• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Sugar intake increase over the years

Brunneria

Guru
Retired Moderator
Messages
21,884
Location
Lincolnshire
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
We all know that sugar intake has risen, don't we?
It is in the media every day. Vaguely linked to processed foods and our own implied greed.

Well I decided to find out by how much.
And I came across these two fascinating webpages.

The first shows how sugar intake rose, particularly in Britain, as a result of the slave trade and increased availability.
The contrast between the amount of sugar eaten per person in the last 300 years, is frankly shocking.
https://chocolateclass.wordpress.co...itish-sugar-consumption-and-potential-causes/
The site is mainly focused on chocolate, and the sugar info is a kind of additional extra:

There is no doubt that since 1704, when sugar consumption in Britain was only 4 pounds per person, its consumption has skyrocketed to well over 150 pounds per person, per year.




As a comparison, the following link takes you to the European Association of Sugar Manufacturers own website,
https://cefs.org/blog/2014/05/01/th...out-sugar-consumption-its-not-what-you-think/
and shows a v similar chart on sugar consumption, but a completely different interpretation.
This time they conveniently ignore the 140 years before 1840.
In their own words:

Conclusion
  • The rise in obesity is a problem for the world today. However, this is not due to rising sugar consumption.
  • Data shows how we as consumers in the developed world are actually consuming less sugar than before.
  • Behaviour has changed and the amount of sugar that we buy for domestic use today is just 30% of that of our grandparents’ generation.
  • We are consuming more sugar indirectly but this reflects the food that we can buy today and we are consuming more food overall.
  • Our lives are better but we are working more, are more exposed to stress and on average are doing less exercise.
UK per capita sugar consumption is now falling
Source: Czarnikow, F O Licht, ISO, Board of Trade Journal



Amazing how much spin can be put on information, isn't it?
 
am not one who blames sugar for everything apart from Diabetes I am sure we all know some annoying person who seems to be able to eat & Drink anything and does not put on weight . whilst other only have to look at food and they put on pounds. I believe we all eat too much nowadays. In the past people may have eaten as much but lead more active lives Walked miles to school or work etc Work was more Physical for most. Nowadays we drive everywhere my wife even drives 1/2 mile to post a letter work is less physical in most cases. I know tis is a generalization but mostly true.
Then there is Processed Food Microwave's etc regardless of the amount of sugar. whatever happened to buying food from a Butcher or a fishmonger or a green grocer etc and cooking from scratch. as regard amounts best diet cut down on the quantity of everything and loose weight, Exercise is of course Important but will not work on its own yes cut back on carbs etc but if you still eat too much you will gain weight ..............Just my opinion
 
Does this include increased natural suger in food due to plant breading and year round access to imported "natueral" food?
 
Brunneria said:
.......Amazing how much spin can be put on information, isn't it?
Click to expand...

Thanks @Brunneria , good information and interesting how the graphs show that consumption dropped during the war years when presumably there was a shortage of supply and how it leapt sharply in peacetimes. I guess the steeper rise after the 2nd world war also ties in with the birth of consumerism.

I wonder what the data looks like post 2005?
 
Yes, there’s a marked impact from the wars, isn’t there?
My mother was a child during the second world war, and vividly remembers sweet rationing, and how her uncle gave her 1 sweet a day from his ration...
Yet, looking at the graphs, even the worst wartime rationing still offered about 10 times as much sugar as the average person was eating in 1700. Mind boggling.
 
Last edited:
I remember reading somewhere that during the war years there were considerable less diabetics .
 
Interesting - on the second graph there's a little sharp spike around 1974-75 which corresponds to what I thought was a UK sugar crisis - but was apparently a world wide one, which eventually resulted in rationing for us, but also caused some sugar hoarding too.

I worked out in the country and we had a free works bus to shuttle us to the small local shopping centre during lunch breaks, and I was a bit gobsmacked at the daily sugar craving lemming like hordes of women who literally shoved and sprinted the few yards from the bus to deplete the little supermarket's shelves of the dwindling sugar stocks!

There were apparently questions asked in parliament:-
Member for Hemel Hempstead (Mr. Corbett) on 5th November....
Is he further aware that it is time we looked at the practical problems? We know about the long-term difficulties over agreement, but is the hon. Gentleman aware of the difficulties which people working shifts, disabled people and pensioners are experiencing in trying to get to shops early enough to get limited supplies of sugar?

The mind boggles - but apparently we needed to get our sugar crazed priorities right!

Robbity
 
lol my Dad rushed out and bought lots of bags of sugar which he stored under the spare bed.
 
Brunneria said:
Behaviour has changed and the amount of sugar that we buy for domestic use today is just 30% of that of our grandparents’ generation.
Click to expand...
How on earth did they conclude that from either graph???
 
My mum also hoarded sugar during the shortage. I had left home by then, but on return visits had nowhere to hang my clothes - my wardrobe was piled high with bags of Tate & Lyle.

Also, care needs to be taken when comparing sugar consumption in modern times with that of the 18th and early 19th centuries. In the old days it was a very valuable commodity. Only the super rich could afford it, and they had boxes in which to store it under lock and key. It was worth as much as precious stones.
 
pdmjoker said:
How on earth did they conclude that from either graph???
Click to expand...

I thinnk it is because they are 'conveniently' forgetting the rise in processed foods and hidden sugar.

Nowadays people cheerfully announce 'I don't take sugar in my tea!'
But the same people will go to Starbucks or Costa and have a Chai Latte that has 10 teasp of sugar in it, and not even notice what they are drinking, because they didn't spoon it into the cup themselves.

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/en...nVrLw&guce_referrer_cs=Zlgje0ympyooCJ74_D6gIg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…