Is plain sugar a good source of calories?

Yyyh plenty of weird statements in this thread - in part because sugar is blamed for a lot of modern-day ills (after being glamorized for several decades as a healthier alternative to fat).

The bottom line, sugar is a good and cheap source of calories that should work pretty well in the short haul. It does not contain other essential nutrients (protein, vitamins, minerals, etc), but these deficiencies would take weeks or months to manifest.

The main problem with bulk sugar is that it just wouldn't be fun to eat, and may cause gastric disturbances, simply because it's a very significant deviation from normal diet. The same if you were to only drink oliver oil or only eat vegetable shortening (both excellent sources of calories).

If you can make it into some meal (say, rice with sugar and fruit), it should be a lot easier on your stomach - although only eating sweets for days or weeks is still not very pleasant. The other problem is that sugar is not particularly satiating, so it's difficult to eat the right portions. Something to keep in mind.

Now, sugar is not the most calorie-dense staple you can stockpile. Fat is considerably better in that department (although can be more challenging to store in the long haul).

/r/preppers Thread