweeteners and other sugar substitutes are found in a variety of food and beverages marketed as “sugar-free” or “diet,” including soft drinks and baked goods.
Sugar alcohols generally aren’t used when you prepare food at home. But they’re in many processed foods and other products, including chocolate, chewing gum and toothpaste and even in processed meat.
Artificial sugar is not just the issue, excess sugar in our blood stream can lead to a host of health issues, including diabetes and cancer.
We may be eating sugars, when we think we are not.
Next time you go shopping, look at the label, you can identify excess sugars by looking for words that end in “ose,” such as fructose, dextrose, and maltose, and look for syrups and juices.
It is important to educate ourselves and take control of our health.
As artificial sweeteners fall out of vogue, ancient forms of sugar make a major comeback: agave nectar, stevia, dates, and of course honey, which is delicious, shelf-stable, and linked to many health benefits.
As these sweeteners are being studied and approved for health benefits, we are learning how they can be good for health and fatloss.
It is usually best to eat sugars in their natural unprocessed forms, i.e apple, instead of apple juice or sugar cane instead of added sugar derived from cane.
Download a Glycemic Index App on your phone and eat according to the index. This can help you maintain healthy blood sugar.