This morning I got a new best friend. He doesn’t know it, but it’s Dr. Richard Daines, the State Health Commissioner of New York. I read that he is sticking his neck out, an unusual position for a public official, trying to get through a tax on sugary sodas. The proposed tax would presumably discourage the consumption of unhealthy drinks and also---I figured this one out myself---help the strained state treasury.
To understand why Doc Daines has a passion for this issue, you have to answer this question: how well do know your soda? Well, according to the Mayo Clinic, my go-to folks for medical info, if you take 8 teaspoons of sugar and add it to something liquid, you would approximate the sweeteners in a 12-ounce can of soda. Think deeply on this image. Consider adding 8 teaspoons of sugar to your cup of coffee or tea. You wouldn’t do it, but with a can of soda, the soft drink industry does it for you---130 calories, 8 teaspoons.
Specifically, why does Doc Daines worry?
He and many others think that sugary soft drinks contribute to obesity, one of the imperative national health issues and certainly, for many of us, a private health issue too. The American Heart Association says that women should consume no more than 100 calories a day of added sugar----men, no more than 150 calories a day.
But guess what we really do? Most Americans get more than 22 teaspoons a day of added sugar. That’s 355 calories and, as the Mayo Clinic report says, this “far exceeds USDA guidelines and the American Heart Association recommendations.” I would add that it takes 3500 excess calories to make a pound of weight gain, so drink a soda a day for ten days and voila, you have your weight gain right there.
Is diet soda an answer?
Well, it’s not a health drink and some studies suggest that drinking more than one soda a day---diet or regular---increases your risk of obesity and related health problems such as diabetes. Me, I’m trying to get off the soda bandwagon altogether. I have switched to---are you ready?---water, the original Garden of Eden beverage. I also drink teas and my own version of orangeade: ½ inch of orange juice in a glass and fill the rest with water. These actions can save on your calorie budget. Ditto for your household budget.
The culture that catches you and yours
We are surrounded with the siren calls and marketing snares of the soft drink industry. Entire aisles of supermarkets are devoted to soft drinks. Fast food places bundle soft drink specials with your burger and fries. Even gas stations are sugar sinkholes---whole walls of them devoted to sugary drinks. And that says nothing about the advertising or the fact that soft drink manufacturers have bought influence into the nutritional centers of universities, the source of many studies that underlie public health recommendations. Just last month the Yale School of Medicine accepted money from PepsiCo to do “nutritional science research”.
Now, if you think this sweet soda stuff isn’t your issue—you don’t drink them----remember, as Doc Daines does, that this is a public health issue, which means, among other things, that the public may end up paying one way or the other for the treatment of fellow citizens who are downing sodas as their mealtime drink, constant drinkholder choice, gas station watering selection and regular “treat”.
If you don’t believe any of this, when you go to the supermarket, notice the relationship between what people have in their carts and what those people look like. Lurk in the soda aisles. I won’t say more. Just try it. To me, that connection is both a warning and an inspiration.
And if you see Cranky Pants with his cart, tell him this: Put those things back!