The Not So Sweet Secrets of the Sugar Industry

Weird History Food is going to give you a spoonful of sugar with these sugar facts. We all know that sugar is delicious, but not the healthiest thing to eat. We’re starting to understand its role in weight gain and other health complications. But why has it taken so long? And why haven’t we found better, safer alternatives yet? Here are some reasons the sugar industry works so hard to keep you in the dark, and one thing you can do to counteract their power.
#sugar #foodhistory #weirdhistoryfood

[@NewMessage]

Finally.. someone explains dopamine properly! It isn't the 'pleasure chemical', it's the 'I *want* pleasure' chemical!

[@WildcatGambit]

Ever since I was diagnosed diabetic, I've had to pay attention to nutritional labels and lemme tell you, it's nothing short of frustrating to see just how many things have wayyy too much sugar in them! Even things that really shouldn't have added sugar at all!

[@kl2894]

I had the same problem. It's tough when you're first diagnosed trying to figure out what you can and can't eat.

[@nikolaysargsyan6349]

That's actually what made me quite mad when I lived in US. Sugar/corn syrup/artificial colors in number of places you won't even remotely expect them to be. I mean, why add corn syrup and artificial colors to dried mango? Why?

[@jamesragsdale3069]

FUCK Corn syrup.

[@FlyToBeach]

😢 that’s also been my problem since diagnosed diabetic. I don’t even use the artificial sweeteners because of cancer risk but to find something no sugar added is nigh impossible.

[@rickystarduster]

its worse when you want to know how much sugar you are getting from a can of something like chef boyardee and in canada they do not give you total per can where the do in the states now and that is one policy i would like to see come across the boarder. as it was the whole fat free kick was because the sugar industry duped the world blaming fat for all the health problems when the problem is sugar as humans are not supposed to have sugar which is why many of us become diabetic.

[@jm2307]

I’m Haitian-American. I really appreciate you not sugarcoating (pun intended) the impacts of slave labor and capitalist greed both historically and modern-day. Im going to re-watch this later

[@grantglow4206]

capitalism has freed more slaves than any other economic system in the world. Facts are facts.

[@redline1916]

It's not really strictly capitalism, it's what you said prior. Human greed. Human greed comes in all forms whether capitalist or socialist.

[@OfficialRickHarrison]

You niggas couldn’t fight back😂😂😂

[@totallynotsarcastic7392]

cool it with the anti-semitic remarks : )

[@totallynotsarcastic7392]

@@OfficialRickHarrison you're welcome. 14

[@silvenimoy3115]

Bread (in the US at least), especially hamburger/hot dog buns, white bread, pretty much any processed form of bread, not even including pastries, has a ton of sugar in it too

[@JillWhitcomb1966]

You are absolutely correct. In the US, condiments such as ketchup, BBQ sauce, mustard, salad dressing all contain sugar. Even canned soup and pasta sauce contain sugar, as well.

[@artbyjennyray]

Could you do a video on the food pyramid and variations of it, which have been mostly driven by food producers?

[@ladymacbethofmtensk896]

More like driven by the back and forth between the goody-two-shoes who work for the FDA and the food manufacturers who want those goody-goods off their backs...

[@SireneKalypso]

Food Theory has a great video on this!

[@artbyjennyray]

Yes, they did. I love all the Theory channels! I would also love to hear how Weird History would approach this subject.

[@tonyc7689]

anyone who thinks any corporation is any industry has the people's best interest at heart really needs to wake up.

[@korwynias_yt]

Should do a video about corn and the shady dealings along with it.

[@chromicapop4595]

yes! and how monocrops can damage soil ecology over time if over planted and using bad farming policies

[@glennso47]

That’s corny!

[@23merlino]

soy too...

[@redline1916]

This video seems to focus a lot about the US sugar cane trade but forgets the atrocities committed by the Spaniards with the first cane trades.

[@Selinkak]

I thought aspartame was studied multiple times that it doesn't cause cancer. Part 2 of this video: those studies about aspartame

[@Joe_Dirt82]

I gave up almost all sugars back in October. Bout only sugar I get is a few beers on wknds. I lost over 40 lbs and feel so much better.

[@asterixky]

Cooking is the answer, you know exactly what you put in, and in general, it's a lot healthier.

[@Joe_Dirt82]

@@asterixky steak or chicken with a Lil seasonin. On the grille. Good to go.

[@KingOfThePirates101]

Agree. I stopped eating anything that is sweet.

[@ErikGerm]

hell yeah! well done, Joe!

[@jer103]

Sugar cane/sucrose is one form of a carbohydrate. When you look at the food's label you see: added sugar. This comes from many things that are actually sugar, especially High fructose corn syrup. You should do a video on all the names of "sugar" in foods.

[@RadiumVader]

And then at the very end of the video someone apparently became the victim of one of the sugar lobby's most persistent lies. Rest of the video is great. Thanks!

[@markadams7046]

I thought I heard recently that aspartame is no longer considered to cause cancer, and it no longer has the cancer warning on its packages. Also, you didn't mention that one of the artificial sweeteners, Xylitol, is highly deadly to dogs. in fact, I know lady whose dog nearly died because he swallowed some chewing gum that was sweetened with Xylitol.

[@crustifix]

and human gabapentin sometimes has xylitol so don't substitute even if the dose is the same

[@teamgb5756]

You mean the Reddit post about the lady that left an entire cardboard box full of the stuff on the counter where she knew her regularly counter surfing dog could reach it simply because "she didn't think he'd be interested in gum", and then tried to sue the gum makers afterwards? Bruh.

[@markadams7046]

@@teamgb5756 No, I mean a lady I personally know who left a container of gum on her nightstand in her bedroom, and the dog came in and got a hold of that container of gum.

[@leelalo6625]

Yes it is.

[@markadams7046]

@@leelalo6625 Yes what is? I'm not sure what you are replying too.

[@kamichan127]

I wish they would teach how to read and decipher food labels in schools

[@kmgg5005]

they used to...at least in Canada

[@EmilyJelassi]

Excellent video!! Doctors have known that sugar isn’t good for us for quite a long time, but as the video says, greed shouted louder. As a Type 1 diabetic, I *always* read the nutrition label! I wish more people would and then maybe we could get all of the horrible chemicals out of our foods.

[@ladymacbethofmtensk896]

I really don't care if sugar is good for me or not. EVERYTHING is bad for you in excessive quantities.

[@The.One.True.B]

@@ladymacbethofmtensk896 the problem is that it’s so hard to avoid sugar, it’s in way too many things that don’t need it and there aren’t options without it most of the time.

[@ladymacbethofmtensk896]

@@The.One.True.B It is much easier to simply not snack on junk food all the time. Merely limiting my consumption of sweets to a couple times a day (afternoon for tea and evening after dinner) left me in a calorie deficit that, coupled with a tendency to walk as much as possible and a ballroom dance habit, led to a frightening and inconvenient bout of weight loss so severe, I needed to gain back twenty pounds just to make my clothes fit properly.

[@The.One.True.B]

@@ladymacbethofmtensk896 sugar is in a LOT more than just junk food, you’re missing my point and for some reason really being defensive about sugar in several comment threads. Do you work for the sugar companies? lol ideally one shouldn’t eat sugar on a daily basis, at least not this kind of sugar. Daily natural sugars from fruits and such are fine but we should live in a world where we can grab food somewhere without sugar being in every entree, every side dish, every sauce, every drink, etc

[@ladymacbethofmtensk896]

@@The.One.True.B You are missing MY point, which is that the sugar that is in everything would not be anywhere near as harmful if SOME people didn't constantly gobble and gulp large portions of food all the time. You may not be able to avoid sugar, but you CAN consume less food total. It is about limits, and limits are the responsibility of the consumer.

[@MarianneKat]

Sugar is not inherently bad for you, your body uses sucrose to make glucose, which your body needs. Your brain is dependant on minute by minute glucose in your bloodstream or it can't function. Too much sugar is the problem.

[@MarianneKat]

Also, you showed vitamin water ZERO, which has no table sugar, I think it's sucralose. Agree on ketchup, BBQ, and spaghetti sauces. Sugar soda is not part of any healthy diet imo. Most sugar substitutes are not harmful, but like all things moderation.

[@tyro7413]

I don’t understand the hate for the female narrator, however I do understand how transitions work. The transition at around 4:16 was such a leap in subtopic and really jolts the narrative.

[@swarmofmudkipz]

this is a really great way to use your platform. informative yet entertaining. Good or bad, the more entertaining someone is the more people listen. Big ups weird history staff!!

[@ladymacbethofmtensk896]

However, you still need to correctly identify the issue. Whether sugar is healthy or not is the wrong question. While there is indeed a correlation between sugar consumption and obesity, the causation is much more nuanced; the truth is that sugar itself is harmless, and the real problem is connected more to excessive consumption of sugar. What is to be done about it? There is nothing government mandates can do about it, because trying to impose dietary reform via state coercion will lead to resistance. What we need is a different conception of healthy diet, one where it is not WHAT we eat but HOW that matters.

[@scottdoesntmatter4409]

not really. I happen to be trained in research science. I think this video spent a lot of time trying to shock us, but didn't give us anywhere NEAR enough evidence! Cite your sources, dammit!

[@swarmofmudkipz]

@@scottdoesntmatter4409 🤓 erm axsually I love keeping dialogue about important topics out of the public eye.

[@alexthesniper1952]

Just like Sugar the key to everything in life is Moderation. Noone says this when it comes to Sugar. Sure I like my Big Mac meal with a Coke but I'm not going to eat one everyday.

[@The.One.True.B]

Sugar is in a ton of things that most people would never guess, that’s the issue.

[@justayoutuber1906]

FACT: Aspartame is the most tested food additive the FDA (and others) have ever tested.

[@ladymacbethofmtensk896]

And it wouldn't exist at all if not for the health geeks constantly demonizing everything that tastes good.

[@whutwhut2434]

why did it fail to get approval multiple times?

[@glennso47]

Just like the Covid “vaccine “?

[@Quirky_QF]

I didn't expect Rumsfeld to pop up in a video about sugar, but here we are.

[@unguidedone]

the same lawyers who represent big tobacco, big alcohol, big dairy also represent big sugar. a high sugar diet is also a high fat diet because the liver has to store it somewhere so its placed in visceral fat and not to mention organ fat and fat in your heart and clog arteries. sugar is additive as cocaine but its not federally regulated because its profitable. even if you dont eat any sugar flour is actually worse then sugar in that it spikes blood sugar higher and strips minerals from your body. artificial sweeteners are no better for the body in that we dont know the long term affects of these chemicals on the body so its a gamble. agave syrup / honey and other non sugar alternatives are no better then sugar because the effect is the same: spiked blood sugar. sugar or high fructose corn syrup is used in large amounts in just about everything on store shelves, grab a can of spaghetti sauce the next time your at the store and be surprised how much salt and sugar it has. salt and sugar are preservatives, and all processed food has the fiber removed to have better shelf life. try to only grab food staples that have no preprocessing like dried beans, rice, lentils, potatoes, kasha. avoid sugar, large amounts of salt, white flour, milk, oil, meats, cheese. not all flours are bad, whole wheat is ok, atta is ok, multi grain flour atta flours are excellent (corn, wheat, barley) by cooking at home from minimally processed basic food staples(dried beans, lentils, rice) you can nearly counter diabetes and heart disease with the help of a bit of exercise your a1c should be in the 5 range ez.

[@jasminegallella8208]

I live in a small town with a huge sugar factory and I can tell you one thing the industry doesn't want you to know - it really reaally stinks when its fresh. (Beetroot sugar)

[@karenwaddell9396]

Ditto

[@ticketstation]

Great video, Donald Rumsfeld still looking for WMD. Too funny 😂😂😂

[@tiffprendergast]

He’s dead

[@ticketstation]

@@tiffprendergast appreciate ya. I didn’t know that. They could have made a Still lookin in Hell remark. Better they took the higher road!😁

[@mindykanitz6255]

Why does something that's bad for you have to taste so good?!

[@ladymacbethofmtensk896]

Because in America this issue is a binary that actually NEEDS to be questioned.

[@MelissaJones-lj5de]

Thank you so much for covering this topic!

[@miketoney4552]

Thanks for the sermon

[@OhGeeWillickersMister]

I LOVE THIS, I love you guys at Weird Food

[@3frenchhens818]

The sugar used in canned fruit is what preserves it. For years, you got the sugar syrup in the can, with the fruit. Companies want to seem lighter, more natural and having less sugar, so they drain off the canning syrup and fill the can with mostly pear juice. It sounds healthier.

[@gatsby201041]

I’m not used to hearing her voice but it’s growing on me, she did a great job on this one.

[@d2k82]

This isn't weird history. It's just history. What's with the channel? It seems to have changed in tone recently.

[@cullenmacgillivary6669]

Honey is the best sweetener for me, good for the environment too with the bees and also health benefits

[@arcie3716]

Learned so many things from this video. Hope I can find more videos like this in the future

[@Maxaldojo]

Bravo! Thanks.

[@12thMandalorian]

In Ireland Subway's bread is classed as cake due to the high sugar content

[@AR-fy2qo]

Thanks

[@stg213]

Enjoying this video with a cup of coffee sweetened with Dominican sugar.

[@just_some_donkus]

Thank you for this

[@okman9684]

1:00 Sugar didn't originated from Brazil. It looks like this because there was so muchh sugar production in Brazil that people started to think it comes from there but it actually is not true

[@jemcoones2388]

SO my takeaway here, is that I should give up SUGAR for COCAINE. (Gotcha.)

[@NewMessage]

Sugar is so sweet that the *sugar industry* has to be the veritable flavor of evil to counterbalance things.

[@ladymacbethofmtensk896]

Aspartame and similar additives are far sweeter. The idea is for a healthier substitute that surpasses sugar in sweetness so people use the healthier substitute instead.

[@kevinavila9489]

Me smh at the evils of sugar while drinking coffee sweet enough to kill a rat.

[@ladymacbethofmtensk896]

You definitely don't need that much sugar in your coffee.

[@weepingwillowhomestead]

A video on the flawed Ancel Keys 7 countries study into fat would be an amazing follow up to this video!

[@joydivisionNZ]

Video ends with a straight up lie lmao

[@mfar3016]

Quite a few burried throughout the video too. 🙄.

[@cosmo550]

In some not so distant future someone will make a video about the dark side of aspartame and other not so healthy sweeteners😮

[@GroundersSourceOfficial]

I drastically cut back on sugar for my health but after watching this, I feel like I should just kick all of it. Besides, the smell of white sugar repulses me to no end. I am not sure why I smell it; I just do. When it is frying, the smell is a million times worse.

[@lanacampbell-moore6686]

Thanks W.H.F.🖤

[@markedis5902]

Sugar is indeed low in fat

[@arcturionblade1077]

Sugar is high in sugar though. /bigbrain

[@tiffprendergast]

Low fat is a joke

[@cameron398]

Just added some sugar to my coffee and it tastes sooooo good.

[@Phobero]

Sugar is most definitely not "a poison"

[@jerranspearman3369]

good video

[@CwL-1984]

Sweet

[@auntvesuvi3872]

Thanks for this! ▫ #WeirdHistoryFood #FoodHistory #Sugar

[@lfernandplopsa3627]

You know back in the days of great battles like Waterloo , after the battle the corpses of horses and maybe soldiers were thrown by "farmers" in a big pit and lit on fire at a high temp. to make SPODIUM and that was used to purify white sugar 😖🤦‍♂ and that why there are no mass graves and skeletons found from the Battle of Waterloo .

[@michaelcontreras4240]

Do a video on corn syrup or just corn in the US?

[@juicygrapes3029]

I always laugh at breakfast commercial cereals that say, part of a nutritional balanced breakfast, cause it's all just pure sugar smh.

[@ladymacbethofmtensk896]

And I laugh when I consider how much MORE sugar children would pour in themselves.

[@thevegantitian]

Lol the baby at 5:46 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@julle8124]

I'd like to see video on energy drinks from you guys. Great videos

[@theexchipmunk]

And thats why I mostrly cook myself and eat very little processed food.

[@darkfoxfurre]

An interesting video, but it's littered with inaccuracies and makes wild claims with no citations to back any of it up. It makes me seriously question the rest of the content on this channel.

[@Rakshasa1986]

Texas tea...sweetener.

[@Aaron-iz3hk]

Do the soda industry next and the hold they have on Americans being addicted due to the sugar content.

[@ipilaitela7115]

Reject breakfast cereal, return to bacon and eggs.

[@debicadude]

Lol such a great video and I like this narrator, but the end about aspartame? Facts guys! I can agree that it tastes like shit tho

[@Svartalf14]

Uh, sugarcane originating in Brazil and the west indies? You know the Spanish had transplanted them there, after the arabs had spread the culture from Persia to the Canary islands?

[@pamelamays4186]

Suggestion: Caviar. Why are fish eggs so expensive?

[@MrRezRising]

Breeding and harvesting costs, plus demand. Same as truffles and saffron.

[@f1guremeout]

Huh wow we have miracle berry bushes growing here in Miami, at least at a garden I once managed in downtown, we had an enormous bush by the Suriname cherry tree. Yes, it's really that sweet and a shame politics got involved. Aspertame and Xylitol are the devil for true lol 😆

[@deathhulk8860]

not xylitol it's a natural product unlike aspartame

[@f1guremeout]

@@deathhulk8860 makes your poop runny, no thanks

[@ZXaber78]

Talks about sugar in sports drinks while showing stock footage of a sugar free sports drink. Makes sense.

[@justayoutuber1906]

FACT: Our consumption of sugar in America has GONE DONE since the 70s (because of artificial sweeteners)

[@ladymacbethofmtensk896]

Artificial sweeteners were made to be a healthier substitute for sugar, and I say healthier, because the nutrition geeks hold that for something to be truly healthy, it has to be so bland and flavourless that it is a chore to eat it

[@Alex-Charp]

Oh you mean another way that Bidden is helping to increase inflation?

[@glennso47]

What about the love songs that overuse the word “sugar “ ?

[@MrFurious176]

Greed Over People

[@christopherprementine5287]

4 ventricles?

[@scottdoesntmatter4409]

I think this video spent a lot of time trying to shock us, but didn't give us anywhere NEAR enough evidence! Cite your sources, dammit!

[@Goomies]

Whats with the hate for the VA?

[@leelalo6625]

What a sad world we live in. Keep people from getting sick or get richer? Mmmmmmmmm

[@StellaDeeCoder]

What about agave

[@glennso47]

Just another form of sugar

[@SouthernBelleReviews]

So the alternative is........

[@vh4690]

Just fyi not all slaves are black

[@maenad1231]

Why would you tell us we likely have things in our pantry that financially benefit this exploitation of human beings but NOT tell us how to go about avoiding buying it or even how to identify it?

[@ming454]

Good try, sweetener manufacturers, but I'll keep buying sugar

[@3balam3]

👍Blood Sugar

[@Touhou20246]

Oh and at this point we might as well only have water, ice cubes, fatty foods and other stuff

[@kirbymarchbarcena]

Without sugar, life will not be so sweet.

[@ladymacbethofmtensk896]

But then, I suppose, it would be more moral

[@matthewdrummond1340]

I think you did great

[@rjevans2728]

Liked this channel more before Michael Moore signed on script writer..

[@animaljere]

im suspicious of sugar salsas

[@blixten2928]

Did I understand you correctly - "sugar originated in the Carribean and Brazil"?

[@mnhoss2100]

👍👍👍

[@callmethecommentcountess9329]

Is it true that sugar sweet

[@tugbatok9008]

big industries mess up WHO and FDA

[@SimuLord]

We won't get fooled again.

[@brentleblanc5067]

Great video! They nailed the facts about sugar's detrimental effect on health.

[@ladymacbethofmtensk896]

Did I hit your most vulnerable point?

[@brentleblanc5067]

@@ladymacbethofmtensk896 why are you harassing people in the comments?

[@ladymacbethofmtensk896]

@@brentleblanc5067 You really don't know from harassment, do you? In my experience, harassment uses some very different language than I have employed, like a white supremacist NPC, to name an example. Such people NEVER so much as attempt to explain themselves. They don't even care about what they say or how others may interpret it; what matters to such individuals is that they distress their targets. You made a comment about sugars detrimental effect on health, and I answered with another interpretation of the issue. That is the nature of a conversation. If you don't like it, you have two courses open to you. One is that you disconnect from the Internet entirely and cut yourself off from the rest of humanity. Two is that you recognize that nobody is going to agree with you on everything and learn to deal with it. Which do you choose?

[@brentleblanc5067]

@@ladymacbethofmtensk896 there was no conversation.....I complemented the channel, to the channel, and you jumped in out of nowhere and got nasty. I deleted your unwanted "conversation" and here you are again choosing unkindness. Enjoy your night 🙋

[@ladymacbethofmtensk896]

@@brentleblanc5067 What the devil am I SUPPOSED to do? Echo your sentiments? I do not believe in echoing statements in which, for whatever reason, I do not believe. And the American dietary binary of healthy/tasty is one of those things that I have a need to question, and I am going to question it everywhere I can, because I have seen some of the most insalubrious things that have resulted from it, from anorexia of the Nineties to the Fat Acceptance movement of today.

[@tjstapleton7415]

Lol the heart has 4 ventricles? That’s a negative weird history food.

[@protocetid]

video dropped the focus on history too quickly

[@JohnGalt916]

I trust the WHO as much as I trust the sugar industry. Unless you believe Taiwan isn't areal place

[@ladymacbethofmtensk896]

I trust the sugar industry a hella lot more than I trust the WHO or the CDC.

[@SimuLord]

Sugar: Terrible for your physical health. Great for your mental health if you get a perfect sweet dessert.

[@cristinacc23]

The constant drumming in the background mixed with music WHILE talking is extremely exhausting

[@williamromine5715]

Not a very good video. Over stated some things, and left out others(e.g. Some sugar comes from beets, and I haven't heard about slave trade in Idaho or other beet growing States. Every one should have already known about the problems with sugar. We don't need a nanny government telling us what we can not eat. By the way, all businesses must make a profit. I don't know why that surprised the narrator. As to that cancer scare, California found evidence that linked coffee to cancer, but didn't have the guts to require warnings on coffee products. In moderation, there's nothing wrong with sugar. Anybody with two brain cells can tell how much sugar is in their food. All food products list the amount of sugar in a serving. It is up to individuals to control their eating habits.

[@BitchinSpectre]

....well I'm off to a sugar farm to huff the dirt....

[@ambercrombie789]

Check out Dr. Jason Fung for the science on this.

[@ladymacbethofmtensk896]

The trouble with the science on this is that it is defined either by moneyed interests or ideologues.