SUGAR IS GOOD FOR YOU

Manawatu Herald, Volume LI, Issue 4469, 24 June 1930, Page 4

SUGAR IS GOOD FOR YOU

By a Physician. The great value of sugar, both iu the treatment of certain abnormal conditions and in the maintenance of sound health, is comparatively a recent discovery.

Poo pip are surprised when a doctor recommends sugar in large quantities in the dietai-y of a child. Nowadays there are other frequent occasions when we make use of the virtues of sugar in the treatment of the young.

One of thcKo is in connection with operations and the taking of anaesthetics. It has been found that to feed the child with an extra amount of sugar for the day or two days preceding operation is a safeguard against certain dangerous symptoms to which children are liable after taking anaesthetics. Sugar on these occasions is used not only as a preventive, but also after operations as a cure, should severe sickness or shock ensue.

Then we put the much-needed sugar directly into circulation in the form of glucose solution. The fact is that sugar is probably the most easily and rapidly absorbed of all real food elements. This gives it its great value in post- operation states.

The patient’s tissues can take up and benefit by the sugar put into his veins in the form of glucose. Sugar is such an important factor in our body-life that the main function of our largest gland —the liver —is to store sugar. From its store it releases sugar to feed the muscles. Modern views on the training of athletes take this fact into account. The trained knows that sugar is a direct and effective muscle food, and he allows sugar in amounts .that would have horrified the old, raw beefsteak trainer of the past. Moreover, those who engage in feats of athletic endurance know from experience that a little sugar, generally in the form of chocolate, is the finest thing to carry, for small quantities suffice to keep one going.