Not only in wartime, but also in ancient times, if sugar had a higher status, European aristocrats in15th century could get several times the volume of gold per catty of sugar. So, what magic does sugar, which is unremarkable in our modern eyes, have to make it a "hard currency" in strategic materials? This is about the special value and wide use of sugar itself.
Sugar is one of the necessary energy to maintain human activities. From the chemical point of view, sugar belongs to carbohydrates, while in biology, sugar is the main way to provide heat energy for humans and animals. Take the human body as an example, 70% of the energy it needs is provided by sugar. Moreover, sugar is also an important substance that constitutes tissue and protects liver function. If a person is short of sugar, he will be dizzy, flustered and hungry. In severe cases, he will be in a coma due to hypoglycemia, which may even be life-threatening.
In other words, sugar is one of the main nutrients in human body. Only by ingesting enough sugar can we ensure and maintain the energy consumed by the human body in normal activities. It is precisely because sugar plays such an important role in the human body that sugar has become a necessary munitions in wartime. Why? There is a simple reason. The energy consumed by a soldier on the battlefield is undoubtedly huge, both mentally and physically. If a soldier wants to maintain a good fighting state, he must replenish the corresponding energy in time.
However, the problem is that the conditions on the battlefield are often very difficult, and the complicated way of supplementing energy is obviously not applicable, while white sugar or fast food with high sugar content has become the most convenient and suitable way of supplementing energy. During World War II, the individual rations of belligerent countries were almost indispensable, such as chocolate, candy and sugary drinks in the rations of American soldiers.
Take Japan as an example. Although the individual rations supplied by Japan during World War II were not as rich as those supplied by the United States, they were also lump foods made of milk powder, maltose and glucose. These block foods weigh only 8 grams per serving, but their heat energy can reach 600 calories. A soldier can meet the human body's heat demand by eating eight pieces a day. It can be directly ingested and eaten anytime and anywhere, which is not only convenient but also fast. Most importantly, it can quickly replenish physical strength and enable soldiers to return to combat in a very short time. This is why sugar is regarded as military food.
Sugar can also help and accelerate wound healing. As we all know, the situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly, and soldiers may be injured at any time and anywhere. However, after the injury, the medical supplies needed for hemostasis and dressing may not be at hand. If not handled in time, it will cause inflammation and even infection of the wound. But if there is sugar around the wounded, then there is no need to worry about wound infection.
According to related research, sugar is a highly permeable liquid after melting, which can reduce the local moisture of the wound and inhibit the proliferation of bacteria, thus achieving the effect of dehydration and killing bacteria. In other words, if a soldier is injured on the battlefield, sprinkling a handful of sugar on the wound can make the wound converge and heal. To put it bluntly, sugar has the effect of stopping bleeding.
It can not only replenish energy quickly, but also stop bleeding and prevent infection at critical moments. Therefore, sugar has become an indispensable munitions on the battlefield. Of course, if sugar only has the above two functions, it will not become a "hard currency" in wartime. Besides being edible and usable, sugar has other benefits.
First, sugar is easy to transport and carry. As we all know, whether in ancient or modern battlefields, the materials a soldier can carry are limited. After all, everyone's strength is not unlimited, and it is impossible to recite too many things.
In the limited carrying range, which materials are small in size and have great functions have become the first choice for soldiers. Let's take American soldiers in World War II as an example. At that time, American soldiers carried 33 kilograms of materials, including weapons and equipment, emergency supplies and some clothes. In addition to these necessities, there are fewer and fewer places left for American soldiers to carry rations.
Within a limited weight, the U.S. government is also racking its brains to let the U.S. military eat more varied foods that can effectively supplement calories. Finally, after a large number of experiments, a large number of rations were put into the battlefield, code-named C, D and K, among which K rations were the most widely used. According to the records, the weight of K ration is 1.25 kg. In order to make American soldiers eat well, sugar products alone account for more than half of this 1.25 Jin.
There are two kinds of lunch and dinner. Lunch includes canned cheese, biscuits, candy, chewing gum, beverage powder, sugar, salt tablets, cigarettes, matches, can opener and wooden spoon. Dinner includes canned meat, biscuits, broth, candy, chewing gum, instant coffee powder, sugar, cigarettes, can opener, toilet paper and wooden spoon.
Through the individual food of the US military, we can clearly see that sugar food accounts for the vast majority. This is because sugar is the fastest and most effective food that can supplement the energy needed by the human body. Therefore, in the US military's 1.25 kg rations, sugar-related foods were put as much as possible.
Secondly, sugar has good corrosion resistance and long shelf life. In western history, there was a famous figure who led his soldiers across the European continent. Egypt, Persia and ancient India were all called one of his territories. This man is the famous Alexander the Great.
If you ask Alexander why he made such great achievements, many people may say that he led the troops well, while others may say that he relied on the invincible Macedonian phalanx. Of course, this is indeed one of the factors that enabled Alexander to sweep across Europe, but in addition, there is another important factor, that is, in Alexander's army, there is a special kind of dry food, which has a long shelf life, is not easy to deteriorate and is rich in nutrition, so his soldiers can play a greater role without worrying about the problem of dry food.
What is dry food? In fact, it is a kind of cheese with a lot of maltose. It is because there is a lot of sugar that cheese can be preserved for a longer time. Why can food be preserved longer with sugar? In fact, the principle is very simple, because the water in the food pickled with sugar has been diluted, or even there is no water, and sugar also has an antioxidant effect. As long as the concentration of sugar exceeds a certain proportion, the growth of microorganisms in food basically stops, and the natural shelf life is longer.
For example, jam in rations is made by using this principle, which can not only be preserved and has a long shelf life, but also is a high-sugar food, which will naturally become one of the most important materials in rations.
In addition, sugar can also be used as fuel and one of the raw materials for making gunpowder. As we all know, the main component of wine is ethanol, and the earliest ethanol was extracted from sugary substances. For example, the earliest wine in China was fruit wine, and the earliest wine in the West was also brewed with maltose and yeast. In other words, ethanol can be another form of sugar, and as we all know, ethanol can be used as fuel. If the car is short of fuel on the battlefield, you can start the car immediately by adding some ethanol.
And white sugar is one of the raw materials for making gunpowder. When sugar is heated, it becomes a powerful weapon by adding certain chemicals. It is said that in the era of great navigation, some pirates who lacked weapons and equipment did just that. Even in the local military armed forces of some small foreign countries, similar weapons can be seen. Through research, they found that adding chemical fertilizer, sugar and other substances is a good raw material for propellant and gunpowder, and it is widely used because of its low cost.
To sum up, sugar, which is common to modern people, is actually a strategic material as important as steel, oil and salt in wartime. It not only has the function of quickly replenishing human energy, but also has the characteristics of long shelf life and easy storage and carrying. In addition, sugar can also refine ethanol and make fuel, so it is worthy of the name to call it wartime hard currency.