Hampson, J. G., 1 Finally, the refining process increased the rate of digestion of carbohydrates, and so the onrush of blood sugar on the pancreas, which would explain diabetes.“Assume that what strains the pancreas is what strains any other piece of apparatus,” wrote Cleave and Campbell, “not so much the total amount of work it is called upon to do, but the rate at which it is called upon to do it. In the case of eating potatoes, for example, the conversion of the starch into sugar, and the absorption of this sugar into the blood-stream, is a slower and gentler process than the violent one that follows the eating of [any] mass of concentrated sugar.” voice of, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4 3“My question is…”: WWL 11:13 p.m., CDT, August 28, 2005.