If cane sugar is the worst “natural” sweetener, why was diabetes so rare before the sudden increase of diabetes in the 20th century?

Question

I know around the middle of the 20th century vegetable oils, synthetic sweetener became a thing. But statistic wise doesn’t make sense, even if before it caused tooth problems, but not diabetes.

In: Biology

Answer 1

Access to sugar wasn’t widespread before the mid 20th century. It was a luxury, and most people didn’t eat sugar often. Sugary drinks were also not really a thing, at least not as widespread as they are today. Before the mid 20th century, the most common sweetener was molasses. More commonly if people were eating something sweet it was either syrup or honey.

However your question is based on a false premise. Sugar doesn’t cause diabetes. Overconsumption can increase chances of developing it but that’s one out of many other factors. Basically diabetes has become more prevalent due to a host of changes in our diets, which doesn’t stop at sugar. The main cause of diabetes is obesity, and obesity also skyrocketed after the mid20th century and continues to climb in the 21st century. Consuming a lot of sugar doesn’t cause diabetes but it can lead to obesity, and obesity causes diabetes.