Sugar = vitamin?
Did you know that sugar is a vitamin? It is in Cambodia. I've been told it's necessary for health and wellbeing to consume a lot of sugar. In this country there is sugar in virtually everything. Rice is about the only thing that is sugar free.
You find it in vegetables, meat, fish, eggs, salad, fruit, soup... In fact when I request my dishes "at sco" (no sugar - my own transliteration) the restaurant staff seem as shocked as if I asked for a bloody steak in a vegetarian place.
The health implications are clear. Diabetes is second only to malnutrition as the top food-related danger in Cambodia. Diabetes can kill, main and blind. It can be aggravated by excess consumption of simple carbohydrates. And boy do they consume those here!
The answer, as with many issues, lies in education. Many health-related organisations are doing just that. In the meantime, there are people who believe in the healing power of sugar!
You find it in vegetables, meat, fish, eggs, salad, fruit, soup... In fact when I request my dishes "at sco" (no sugar - my own transliteration) the restaurant staff seem as shocked as if I asked for a bloody steak in a vegetarian place.
The health implications are clear. Diabetes is second only to malnutrition as the top food-related danger in Cambodia. Diabetes can kill, main and blind. It can be aggravated by excess consumption of simple carbohydrates. And boy do they consume those here!
The answer, as with many issues, lies in education. Many health-related organisations are doing just that. In the meantime, there are people who believe in the healing power of sugar!
|
Bookmark this post:
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment