# 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:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2013, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533/21 "2013-06-16T17:46:55Z")
> [@yorick73](#): > > LOL…nobody else finds this amusing?!? I must be drunk. Only because it implies that he was really hoping to make cotton candy his food staple, not just plain table sugar. Serving cotton candy instead of rice or potatoes or bread does tickle my absurdist funny bone. ---
**Author:** ![Honesty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f04885/32.png) [@Honesty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honesty)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533/22 "2013-06-16T18:06:20Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > 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? Sugar has no nutritive value except energy and is \>99% digestible (no fiber). No vitamins, minerals, or metals that are needed for life. Rice at least has amino acids, B vitamins, and a smattering of iron, copper, and selenium - all required for life. Sugar has none of these nutrients. - Honesty ---
**Author:** ![cougar58](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@cougar58](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cougar58)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2013, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533/23 "2013-06-16T18:11:03Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > 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. I haven’t seen any unhealthy ants. In fact even the old ones can still lift 10 times their own weight. and I have yet to see a fat ant ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533/24 "2013-06-16T18:14:32Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > **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? Yes. Carbs are one type of nutrients. Vitamins, minerals, anioxidents, proteins are other nutrients. Did you see the word “other” in what you quoted? Table sugar give you carbs and nothing else. Other carbs gives you proteins and vitamins etc along with it. ---
**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, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533/25 "2013-06-16T18:23:44Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Only because it implies that he was really hoping to make cotton candy his food staple, not just plain table sugar. Serving cotton candy instead of rice or potatoes or bread does tickle my absurdist funny bone. Of course…but it’s not so funny when you break it down like that. Explaining the joke always ruins it. ---
**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 16, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533/26 "2013-06-16T18:52:52Z")
> [@cougar58](#): > > I haven’t seen any unhealthy ants. In fact even the old ones can still lift 10 times their own weight. and I have yet to see a fat ant Go ahead grow an exoskeleton, secrete formic acid, and eat all the sugar you want. 😉 ---
**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, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533/27 "2013-06-16T19:15:28Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > **Refined sugar does not provide nutrients.** I never said this. Sugars are carbohydrates, and carbohydrates are nutrients. Therefore, sugars are nutrients. Non-nutritive sweeteners are your saccharines and your aspartames and your Ace-Ks and so forth. Sugar is, in contrast, a nutritive sweetener. By the way, so you’re not misunderstanding me, I am in absolute agreement that people should, in general, avoid refined sugar. I do that myself. But there’s no need to make alarmist, incorrect statements like, “Table sugar is so incredibly non-nutritive that almost nothing can eat it” in support of that claim. It can stand on its merits without resorting to exaggeration. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2013, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533/28 "2013-06-16T20:04:14Z")
> [@yorick73](#): > > Of course…but it’s not so funny when you break it down like that. Explaining the joke always ruins it. You can hardly accuse me of ruining it, though. My post comes long after the joke. I was just explaining it to people who apparently didn’t find it funny. You can’t ruin an unfunny joke. I was going to make a second joke instead, that would clue you into the first joke, but I couldn’t get it to come out right: “Honey, would you please pass the corn?” “Sure, if you’ll pass me the gravy. The cotton candy’s in the way.” ---
**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 17, 2013, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533/29 "2013-06-17T02:18:51Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > And phat thai. > [@Malacandra](#): > > Well, if they eat too much sugar, yes. Thais _do_ eat too much sugar. And yes, sugar is a standard condiment for phat thai, although I don’t add it myself. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533/30 "2013-06-17T05:22:37Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > Table sugar is so incredibly non-nutritive This might be true > [@](#): > > 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. But this sounds too much like the “margarine is a molecule away from plastic” nonsense. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-eat-sugar-as-a-staple/660533.md?page=1)