# Why can't I eat sugar as a staple? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 9, 2013, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533 "2013-06-09T08:24:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533/1 "2013-06-09T08:24:15Z")
Ok, people are saying: 1. Sugar doesn’t cause diabetes 2. Refined carbohydrates are as bad as sugar If white rice and white bread are as bad, why can’t I just eat the same number of calories in the form of sugar, then? Sugar sure tastes better than most carbohydrates. If it’s a matter of GI, can’t I just eat small portions? ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533/2 "2013-06-09T08:39:41Z")
One notable different between table sugar and ‘refined’ carbohydrates such as white rice and white flour, is that sugar is 50/50 glucose/fructose, whereas starchy foods are mostly glucose. Fructose must be processed through your liver, rather than by your gut, and therefore has quite a different effect on your physiology. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533/3 "2013-06-09T08:51:19Z")
Ah that’s a good point, thanks. Can glucose be spun into cotton candy? ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533/4 "2013-06-09T09:38:22Z")
Well, you shouldn’t \*really \*eat refined carbohydrates as a staple either. And even if you do, it’s more likely than sugar to go with something with more nutritional value, like you might have white rice and vegetables. But if you wanted to put sugar on your vegetables instead, well, it might not make a huge amount of difference. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533/5 "2013-06-09T12:02:15Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > If white rice and white bread are as bad, why can’t I just eat the same number of calories in the form of sugar, then? Well, actually you CAN do that, but pure sugar has even less nutritional value than white bread, which actually has a teeny bit of fiber and is usually vitamin enriched. Likewise for white rice. Rice and bread also have bulk which helps you feel full whereas pure sugar does not. It’s not so much that sugar is “bad” for you as there is little good there, it lacks vitamins, minerals, etc. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533/6 "2013-06-09T12:05:41Z")
Sugar doesn’t sate. Eat half a cup of sugar five times a day and you will be starving long before bed. ---
**Author:** ![Doggo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/87869e/32.png) [@Doggo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doggo)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533/7 "2013-06-09T13:13:13Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > Sugar doesn’t sate. Eat half a cup of sugar five times a day and you will be starving long before bed. When I was young ( long long ago ) the sugar industry was advertising that if you used sugar, it satisfied your hunger and you would eat less, therefore losing weight. ---
**Author:** ![Doggo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/87869e/32.png) [@Doggo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doggo)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533/8 "2013-06-09T13:14:30Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > Well, you shouldn’t \*really \*eat refined carbohydrates as a staple either. > > And even if you do, it’s more likely than sugar to go with something with more nutritional value, like you might have white rice and vegetables. But if you wanted to put sugar on your vegetables instead, well, it might not make a huge amount of difference. In Thailand, they often use white sugar on their rice and vegetable meals. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533/9 "2013-06-10T20:15:48Z")
It’s not just about calories. Even Wonder Bread has some protein (2 slices has 110 Calories, 4g protein, 28g carbs). If you took 7 teaspoons of sugar you’d be getting about the same calories but no protein, nothing else but Calories. White sugar is a simple carbohydrate, compared even to white flour. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533/10 "2013-06-15T00:00:41Z")
> [@Doggo](#): > > When I was young ( long long ago ) the sugar industry was advertising that if you used sugar, it satisfied your hunger and you would eat less, therefore losing weight. and you never stopped to think that the people encouraging you to eat the stuff they were selling might have ulterior motives? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533/11 "2013-06-15T00:03:18Z")
Depending on how much processed food you eat, you may be doing this already. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533/12 "2013-06-15T00:17:49Z")
> [@Doggo](#): > > In Thailand, they often use white sugar on their rice and vegetable meals. And phat thai. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533/13 "2013-06-15T00:26:02Z")
You can run a diesel Mercedes on filtered cooking oil, but the performance & MPG are lacking, and there’s the possibility of gunking up the works something fierce. It might also have trouble starting in cold weather. Plus, your car will smell like doughnuts. Okay, that last one’s kinda cool. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533/14 "2013-06-15T00:31:01Z")
The reason is that staples are a bit rough on the stomach. ---
**Author:** ![yorick73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5a626/32.png) [@yorick73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yorick73)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2013, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533/15 "2013-06-16T05:33:32Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > Ah that’s a good point, thanks. Can glucose be spun into cotton candy? LOL…nobody else finds this amusing?!? I must be drunk. Interesting question too…can it? (Grabs my beer) ---
**Author:** ![Doggo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/87869e/32.png) [@Doggo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doggo)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2013, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533/16 "2013-06-16T06:45:50Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > and you never stopped to think that the people encouraging you to eat the stuff they were selling might have ulterior motives? When I was young, we were indoctrinated to accept whatever we were told by “adults”. It took a few years to make me as cynical as I am now. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2013, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533/17 "2013-06-16T12:46:53Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > And phat thai. Well, if they eat too much sugar, yes. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2013, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533/18 "2013-06-16T12:50:36Z")
Table sugar is so incredibly non-nutritive that almost nothing can eat it. Ever seen sugar go bad? Ever seen moldy sugar? What does that tell you? Ant, rats, humans eat sugar. Not much else. ---
**Author:** ![BorgHunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@BorgHunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BorgHunter)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2013, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533/19 "2013-06-16T13:16:41Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > Table sugar is so incredibly non-nutritive that almost nothing can eat it. This is an utterly absurd statement. Sugar is precisely as nutritive as any other carbohydrate: 4 kcal/g. And the reason mold doesn’t grow on table sugar is because table sugar is _dry_; water is an absolute precondition for life. And even if you got sugar wet, at high concentrations it inhibits life due to high osmotic pressure; only [a few microorganisms](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmophile) can survive living in such an environment. Some animals, like cats, can’t really digest carbohydrates and sugar won’t be useful for them. For humans, and myriad other species (it’s not just humans, ants, and rats), sugars are perfectly nutritive. Whether it’s a good idea to eat it as a staple, well, probably not; there’s a lot of research on insulin spikes and how that impacts a number of diseases, and refined sugar doesn’t provide any other nutrients alongside. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2013, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533/20 "2013-06-16T16:50:23Z")
> [@BorgHunter](#): > > This is an utterly absurd statement. Sugar is precisely as nutritive as any other carbohydrate: > > … and refined sugar doesn’t provide any other nutrients alongside. **Refined sugar does not provide nutrients.** vs \*\*Table sugar is so incredibly non-nutritive \*\* I don’t see much of a distinction there, do you? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533.md?page=2)