The average American eats 145 pounds of sugar every year - that's about 28 teaspoons per day. At the beginning of the 20th century sugar was still a rare luxury, with average consumption levels at around five pounds per year, less than one teaspoon per day.
This spectacular 2,800 per cent rise in sugar consumption is one of the most significant changes in our modern diet.
Sugar from sugar cane is one of our oldest foods, originating in India 5,000 years ago. Before its introduction to the West by Crusaders, honey and fruit were our occasional and seasonal sources of simple sugars such as sucrose, glucose and fructose. It was Christopher Columbus who carried a sugar cane plant to the Caribbean, and slave labour ensured that it remained cheap.
Sugar is sucrose, a combination of one glucose and one fructose molecule. Glucose is the only sugar that our body can use directly. Fructose is converted into glycogen and stored for later use in the liver. When the liver detects a drop in blood sugar level glycogen is converted into glucose.
