Here's a post from a while back that I happened to save;
maybe Jennie has more to add...


Date:    Mon, 13 Oct 1997 11:27:10 +0700
From:    Jennie Brand Miller <[log in to unmask]>


Sucrose would have been one of the major sources of energy in
primate diets coming from the fruits and berries in roughly equal
proportions with glucose and fructose.  Thus high levels of sugars have
been in a diet since the beginning of evolution of humans. Even though
sucrose is the starting product in many sweet foods, by the time we eat it
it has been hydrolysed to glucose and fructose (bt heat, acid, time).

While high insulin responses may indeed be detrimental, sucrose and most
sugary foods elicit lower glucose and insulin responses than modern
starchy foods, like bread (1, 2).

I think humans have evolved an instinctual desire for sweet things because
glucose is the obligatory fuel for the brain and foetus.  We can't make
enough via gluconeogenesis alone.  Honey was highly prized in paleolithic
diets, way out of proportion to the amounts of energy it might supply.
Furthermore, the amounts eaten might have rivalled that eaten as sucrose
today (3).

My main message here is that sugar is not the villain people might imagine,
but quickly digested starch could be (4-8).


(1) BRAND MILLER J, Pang E, Broomhead L.  The glycemic index of foods
containing sugars: comparison of foods with naturally occurring versus
added sugars.  Brit J Nutr 1995; 73: 613-623.

(2) Wolever TMS, BRAND MILLLER J.  Sugar and blood glucose control.  Am J
Clin Nutr, 1995;62(suppl):212S-27S.

(3) Allsop K, BRAND MILLER JC.  Honey revisited: a reappraisal of honey in
pre-industrial diets.  Br J Nutr; 75: 513-20.

(4) BRAND MILLER J, Colagiuri S.  The carnivore connection: dietary
carbohydrate in the evolution of non-insulin dependent diabetes.
Diabetologia 1994; 37: 1280-86.

(5) Byrnes S Denyer G, BRAND MILLER J, Storlein L.  The effect of amylose
vs amylopectin feeding on development of insulin resistance in rats. J.
Nutr 1995; 125: 1430-7.6

(6) Wiseman, CE, Higgins JA, Denyer GS, BRAND MILLER JC.  Amylopectin
starch induces nonreversible insulin resistance in rats.  J Nutr 1996,
126;410-5.

(7) Higgins JA, BRAND MILLER JC, Denyer GS.  Development of insulin
resistance in the rat is dependent on the rate of glucose absorption from
the diet.  J Nutr 1996;126: 596-602.

(8) BRAND MILLER JC, Foster-Powell K, Colagiuri S.  The G.I. Factor.
Sydney: Hodder Headline, 1996.



Jennie Brand Miller  PhD
Associate Professor in Human Nutrition
Department of Biochemistry  G08
University of Sydney
NSW 2006  Australia
Phone: (61 2) 9351 3759
Fax: (61 2) 9351 6022

Steve Meyers