Before sugar was so widely available, diabetes was also rare, and even in it's rarity, most likely to occur among the rich, who were the only ones who could afford to have enough sugar in their diet to cause a problem.

It's absolutely no wonder that diabetes incidence has exploded among all income levels, considering that HFCS, which is even cheaper than sugar, is already added to almost every processed item on the grocery shelves. It's really a wonder that nearly 100% of the population doesn't have diabetes.