Soda and Fruit Juices Should be Banned

[lowlight]

I too like to tell people what to do, but it usually ends when I exit my front door.

 

[ronandannette]

This is a simple one with clear evidence that it's really bad for you.

I want to have an enjoyable old age. One of my friends in his 70s still hikes rim to rim of the Grand Canyon every year. I want to be active and enjoy my old age. That's the point. I don't want to suffer in old age.

Then simply don't consume it. Your knowledge is your power; don't "Big Brother" other people. Take care of yourself in the most fastidious way possible. That other people don't shouldn't have any impact on your future health. I wish you well.

 

[RamblingMad]

The lower income neighborhoods had a far higher consumption of soda than the wealthy neighborhoods. The consumption rate was almost triple. In the wealthy neighborhoods the consumption rate for coffee shacks was 10x higher. Guess which drinks they decided to tax? Those coffee shakes have way more sugar than a coke.

They also don't live as long.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27063997/

First, higher income was associated with greater longevity throughout the income distribution. The gap in life expectancy between the richest 1% and poorest 1% of individuals was 14.6 years (95% CI, 14.4 to 14.8 years) for men and 10.1 years (95% CI, 9.9 to 10.3 years) for women. Second, inequality in life expectancy increased over time. Between 2001 and 2014, life expectancy increased by 2.34 years for men and 2.91 years for women in the top 5% of the income distribution, but by only 0.32 years for men and 0.04 years for women in the bottom 5% (P < .001 for the differences for both sexes). Third, life expectancy for low-income individuals varied substantially across local areas. In the bottom income quartile, life expectancy differed by approximately 4.5 years between areas with the highest and lowest longevity. 7063997/

 

[Colleen27]

Or we could take a more moderate tack and turn back the clock on soda and other processed foods by ending corn subsidies. If we weren't incentivizing the overproduction of corn, HFCS wouldn't be so cheap and ubiquitous as an additive and the cost increases would take care of discouraging overconsumption all by themselves.

 

[RamblingMad]

Then simply don't consume it. Your knowledge is your power; don't "Big Brother" other people. Take care of yourself in the most fastidious way possible. That other people don't shouldn't have any impact on your future health. I wish you well.

What people demand is what shows up in the grocery stories. Until people pushed for organic produce, you were stuck eating dirty veggies and fruits too. People will continue to demand sugar since it's pretty much a drug.

 

[mom2rtk]

They also don't live as long.

Which bodes well for programs like Social Security.

 

[Colleen27]

The biggest problem I had with the tax is they picked sugary drinks consumed by low income residents to tax. Drinks consumed by high income residents are exempted

And that always seems to be how it works out. Sin tax on soda and kool-aid, but the whipped cream with a splash of coffee is untouched.

I'm not sure where you were shopping, but I recall tons of processed foods in the 70s.

And even before. I cringe at some of the stuff my grandmother swore by. Crisco, Miracle Whip, and Ovaltine were ever present in her kitchen.

I see people drinking sugary drinks across all income spectrums.

Sugary drinks, yes. But the type varies - fancy coffee drinks and 100% juice are more expensive and people with higher incomes are more apt to buy them, while soda and kool aid are cheap and therefore more popular among lower income people. And usually sugar taxes focus on the latter while ignoring the former.

 

[ronandannette]

What people demand is what shows up in the grocery stories. Until people pushed for organic produce, you were stuck eating dirty veggies and fruits too. People will continue to demand sugar since it's pretty much a drug.

And how does this affect you and your own health again? Maybe I missed where you explained it before.

 

[Colleen27]

They also don't live as long.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27063997/

But it is a bit of a leap to attribute that even in part to diet when income is also the strongest predictor of a huge range of health risk factors, including access to medical care and local pollution levels in and around the home.

 

[mom2rtk]

What people demand is what shows up in the grocery stories. Until people pushed for organic produce, you were stuck eating dirty veggies and fruits too. People will continue to demand sugar since it's pretty much a drug.

What are you hoping to find in your stores that is currently not available?

 

[RamblingMad]

What are you hoping to find in your stores that is currently not available?

Higher quality produce, fish, and meat. I can get decent chicken at Costco. Finding good fish is challenging. There is so much fish fraud in the US. And good produce is hit or miss. So I grow a lot of my own now. But it's seasonal due to weather.

 

[mom2rtk]

Higher quality produce, fish, and meat. I can get decent chicken at Costco. Finding good fish is challenging. There is so much fish fraud in the US. And good produce is hit or miss. So I grow a lot of my own now. But it's seasonal due to weather.

And you think banning sugary drinks will result in more fish at your market?

 

[Buzz Rules]

Higher quality produce, fish, and meat. I can get decent chicken at Costco. Finding good fish is challenging. There is so much fish fraud in the US. And good produce is hit or miss. So I grow a lot of my own now. But it's seasonal due to weather.

This is the last thing I will say on this thread. If you want to see change, talk to your congressman and start a petition. Have a good day.

 

[prairie_girl]

The slope is really more of a roller-coaster these days. We've got provincial governments here using tax dollars to provide "clean" heroin, fentanyl and meth to addicts at medically supervised consumption sites for "harm reduction". Pretty sure all those substances have been banned at some point.

Totally. Those things were considered to be "fancy" and were very desirable.

Sounds remarkably like Cuba - they only eat what's provided for them to purchase through communist government outlets. (I recently returned from a vacation there and it was extremely eye-opening.)

I get what you are saying, but personally, I’d rather have 10 people doing meth in a safe place, rather than out on the sidewalk and then passing out in a bus shelter to freeze to death. I know that treatment should be the ultimate goal, but let’s at least get them safe first. I’m sure you want tax dollars spent on things that others would find a waste. This sounds like I’m coming after you, but you know I would never do that

MJ is way worse for you than soda or fruit juice yet that's being legalized pretty much everywhere.

LOL source?

Higher quality produce, fish, and meat. I can get decent chicken at Costco. Finding good fish is challenging. There is so much fish fraud in the US. And good produce is hit or miss. So I grow a lot of my own now. But it's seasonal due to weather.

Hey, it looks like maybe you forgot to replay to me, but I’m still waiting for a reply from a post where I quoted you.

 

[Jennasis]

Mind ya bidness.

 

[ScottOKW2K]

I'm actually finding this thread kind of funny. We're up in arms because of how sugar affects the body and society's health and how it is bad for persons of lower economic classes.

Sugar is a carbohydrate. So is high fructose corn syrup. In addition, you will also have other items high in carbohydrates : pasta, bread, potatoes, rice, apples, bananas, chips of any kind and many more items. Once those carbs enter your body and are broken down it's just simple molecules that enter your bloodstream - your body doesn't care how it was packaged before it entered your mouth. The carbs in a Mickey Bar will have the same effect on you as the carbs in a Coke.

"Let's tax sugar" you say. I say, no problem. And are you ready for the prices at Beaches 'N Cream, the Confectionery, Main Street Ice cream parlor, and every Starbucks on property to double? That Mickey bar or Dole whip will bump up too. You pizza at Via Napoli may not get extra tax but its no better for you than the soda you're drinking with it.

I personally went low-carb a year ago for health reasons. It worked for me and exceeded my expectations. And it's a little difficult to do at WDW, especially in the parks. However I'll do me and you can do you. To put this in perspective - if Beaches 'N Cream went to a healthier ( or simply lower carb ) menu would you still have to stalk reservations 60 days out or would it be a walk-up?

They provide what we want.

 

[Southernmiss]

As to safe places for drug addicts, that would also keep them out of the emergency department in the hospitals.

The homeless addicts go to the Ed with medical complaints to get drugs, a bed for the night, food, and shelter from the elements.

Clinics and places nearby would keep them from taking up expensive hospital resources.

I'd rather see that , than outright banning of 'bad' foods.

 

[ronandannette]

I get what you are saying, but personally, I’d rather have 10 people doing meth in a safe place, rather than out on the sidewalk and then passing out in a bus shelter to freeze to death. I know that treatment should be the ultimate goal, but let’s at least get them safe first. I’m sure you want tax dollars spent on things that others would find a waste. This sounds like I’m coming after you, but you know I would never do that

I completely understand your point. Mine was more of a comment about "banning" things. Banning or making certain things illegal rarely has the desired effect. And if even something as nefarious as illegal drug use can not only not be adequately enforced, but actually goes to the other extreme where it's even facilitated, well, something is sadly wrong. Let's not entertain the idea of more completely ineffectual bans.

 

[RamblingMad]

I completely understand your point. Mine was more of a comment about "banning" things. Banning or making certain things illegal rarely has the desired effect. And if even something as nefarious as illegal drug use can not only not be adequately enforced, but actually goes to the other extreme where it's even facilitated, well, something is sadly wrong. Let's not entertain the idea of more completely ineffectual bans.

Soda isn't liquor or drugs. I doubt we'll have underground soda factories. They will never get banned because of the lobbying dollars of Coke and Pepsi. The reality is that we'll have a whole lot of people dying or living out miserable lives in their senior years. I would reasonably expect that insulin costs will continue to surge. It's going to be interesting when people are choosing between eating and paying for insulin. I wouldn't be surprised if this isn't already happening.

 

[mom2rtk]

Soda isn't liquor or drugs. I doubt we'll have underground soda factories. They will never get banned because of the lobbying dollars of Coke and Pepsi. The reality is that we'll have a whole lot of people dying or living out miserable lives in their senior years. I would reasonably expect that insulin costs will continue to surge. It's going to be interesting when people are choosing between eating and paying for insulin. I wouldn't be surprised if this isn't already happening.

I wonder what percentage of people who drink soda actually end up on insulin. And how many of those were actually caused by drinking soda, rather than something like genetics.

Once again, it isn't a startling revelation that soda isn't good for you. Not everyone chooses to give up things they enjoy in pursuit of more years as an old person. Why would you think anyone would want you deciding that for them?