A CHAT FROM LONDON: Sugar used to be the sweetest thing in the world

Around the time of Tanzanian independence in 1961, a powerful song hit the radios.

“Sweets for my sweet,

Sugar for my honey

I will never ever let you go...”

An American band, the Drifters, composed it. A few years later, another one about sugar was hugely successful too.

“Sugar, oh honey- honey

You are my candy girl

And you got me wanting you...”

Secondary schools

Parents and people of my generation in secondary schools around 1965 to 1975 would have heard this number by The Archies, also from the USA. Growing up in Arusha and Kilimanjaro, we knew and loved such words. In the then capital of Dar es Salaam where boogie dances (mabugi) were common on weekend afternoons this was a no- miss tune. Well-known youth groups like Rifters, Tonics, Sparks, Barkeys (nowadays Tanzanites), Barlocks, Revolutions (nowadays Wananjenje) and Sunburst included such Western songs on their concert lists.

Sugar was not just a subject of English songs but Swahili literature too. The late Tabora writer, Faraji Katalambula (author of legendary novel Simu ya Kifo), released Lawalawa (sweets), a  collection of stories in 1976. The theme of Lawalawa is infidelity in marriage and relationships.  Art, literature and music always mentions sugar and sweetness as a metaphor, indicator (or symbol) of love and romance.

Worldwide, sugar is a compulsory menu in drinks, snacks and bites for children. Children adore sweets. Adults, likewise. We grown-ups love to guzzle and sip and consume sweetened juice, wine, chocolates,  and wedding and birthday cakes filled with tanks of sugar.

Politics, too.

 During the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, where Americans and Russians almost caused World War 3, sugar was among the main causes of friction, fracas, dispute. One of Cuba’s major exports is sugar and when Fidel Castro nationalised key industries after the 1959 Revolution, the USA was very unhappy. She stopped importing Cuban sugar and Fidel Castro had to turn to Russia who not only bought sugar but also transformed into a new political ally.

Sugar is very important in our lives.

In Kiswahili language, diabetes,  is Kisukari.

Before I understood the actual implication of Type 2 Diabetes, I used to think (erroneously), that a person with this ailment should lick, swallow and slurp sugar all the time. This is because of the word Kisukari, (from Arabic sukar) which suggests the body cannot produce insulin.  According to medical info, the pancreas (kongosho) – regulator of glucose in the blood- creates the hormone insulin.

What does this mean?

 Normally sugar comes from our meals. When we have too low or too high sugar levels, we cannot do things properly. For example, people with diabetes develop a condition called “hyperglycaemia”, i.e.  High blood sugar levels. Symptoms include increased thirst, regular infections, frequent urination (especially at night), dry mouth, fatigue and a subsequent loss of weight and vision. 

This subject hit the headlines last week in the USA and UK.

Recent findings by the World Health Organisation (WHO), scholarly and cancer research concluded obesity should be causing more cancer deaths than cigarette smoking within the next decade.  The US Cancer Society announced that 60 diseases are a result of being overweight- a third of these due to lack of exercise, bad diet and physical inactivity.

Such news tally with remarks by Professor Simon Capewell from the University of Liverpool who specialises on epidemiology (the science of spread of illnesses) that sugar is the new tobacco: “Everywhere sugary drinks and junk foods are now pressed on unsuspecting parents and children by a cynical industry focussed on profit and not health.”

Scientists, medics and the media are therefore, calling for government legislation to restrict sugar intake in business and health sectors just like cigarettes have been for decades.

We, East Africans love sugar. We have sugar in maandazi, fizzy drinks (called soda in colloquial Swahili,) cakes (visheti, vitumbua, kashata), tea and coffee. To start with, too much sugar harms the teeth. The other day I was at the dentist, picked up a leaflet that advised: “Cutting down the amount of sugar in your diet and the number of times that you eat during the day, can help reduce tooth decay.”

Excessive sugar (ditto diabetes) creates an imbalance in the body. This is so serious that BBC programme in March proposed it is best to get sugar from natural products e.g. fruits, sugar cane and honey. Unlike refined white sugar, these products have an added bonus of useful nutrients. Fortunately, they are easily available in tropical Africa.

Younger people

Still speaking of Africa, lately we have noted how younger people are roughed up with diseases (like high blood pressure and diabetes) traditionally common to the over-50s wazee. Time to reduce sugar in our diets, do regular exercise and watch the weight.  Make sure our daily diet has fresh vegetables, fruits, and monitoring the body mass index (BMI).  This means your height and weight are balanced.