Edible Products. 



321 



[April 1908. 



labour no food appears to be able to give 

 the same powers of endurance as sugar ; 

 and comparative practical experiments 

 have shown without the least doubt that 

 the hard physical worker, the athlete or 

 the soldier on the march is much more 

 equal to the physical strain placed upon 

 him when he has had included iu his diet 

 a liberal allowance of sugrar than when 

 sugar is denied to him. Trophies, prizes 

 and cups have undoubtedly been won on 

 a diet in which sugar was intentionally a 

 notable constituent. It has even been 

 said that sugar may decide a battle, and 

 that jam, after all, is something more 

 than a mere sweetmeat to the soldier. 



"The fact that sugar is a powerful 

 ' muscle food ' accounts probably for the 

 disfavour into which it falls, for a com- 

 paratively small quantity amounts to an 

 excess, and excess is always inimical to 

 the easy working of the digestive pro- 

 cesses. A strong solution of sugar is 

 irritating to the tissues, will set up 

 superficial inflammation and may pro- 

 duce a form of eczema. It is well known 

 that an excessive diet of sugar irritates 

 the mucous membrane of the stomach and 

 encourages the production of mucous and 

 of a highly acid gastric juice. 



" The ingestion of much sugar spoils 



the appetite. Children who have been 

 tempted to overindulge in 'lollipops' 

 between regular eating times do not 

 want their ordinary meal. The school- 

 boy spoils his dinner by eating too many 

 sweet things before that meal. Au over- 

 indulgence in sweet liqueurs, in sweet 

 ices and in 'crystallized' fruits after 

 retards the digestion of the meal. 



" Sugar satiates ; it is a concentrated 

 food. When sugar does harm, therefore, 

 it is invariably due to excess. Taken in 

 small quantities and distributed over the 

 daily food intakes, sugar contributes 

 most usefully in health to the supply of 

 energy required by the body. In certain 

 diseases, of course, the presence of sugar 

 in the diet is plainly undesirable. 

 Generally speaking, however, there is a 

 prejudice against sugar which is not 

 justified by physiological reasoning— at 

 all events, when it is eaten in moder- 

 ation ; and it is a curious fact that the 

 man who practically abstains from sugar, 

 or reduces his diet to one almost free 

 from carbohydrates in favour of protein 

 foods such as meat, often shows feeble 

 muscular energy and an indifferent 

 capacity for physical endurance." — 

 Bradstreets. — Louisiana Planter and 

 Sugar Manufacturer, Vol. XL., No. 6. 



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