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

Diabetes wasn’t exactly rare, it’s one of the oldest known diseases, with first mentions byt the ancient eqyptians.

However treating it wasn’t really possible until insulin was synthesised in the 1920’s and the current [NPH](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NPH_insulin) in the 1940’s.

So you’re seeing a huge uptick in people actually being diagnosed and then in treatment since the 1940’s vs the rest of human history.

Aso in the US that period coincides with High Fructose Corn Syrup pretty much taking over from refined sugar in most American foods and drinks, meaning the issue isn’t sugar cane to begin with.