Sugar and the Body:

Sugar and the Body in European Medicine

Today, sugar has become an object of scorn for the medical community. It was not, however, always so. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when sugar became more widely available in Europe, physicians advocated its use as a remedy for everything from plague to gum disease. Its merits and hazards continued to be debated centuries later.

Jacques Delachamps, Historia Generalis Plantarum, 1587

This is the earliest known printed image of sugar, reflecting the fact that this compilation was the most comprehensive of its day. Delachamps was a botanist, naturalist, and medical doctor.

Herbals

'Herbals' were compilations of information on the uses (both culinary and medicinal) of various plants. Since it was commonly assumed that every affliction had an herbal remedy, the plant world offered tremendous potential for both healing and profit.

John Gerard, The Herball, or Generall Historie of Plants, 1633

While his work is one of the most well-known of its time, Gerard borrowed heavily from other herbalists in its compilation.

"The Sugar or juice of this Reed is of a temperate qualitie; it drieth and cleanseth the stomacke, maketh smooth the roughnesse of the brest and lungs, cleareth the voice, and puttenth [put] away hoarsenesse, the cough, and all sournesse and bitternesse, as Issac saith in Dictis."

The Body

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, sugar consumption spread rapidly. Now that they could be sweetened, stimulating drinks like tea and coffee became widely popular. Physicians began to correlate sugar with tooth decay and other problems. By the 19th century, defenders of sugar's benefits were growing thin although some did remain staunch supporters. At this time, sugar retreated to its role as making unpalatable substances tolerable.

Thomas Willis, Pharmaceutice Rationalis, 1678

In this work, Willis became the first person in Western medical literature to consider the connection between sugar and diabetes mellitus.

"Why the urine of those who are sick with this ill smells so wonderfully sweet, or why it tastes like sweet honey...is a knot not easy to figure out. " (translated from Latin text)

Pierre Pomet, A Compleat History of Druggs, 1725

Pomet operated a renowned medicinal warehouse in Paris, and became Louis XIV's chief druggist.

He attested that sugar "is good for the Breast and Lungs, to smooth their Roughness and take away Asthma's, Hoarseness, ease Coughing, and to attenuate and cut tough Flegm, afflicting the Fibres of those Parts: It is very profitable for the Kidneys and Bladder, and in all the Cases afore-mention'd." He also noted that sugar "being constantly us'd, rots and decays the Teeth."

Richard Ligon, True and Exact History of Barbadoes, 1673

A merchant from England, Ligon moved to the West Indies to strike a fortune in the sugar business and promoted the benfits of sugar consumption. In this text, he discusses the Barbadian economy and sugar plantation life. The map on the right depicts Barbados and lists plantation owners and inhabitants.

D. de Quelus, Histoire naturelle du cacao et du sucre, 1720

Based on "observations made in the American islands," Quelus noted that there were many medicial uses for both sugar and chocolate, separately and in combination. He also pointed out sugar's ability to combat the taste of unpalatable medicines. The illustration on the right shows the plan and construction of a sugar mill.

Recipe from the Lloyd Formulary

This recipe demonstrates the use of sugar in syrups and medicines of the late 19th and early twentieth centuries.

This advertisement describes the Lloyd pharmaceutical Sanguinaria as "a clear transparent mixture with syrup, glycerine and water"

Sugar, Science, and Slavery

Enlightenment thinkers celebrated science and progress, and many, but not all, deplored slavery. Since sugar was raised using slave labor, its use was problematic to many. A century later in 1895, Curtis Lloyd's photographs of Barbados reveal that blacks were still the chief laborers in raising sugar cane and often worked for wealthy landowners.

Charles Marquis de Casaux, Essai sur l'art de cultiver la canne et d'en extruire le sucre, 1781

The author of this essay offers advice for perfecting the production of sugar for a variety of reasons. One reason is "so that we may produce the same quantity of Sugar with many fewer Negroes, and treat them more gently." (translation from text)

Bryan Edwards, History, Civil, and Commerical of the British Colonies in the West Indies, 1793

Edwards was a sugar planter, politician, and historian. In this book, he uses many sources including his own to describe the British colonies.

This image depicts negotiations between Jamaican Maroons and colonial British officials. The Maroon communities were founded by African slaves who fled horrible conditions on sugar plantations.

Curtis Gates Lloyd, Views in the Caribbee, 1895-1896

Lloyd was an avid travel and photographer. While in Barbados, he captured moments depicting the daily life of islanders. Many of these featured work in the sugar cane industry. The image at right shows a laborer plowing a field which will be used for sugar cane. Lloyd commented that, "the inhabitants of Barbados at the present day are, generally speaking, negroes. To be sure, there are a few whites around Bridgetown and the owners of the plantations are for the most part, white..." Even today, residents of Barbados struggle against racism and classism.

Curator: Dr. Karim M. Tiro
Destiny Harris, Rebecca McGonigle, and Danielle Meiners

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