myopia, seborrheic dermatitis, gout; 55 genetic narrowing of pelvic and jaw structures, crowding and malformation of teeth; 56 hyperactivity, lack of concentration, depression, anxiety; 57 psychological disorder, insanity; 58 and even violent criminal behavior. 59
A study of one hundred women published in the July 1984 issue of the Journal of Reproductive Medicine found that the intake of sugar, dairy, and artificial sweeteners correlated positively with the incidence of Candida vulvovaginitis; after being put on a diet restricted in those elements, more than 90 percent of the patients were found to be free of yeast infections for over a year. 60
Probably the major drawback of sugar is that by raising the insulin level, it inhibits the release of growth hormones, a situation that in turn depresses the immune system. I stress that these problems result when the sugar intake provides more“ naked carbohydrates” than are needed to balance the animal-protein intake. When we consider that white flour supplies additional“ naked carbohydrates,” it is possible that only a small amount of sugar will create an excess. This is corroborated in a recent study that showed that the combination of a carbohydrate meal and a sugary food was“ deadly” in its effects on learning ability and behavior, whereas sugar following an animal-protein meal did not have such a negative effect. 61 In a vegetarian diet, sugar will very quickly create a relative nutrient deficiency; therefore, vegetarians who eat sugar will get sicker faster than meat eaters who do the same. There are, of course, many people who are not conscious vegetarians, but who simply happen to eat little animal protein and large quantities of sweets and who thus experience many of the problems of excess sugar consumption. Such is the case not only with careless eaters, but also with many poor and underprivileged people, who obtain a very high proportion of their daily calories from cheap sugared foods and drinks. It is possible that a considerable share of the social problems in the inner cities, including crime, is directly related to the malnourished and demineralized condition of individuals who live largely on those foods. In times past, poor people at least ate bread and beans and other people’ s leftovers; now they get doughnuts and candy bars, which can make them unstable and ineffective, lessening their ability to learn, advance and grow. They feel cheated, and rightly so; they are cheated— of normal nourishment, among other things. Amelioration of many serious social problems could lie as close as a banished sugar bowl: Programs for imprisoned criminals that institute dietary changes and eliminate sugar have been remarkably successful in preventing repeat criminal activity. 62 Considering all the damage done by sugar, why does almost everyone like it so much? Native people who’ ve never tasted it before eagerly adopt it; children can’ t keep away from it, even if they’ ve been raised on“ healthy” foods. The only people who seem able to avoid sugar are those who have consciously stopped eating it in order to improve their health. Having once gone through the withdrawal symptoms, they realize that they do not want to suffer again the physical and mental consequences of eating sugar. But almost everybody else loves the stuff. Why? If, as we’ ve been assuming, the whole earth is a system, and living systems tend to keep themselves balanced as they evolve toward forms of higher complexity, sugar eating must fit somewhere in the earth’ s balancing act. What is the“ cosmic” reason that makes refined sugar so attractive to the great majority of people? The answer that has come closest to satisfying me comes once again from food philospher Rudolf Hauschka. He points out that sugar’ s crystalline nature makes it similar to salt, but rather than crystallizing thought, sugar strengthens ego awareness and enhances personality. Geographically, its consumption does correlate with societies of strongly developed individuals: Much more sugar is consumed in the individualistically oriented Western countries than in the socially oriented Eastern ones.( However, the latter are doing their best to catch up!) Sugar has done its job, says Hauschka, when people develop a full consciousness of themselves as individuals and of their place in the universal order. After that stage of development is reached, even small quantities of sugar become superfluous, and eliminating it from the diet quite easy. As a minerallike crystal, sugar must be dealt with respectfully. It is powerful stuff. If one is to use it at all, it would probably be more effective( in terms of strengthening the personality), and least harmful, if consumed in the same way as salt: a teaspoon a day, hidden in various foods so that we don’ t taste it directly. From a spiritual standpoint, with too much sugar we become excessively individualistic, perhaps to the point of alienation and even criminality, as we feel our separateness too keenly and painfully. If individual consciousness