The growing of sugarcane in India dates back to the “Vedic Period”. India is considered the origin place of sugarcane and in-depth research done in this area also suggests that India was the first to invent various preparations of raw sugarcane such as jaggery and sugar.
While modern processed sugar is certainly harmful to health, the earlier innovations in India such as “Mishri”(often found in prashaad at mandir) are not harmful as they do not alter the basic chemical properties of sugarcane.
Sugarcane has its mention in Mahabharata
The foods that are mentioned in Mahabharata, are without any doubt “ Satvic”, meaning they instill in the eater the quality of “Sattva”, which is the highest among the three qualities of “Sattva”, “Rajas” and “Tamas”. There is also a verse in “Bhagavad Gita”, in which Lord Krishna clearly advises to eat only “Sattvic food”, and stay away from rotten and stale food to attain spiritual peace and stay on the “marg of dharma”. Which makes sugarcane and its juice a healthy drink for people of all ages and demographic.
Sugar was invented in India
India was the first to discover the method of crystalization of sugar by drying sugarcane juice in the sun. There are mentions of sugarcane in many Indian texts. In fact, the “Goddes Laxmi” is often seen carrying a stalk of sugarcane in hand.
The word “Sugar” comes from the Sanskrit word “śarkarā”
The initial process of cultivating sugar was to sun-dry the sugarcane juice, the method being invented in India for the first time. This process produced sugary solids that were the color of sand. The Sanskrit word “śarkarā” also means gravel or sand. It could also be considered “Brown sugar” used in modern times as a healthy alternative to processed white sugar.
Processed sugar is bad, brown sugar and jaggery are not
Sugar is not inherently bad for health. In fact, if you use brown sugar that is unprocessed or jaggery that would not be harmful to your health. All the health threats that come with sugar are due to the chemical processing which makes it strikingly white. Chemical-free unprocessed sugar is completely healthy because it is just the dried form of natural sugarcane juice. And any natural ingredient consumed in its organic form can never be unhealthy, processing it and adding chemicals makes it unhealthy.
Sugar was considered “fine spice” before technological advancement and Bulk production started in factories
During the Medieval period, sugar as a crop was not cultivated in many parts of the world, and bulk processing of sugarcane juice was not invented. This made sugar a rare spice due to its limited supply. It may be hard to believe today, with sugar being easily present in every household, but it was only after the medieval period, that the bulk production of sugar started and sugar became available to the masses.
There are two types of Sugarcane Crop
S. Barberi is grown in India, while two other varieties S. edule and S. officinarum are cultivated in New Guinea. Originally, people used sugarcane in its raw form by chewing it. Later on, many ways to use its sweetness such as jaggery and sugar were invented in India, from where it spread into various countries.
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