Thursday, January 3, 2013

Sugar



 This year, I resolved to make Wishes for 2013…
actually 10 of them…some attainable, others pure “fantasy”!
Someone stated, “My dreams shall be my guiding stars
as I navigate through my unknown destiny.”
Another mused, “A Man without Dreams
is like a Bird without Wings.”

New Year’s Resolutions:  Many have 1 or 2, 3 or more.
Perhaps one aspiration is “Food”!

The following is a “sweet tooth” essay
from one of my ardent blog followers.
It is entertainingly written and suggests much truth.

I hear all this fuss about so much sugar in soda.  And in New York, it has become
unlawful to sell soft drinks larger than 16 oz. (but alcohol is still okay).

At one time, I worked with a Russian friend  and when we made coffee
I would put about half a teaspoon of sugar in my coffee (like half a packet)
and he would  put about five packets of sugar in his.   
This is the way he drank coffee: with about five sugars.  I used to say to him, 
“Would you care for a little coffee to go with your sugar there, Serge?”

We were having lunch in a restaurant and I ordered a piece of apple pie for
dessert, along with some coffee.  I put the usual half teaspoon in my coffee
and ridiculed Serge about his coffee-flavoured syrup.  Serge then pointed
out to me that there was likely more than five teaspoons of sugar in the slice
of apple pie that I was enjoying.  And I realized he was right!  So I didn't
criticize his coffee any more.

At home, I often make desserts.  A Filipino dessert called Braso de Mercedes
called for two cups of sugar.  I make it as two smaller meringue-custard
rolls, so each one has a whole cup of sugar.  Each one will be cut into about
four to six servings.  Stop to consider that one cup consists of 48 teaspoons.
So if it is cut in six, then one slice has 8 teaspoons of sugar:  almost the
sugar of one can of Coke.  If  you cut it in four, then one slice has 12
teaspoons of sugar.

Yesterday, I made a German Chocolate Cake.  The frosting calls for 2/3 cup
(that'll be 36 teaspoons) of sugar and 2/3 cup of Carnation milk and 1/3 cup
of butter.  That's the essential sticky base to which we add 4/3 cup of
coconut and 1 cup of chopped pecans.  Oh, it's absolutely delicious!!!
But that frosting sure is loaded with goodness.

A few years ago, my daughter and I made some pumpkin pie from scratch.
There was so much milk and sugar in the mix, I realized that the pumpkin
was little more than flavouring.  The mix was essentially gelled sugar to
hold some pumpkin base.

Now, maybe the high consumption of soda pop is yielding childhood
obesity and a multitude health problems. (Back in the 70's we used to
play outside.  Imagine that!) But it cannot begin to compare to the ills of
alcohol.  And I don't see any laws barring the size of a slice of apple pie!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A senior citizen acquaintance of mine “loves cookies”.  High on the priority list
are Oreo cookies.  (Recently on a 4-cookie packet, the label indicated these four
Oreos have a total of 160 calories which in my calculation means that 1 of these
cookies  equals 40 calories).  At a social event, this senior consumed at least 16
Oreo cookies .It's a  “no-brainer”  to realize that 640 calories were consumed  
within a couple hours.  But they were immensely enjoyed with hot tea.

Many people today are lured and enticed through media advertisements: radio,
television, internet, magazines, billboards and other technology invading our 
daily lives and environment…with their lilting music, happy jingles, clever ads with 
brilliant cartoons, birds, animals…even merchandise packaging with colouful labels.

I'm reminded of a Johnny Cash song,
Sugar in the morning, sugar in the evening,
sugar at suppertime.
Be my little sugar and love me all the time.

A Brief History of Sugar

Sugar is the generalized name for a class of sweet-flavoured substances used as
food.  They are carbohydrates and as the name implies, are composed of carbon,
hydrogen and oxygen.

Sugarcane is a giant grass and has been cultivated in tropical climates in the Far
East since ancient times.  A great expansion in its production took place in the
18th century with the setting up of sugar plantations in the West Indies and the
Americas.  This was the first time that sugar became available to the common
people who had previously had to rely on honey to sweeten foods.

The world produced about 168 million tonnes  of sugar in 2011.  The average
person consumes about 24 kilograms of sugar each year, equivalent to about
260 food calories per person per day.

Since the last part of the 20th century, it has been questioned whether a diet
high in sugars, especially refined sugars, is bad for health.  Sugar has been
linked to: obesity and suspected of being implicated in diabetes, cardiovascular
disease, dementia, macular degeneration and tooth decay.
Numerous studies have been undertaken to clarify the position.

“Buddha's Pearl of Wisdom”

Health is the greatest gift,
contentment the greatest wealth,
faithfulness the best relationship.

Merle Baird-Kerr...written November 1, 2012
Comments welcome...scroll down...may sign in as “anonymous”


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