A sad irony for African Americans is that they were enslaved to increase the agricultural workforce, with many working on sugar plantations. The increased availability of sugar as a commodity and its falling price was a by-product of these plantations. Now the new generation of African Americans, still holding the legacy of their metabolically efficient and strong ancestors – genetically primed with a thrifty gene – are again engaged in a fight, this time against obesity and diabetes, brought about by the legacy of the sugar trade.
