Imee: What onion shortage?

This July 29, 2022 file photo shows Sen. Maria Imelda Josefa ‘Imee’ Marcos at the premiere of 'Maid in Malacañang,' of which she is a producer, at a mall in Quezon City. AFP PHOTO

 

By Bernadette E. Tamayo, Manila Times

SEN. Maria Imelda Josefa "Imee" Marcos said she is "unconvinced" there is a shortage of white onions because the Department of Agriculture (DA) has not presented an inventory of the crop.

Marcos renewed her tirade against the Agriculture department, this time for its reported plan to import white onions.

"The DA was urged to assess white onion shortage, as it was asked on sugar and porcine PAP (processed animal protein) shortages," she said in a statement on Sunday.

"Again, no data could be presented, just blanket claims that, 'Wala po talagang laman ang mga bodegang pinuntahan namin (The warehouses we inspected were really empty),'" she said.

"Tama na, buking na. Hindi na kami magpapaloko (Enough of this deceit. You can't fool us anymore)," Marcos said.

She earlier blasted the attempt to import sugar under a dubious authority that forced the resignation of a top Agriculture official.

"Let this serve as a fair warning to all concerned. We are aware of the modus operandi going on. It's the same old story. Paulit-ulit na lang, eh (It just keeps repeating itself)," Marcos said.

"First, they smuggle. Then they create a shortage and produce a legitimate import permit. By next week, I have no doubt smuggled onions will flood the market covered by a 'legitimate' importation order of gargantuan proportions," she said.

The senator noted that at the height of the sugar import fiasco last week, about P36 million worth of onions misdeclared as "spring roll patties" and "plain churros" were confiscated in Misamis Oriental.

Is eating rice equivalent to eating sugar?

By: Christian Heicks

Quite a lot of answers here, but nobody really answers the question directly: Eating rice is NOT equivalent to eating sugar. Rice will become glucose in the body, while sugar is a 50/50 mixture of glucose and fructose.
Also, everybody's talking about blood sugar levels, but that's not the whole story. Fructose, for example doesn't even raise the blood sugar(glucose) level, but it's still bad - it's significantly worse than glucose, for several reasons:

1. Fructose can't be used by most cells of the body, so most is metabolized in the liver, with effects similar to alcohol (after all, alcohol is made from fructose). Excessive fructose consumption might contribute to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

2. Fructose oxidizes proteins about 7 times faster than glucose. Oxidation of proteins occurs naturally in the body, rendering the proteins unusable. (Search for "advanced glycation end products"). This is also why a high blood sugar level isn’t good.

3. Fructose is converted to fat more "efficiently" than glucose. I don't know the exact number right now, but I think it was about 30 %, while only 10 % of glucose is converted to fat. (Yes, those numbers only apply for the specific amount used in that study, but other amounts shouldn't change that ratio too much.)

There are several other reasons, you can look them up on wikipedia or just google a bit. Or watch this talk:

So, what's with rice? Sure, rice has a higher glycemic index than sugar (that's because half of sugar - the fructose - doesn't contribute to the blood sugar level), but the glycemic index itself doesn't say much.
Rice isn't usually eaten separately. If eaten in a meal with other food, the glycemic index of rice (and with other foods as well) decreases dramatically.
Generally, fat, acid (e. g. vinegar) and fiber are responsible for that. So be careful with "low-fat"-meals.... (I don't think much of the whole "low-fat-movement", anyway).

So: If you eat rice in a meal, the glycemic index is often only half the value found in the tables - for normal amounts of rice, the resulting blood sugar level is no problem. And the body needs glucose, after all.