Sugar is selling at Rs. 70 kilo and expected to rise to Rs 100/kilo during the coming Ramadan thanks to machinations of the sugar mills cartel and the manipulative import of this commodity. But do we know that by consuming sugar we subject ourselves to slow poisoning and pay for it too? Of all the foods being consumed by us today, refined sugar is considered the most harmful. The sugar is obtained by refining natural foods like sugarcane or sugar beets. All vitamins, minerals, proteins, fats, enzymes and important nutrients are eliminated in refining until only the sugar remains. It is estimated that 64 food elements are destroyed in refining process. All the Potassium, Magnesium, Calcium, Iron, Manganese, Phosphates and Sulfates are removed. The A, D, and B, vitamins are also destroyed. What happens when you eat a refined carbohydrate like sugar devoid of fibre, minerals, proteins, fats, enzymes and any other nutrient? Your body has to borrow these vital nutrients from healthy cells to metabolize the incomplete food. Calcium, Sodium, Potassium and Magnesium are taken from various parts of the body to burn the sugar. Many a times, so much of Calcium is consumed to neutralize the effects of sugar that the bones become osteoporotic due to withdrawn Calcium. A body depleted of various vitamins, minerals, enzymes and nutrients cannot properly handle and rid itself of the poisonous residues. These wastes accumulate through the brain and nervous system, which speeds up cellular death within the body. The bloodstream becomes over-loaded with waste products and symptoms of carbonic poisoning start showing. Sugar also makes the blood very thick and sticky, inhibiting much of the blood flow into minute capillaries that supply our retina, internal ear, gums and teeth with vital nutrients. Therefore, more sugar you eat, more chance that you might soon wind up with defective vision, impaired hearing, diseased gums and weakening teeth. -COL. RIAZ JAFRI (RETD), Rawalpindi, July 9.