This type of medicine originates from ancient Greece and suggests that health problems occur as a result of imbalances in bodily fluids.Ĭonsistently with humoral medicine, the consumption of products with different properties affects the liquid balance and has either negative or positive effects on health. Based on the descriptions of sugar qualities as “hot” and “gentle” in these two manuscripts, it is evident that the substance was utilized mostly as part of humoral medicine (Sato 100-101). Additionally, as part of his multi-volume medical encyclopedia, Ibn al-Nafis created a book called The Principles of Sugar that provides an extensive overview of different kinds and properties of the substance (Sato 97). Ibn al-Baytar created The Comprehensive Book of Simple Drugs where he carefully and thoroughly recorded the effects of sugar on health that previous pharmacologists and health practitioners mentioned in their work (Sato 92-94). Ibn al-Baytar and Ibn al-Nafis, a leading pharmacologist and prominent doctor of the Islamic world, composed extensive manuscripts describing the uses of sugar for medical purposes. Learn more Medical Uses of Sugar in Arab Pharmacology These problems will be discussed in the present paper along with the historical examples of utilizing the substance as medicine in different regions. Others also did not trust the foreign civilization that promoted their use. Some theologians were against the use of syrups considering that sugar in any form breaks the fast. However, the functions of sugar as a food and a drug did not match well in the European theological consciousness of the Middle Ages. The knowledge of pharmacological qualities of sugar reached Europe as well and, for several centuries, it was consumed there as part of various mixtures.

The medicinal status of sucrose was promoted in medieval Arab pharmacology and, particularly, humoral medicine. Moreover, some types of sugar were regarded as essential medical remedies. It was a luxury and was not so widely accessible to everyone until after industrialization (Pilcher 2008). Nevertheless, the role and meaning of sugar were by far more versatile in the past than they are today. Nowadays, sugar is one of the most commonly used dietary substances that is primarily known for its sweetening properties.

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