For the hunter-gatherer, trees provided not only fruit but also sweet sap, in our region especially birch (which is less sweet as it contains fructose) and maple, which in spring would bleed from wounds in the trunk, thus providing a sweet-tasting juice. This juice was also used in fermented form, no longer for sweetening, but as a delicious drink. Maple juice in particular, which contains malic acid, fermented well. Both juices contain many enzymes, as well as plenty of calcium and potassium. Birch juice was used in the treatment of tuberculosis, and both birch and maple juice were used to promote fertility, beauty, and hair growth. Birch juice was also used to produce vinegar.

Another important sweetener was honey, which, according to cave paintings, has been known for 8,000 years. The ancient Chinese considered it a balanced foodstuff in their works dating back to 2,000 BC. A hundred recipes can be found in ancient Egyptian papyri, and it was known to the Assyrians, the entire Mediterranean, the Mayans, and the Persians.

Honey was first replaced by sugar in China in 350 AD, and in Persia in 510 AD. In the 11th century, thanks to the Crusades, sugar appeared in Europe as a luxury spice, and in 1480, sugar cane began to be grown in the Mediterranean. Sugar only began to become cheaper with the start of overseas plantations, but for ordinary people, it remained inaccessible and expensive for a long time. It was mostly sold in pharmacies.

In our country, on the orders of Maria Theresa, experiments were carried out to produce sugar from maple juice. But during the Napoleonic Wars, the maple began to be displaced by beet, which was much richer in sugar. And so, beet sugar took the place of syrups, gradually displacing them and becoming an important crop for sugar production in Bohemia.

In Czech households, grated carrots were most commonly used; they were dried, ground, and then used for sweetening. Plums and pears were used in a similar way.

White Sugar

It has a sweet taste and is warm to neutral in nature. It moistens the lungs, promotes the production of fluids, and causes emptiness of the stomach. It quickly creates damp heat, weakens the kidneys, and has a negative effect on the condition of the bones.

Honey

It has a sweet taste and a neutral nature. It moistens the lungs and the small intestine and has detoxifying effects. It promotes appetite. It is not suitable if the body easily accumulates dampness or in cases of diarrhoea.

Molasses

This is an extract from sugar cane or sugar beet obtained during sugar production. It contains many minerals, such as calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, potassium, sodium, zinc, copper, chromium, glucose, and sucrose. It also contains unsaturated fatty acids, B-group vitamins, and enzymes.

It supports the cleansing of the lymphatic system, improves muscle function, and has a beneficial effect against degenerative joint diseases. It regenerates the vascular system, regulates blood pressure, and is suitable for iron deficiency, leg ulcers, haemorrhoids, and skin diseases.

It has a sweet taste and a warm nature. Despite containing many important substances, it creates dampness, so we should use it in moderation.

Unrefined Sugar – Brown Sugar

It has a sweet taste and a warm nature. It relieves spasms, promotes energy, and creates phlegm.

Malt Sugar

It also has a sweet taste and a warm nature. It moistens the lungs and promotes the production of body fluids. It has detoxifying effects and creates phlegm.

Beet Sugar

It is nutritious and filling, but unhealthy in the quantities we have learned to consume over the last hundred years. It has a sweet taste and a warm nature. It benefits the liver, helps to eliminate spasms, and relieves acute pain and painful menstruation. It creates phlegm.