The Soda Industry & Public Health

Some health experts feel that soda consumption could almost be as bad for your health as cigarette smoking.

Too much sugary soda can lead to obesity and diabetes. Too much diet soda can stimulate your appetite by disrupting the balance of the hormone leptin and can also increase your probability of getting cancer.

If you are healthy, you should be consuming less than 25 grams of sugar a day, which is slightly less than an ounce of sugar. If you are diabetic or pre-diabetic, which half of America is, you should consume less than 15 grams of sugar a day.

Only one 12 ounce can of Coke has a whopping 39 grams of sugar!

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports that the average American consumes anywhere between 150 to 170 pounds of refined sugars in one year!

The key here is that this is an average. That means for every American who eats only 5 pounds of sugar each year, there is one who eats about 295 pounds per year.

That is a tremendous amount of sugar, especially when you compare it to how much we used to consume in the past. Less than 100 years ago, the average intake of sugar was only about 4 pounds per person per year.
Marion Nestle, PhD, MPH holds a master’s degree in Public Health from University of California, Berkeley and a PhD in Molecular Biology. She wrote Soda Politics: Taking on Big Soda (and Winning).

Her book is a fascinating exposé that reveals a wealth of information that you very well may be unaware of as to how pervasive the soda industry influence really is.

The soda industry is also well aware of the connection between soda consumption and obesity and obesity-related diseases, but their bottom line is their bottom line.

As explained by Nestle, soda companies are by law required to inform the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) about vulnerabilities and for the last decade Coca-Cola has been telling the SEC that obesity is the number one threat to soda industry profits and for good reason.

Soda sales are down and the soda industry is doing everything they can to turn that around.

Soda Manufacturing Uses a Surprising Amount of Water:

You may be surprised at how much water it actually takes to produce a liter of soda. While the industry’s “water footprint” varies depending on who’s doing the calculation, soda companies estimate it takes about 1.3 liters to manufacture one liter of soda. This does not include the amount of water needed to clean the plant, wash the bottles, and other sanitary tasks. Nor does it include the water used to grow the corn and sugar. Independent groups that include these add-ons have come up with estimates of anywhere from 300 to 600 liters of water per liter of soda!

Take Control of Your Health:

The good news is that increasing numbers of people are aware of how bad soda is for their health. Nestle’s Website, contains a lot of information you can peruse, either to learn more for yourself, or to help you become a more effective activist within your own community.

Instead of soda, I recommend to drink sparkling mineral water from a glass bottle (to avoid BPA), with a splash of pure pomegranate juice. I think it tastes better than soda and it is actually good for you!

Sugar is also hidden in so much of what we consume every day.

Sweeteners such as high fructose corn syrup (from GMO corn) can be found in:
• barbecue sauces
• breads
• canned-fruits
• cookies
• crackers
• frozen dinners
• hot dogs
• ketchup
• marinades
• peanut butter
• pickles
• salad dressing
• soup
• vegetables

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