An important part of homeostasis is to control our blood sugar levels. But how much do you actually know about sugar?
It is probably one of the oldest ingredients in the world, but used to be rare and very expensive. Once people discovered sugarcane, they used to eat it raw. It is thought that the people of New Guinea were the first to domesticate sugar cane around 8000 B.C. It was not till many years later that the early Indians discovered how to turn sugarcane juice into crystals. At this time, in the local language it was called “Khanda”, like candy!! It was not until the 12th Century that sugar arrived in England, only the rich could afford it. It was so rare even Kings struggled to get any!
How times have changed!! Now, we eat far too much sugar. Studies carried out on rats suggest that eating too much sugar can make you less intelligent. Sugar is also highly addictive, and people can suffer from headaches and sickness if they try to cut it out of their diets suddenly!
To help you understand how we manage the levels of glucose in our blood, check out Part 2 of our “How to” revision guide on Homeostasis. This guide concentrates on blood glucose regulation in the body.
It explains:
This will help if you are studying for GCSEs. It is also suitable for A Level students, as sections of the guide go “beyond GCSE”. It includes some example GCSE and A Level questions with answers at the end, so you can check your understanding of blood glucose regulation.
Click on the picture below to view our guide.
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