The Coca Cola Conspiracy: The secret cause for the U.S. obesity epidemic

Originally posted by NewAgeMan
So the per capita number of all-you-can-eat buffets has nothing to do with it then..?

Nope because market research shows that people like these things. They will build it as long as there is a demand for it.
If people eat at these places all the time then it their fault. Nobody is holding a gun to anyone's head.

reply to post by glen200376


hehe chill man! dont bother with threats either, im very desensitized to them, whether they come to fruition or not, i get threats,punches, knives and all sorts everyday, judging by your written threat, your one of them!

this is a discussion board where we are here to debate, various views and angles of many topics, whether or not you like my response is entirely up to you. A written threat even indirectly noted can land you in hot water, if i so wished. Though a few here have taken offense to my post, i knew this would indeed be the case as i have laid it out raw. But first look at what alcohol is - sugar, what is in monster? sucrolose and corn syrup, as with many of the energy drinks, ohh and coca cola, what i was merely informing was how easy it was to ride agenda 21, even i fall for it in moderation.

people dont like being told something they are, whether they are proud of it or ashamed deep down, its our own defense system emotionally, especially concerning this underlying topic, obesity, or whether deep down you know you drink too much, or smoke too much or dont keep up the fitness, or break the law knowingly but dont like doing it etc etc etc.....need i go on?

Originally posted by Infrasilent
Fact: You are free to abstain from Coke.

You are exactly right! This is a huge point - all we have to do is STOP DRINKING IT!

I think informed and concerned citizens should stand up and help educate our friends and neighbors!

Oh and Im not sure if anyone else has mentioned this yet, but the acid in sodas does horrible things to your teeth as well!

While I will admit that I am a huge fan of the sugary taste of most sodas ... I do have control over myself and am able to limit my consumption to very low and manageable levels. I wish more could be said about the majority of Americans who obviously have issues with self-control.

So...just to make sure I got this right.

Coke = bad because of too much sugar is the argument.

Sounds like diet coke then is ace considering it has no sugar. Well, not health food mind you, but won't cause obesity.

I used to be a pepsi addict, and gained far too much weight. I swapped over to diet pepsi (wild cherry) and lost most of the weight. Now, I am not going to pretend this is a good alternative. I should be drinking natural organic fruit juices..but my addiction is the caffeine itself I reckon, so its all about little steps.

Pity this trash drink tastes so yummy...it really is like sucking on a nuclear rod..you know its bad, but damn if it isn't really nice tasting.

Just cant win. Well, everyone has to die of something, right? Might as well be death by yum verses brain rot or whatever.

Originally posted by henryleo

Originally posted by Infrasilent
Fact: You are free to abstain from Coke.

You are exactly right! This is a huge point - all we have to do is STOP DRINKING IT!

I think informed and concerned citizens should stand up and help educate our friends and neighbors!

Oh and Im not sure if anyone else has mentioned this yet, but the acid in sodas does horrible things to your teeth as well!

While I will admit that I am a huge fan of the sugary taste of most sodas ... I do have control over myself and am able to limit my consumption to very low and manageable levels. I wish more could be said about the majority of Americans who obviously have issues with self-control.

Thanks for mentioning the phosphoric acid

When there is excess phosphorus in the body, and not enough calcium, the body extracts calcium from teeth and bones, in order to maintain the proper balance. If this continues for a longer period of time, it results in osteoporosis or weakening of the bones. Phosphoric acid in soda also affects the teeth and makes them weaker. Apart from the phosphoric acid in soft drinks, caffeine also hampers calcium absorption leading to risk of weakening of bones. Weakened bones can make a person prone to fractures and degenerative diseases like arthritis. On the other hand, phosphoric acid in soda is also believed to indirectly lead to kidney diseases. When a person has excess amounts of soda, he naturally tends to drink less amounts of water, which in turn is one of the contributing factors of kidney stones. Also the imbalance of calcium and phosphorus in the body can contribute in causing kidney diseases and kidney stones. We observe that nearly all the contents of soda are harmful to the human body and lead to the deterioration of various systems.

Originally posted by henryleo

Originally posted by Infrasilent
Fact: You are free to abstain from Coke.

You are exactly right! This is a huge point - all we have to do is STOP DRINKING IT!

I think informed and concerned citizens should stand up and help educate our friends and neighbors!

Ya...that should work
-lights up a cigarette-

What people listen to overall is cost. Something gets pricy, they consider stopping it. If you go to your neighbor and breathlessly exclaim you just learned coke is really freaking bad for your health..they will wonder if you have been living under a rock. Of course its bad for you..
Other things bad for you:
Watching endless hours of television
eating chocolates/cakes/snacks in general
deep fried foods
not exercising daily
etc etc etc.
People don't make bad choices because they think its good choices..its because its cheap, pleasurable, easily attainable, and ultimately we accept our mortality, therefore will partake in the pleasures that may one day kill us..because something is going to kill us even if we eat nothing but sprouts our entire life.

Originally posted by SaturnFX
So...just to make sure I got this right.

Coke = bad because of too much sugar is the argument.

Sounds like diet coke then is ace considering it has no sugar. Well, not health food mind you, but won't cause obesity.

I used to be a pepsi addict, and gained far too much weight. I swapped over to diet pepsi (wild cherry) and lost most of the weight. Now, I am not going to pretend this is a good alternative. I should be drinking natural organic fruit juices..but my addiction is the caffeine itself I reckon, so its all about little steps.

Pity this trash drink tastes so yummy...it really is like sucking on a nuclear rod..you know its bad, but damn if it isn't really nice tasting.

Just cant win. Well, everyone has to die of something, right? Might as well be death by yum verses brain rot or whatever.

Diet Coke is just as bad as Coke. Coke is bad because High Fructose Corn Syrup is digested differently than sugar -- so HFCS is worse than sugar.

Diet Coke as Sodium Benzoate in it which turns into Benzene when combined with vitamin C.

Sodium Benzoate is nasty stuff

In January 2008 sodium benzoate was removed from production lines for Diet Coke sold in the UK, however it remains in other Coke products and other production locations.[15]

Besides cancer it also kills the mitochondria and causes hyperactivity

Professor Peter W. Piper of the University of Sheffield claims that sodium benzoate by itself can damage and inactivate vital parts of DNA in a cell's mitochondria. Mitochondria consume oxygen to generate ATP, the body's energy currency. If they are damaged due to disease, the cell malfunctions and may enter apoptosis.[citation needed] [edit] Hyperactivity Research published in 2007 for the UK's Food Standards Agency (FSA) suggests that certain artificial colours, when paired with sodium benzoate (E211) may be linked to hyperactive behaviour. The results were inconsistent regarding sodium benzoate, so the FSA recommended further study.[10][11][12] Professor Jim Stevenson from Southampton University, and author of the report, said: "This has been a major study investigating an important area of research. The results suggest that consumption of certain mixtures of artificial food colours and sodium benzoate preservative are associated with increases in hyperactive behaviour in children. However, parents should not think that simply taking these additives out of food will prevent hyperactive disorders. We know that many other influences are at work but this at least is one a child can avoid."[12]

Then there's Diet Coke and Aspartame

The photo of a crumpled can of Diet Coke told the story in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Coke's hometown paper. Fitting, poetic, just, but tragic for the company once rated "The Most Admired Business in the World". Today Coke wouldn't even make the list. Sales are down, profits collapsing, and 6,000 employees soon will be gone. To make room for 6,000 defense attorneys? The tragedy is stupendously larger than 6,000 jobs; it affects hundreds of millions of unwarned, innocent, afflicted consumers across the broad face of planet earth. This crisis can't be solved by belt tightening, greater efficiency, more advertising, etc. It's so bad Coke can't say the word; to pronounce it will bring instant cataclysm. That word is aspartame, and their only recourse is denial, denial, denial, though every ad and commercial builds higher the scaffold upon which Coke shall surely hang. Reality is in that twisted Diet coke can. It's poison. It's killing the unborn, raining tumors and seizures on the population, destroying children, incapacitating workers, mimicking MS, erasing memory and blinding. Inexorably Diet Coke visits a plague of 92 symptoms listed by our FDA on a secret report they'll never show which names diet soda as the first source of aspartame disease. And yes, Death was one of the 92. Diet Coke is poison. And it's addictive, some victims drink several liters a day and keep it on their nightstands. If Coke changes the formula to remove aspartame the world will heal and the surge of hatred and vengeance by the disabled and bereaved shall certainly destroy Coca Cola. The poison in Diet Coke is aspartame. As a member of the National Soft Drink Association Coke opposed FDA approval of aspartame for beverages. their objections, running to several pages published in the Congressional Record of 5/7/85, said aspartame is uniquely and inherently unstable and breaks down in the can. It decomposes into formaldehyde, methyl alcohol, formic acid, diketopiperazine and other toxins. In a study on 7 monkeys 5 had grand mal seizures and one died, a casualty rate of 86%.

Originally posted by nuttin4U
People are "obese" for the simple fact that they cant stop eating; and they don't exercise. Soda, isn't doing anything, but burning a hole in their stomachs. The real conspiracy, is all in the name: "Coca" Cola. What more do you need to say? Also, there is so much SUGAR in a can of coke, they have to use special ingredients, to keep you from throwing up.

I don't think there's any conspiracy regarding coke...i mean, "Coca" Cola; it's just a bad product for your body. Pour some on the hood of your car...and see what it does to your paint. Empty a can in your toilet, and wash away those stains. Need i continue???

I'd say, the MAIN cause for people getting fat, would be: Fast Foods. That CRAP is only good, every once in a WHILE. Unfortunately, their product is everywhere you turn. There's nothing like your kids screaming: "Let's go to McDonalds"; every 5 minutes. Thank goodness my kids love when i make REAL french fries and REAL burgers, at home.

Another reason people are getting fat (and that's what they're getting, let's not sugar coat it) are SNACKS. As i was sitting here, ENJOYING my Hostess Muffin Loaf with "rasberries" i was thinking to myself...it's no wonder why, the people in the world are "obese". "Damn, these are good"!

The Corn Syrup turns into fat more than any other food ingredient. It's in your Muffin

Hostess Muffin Loaf Blueberry UPC# 045000004580 - UPC Food ... www.upcfoodsearch.com/upc-045000004580/ Food product listing information for Hostess Muffin Loaf Blueberry UPC# ... Folic Acid)], Wheat Starch, Water, Corn Syrup, Egg Whites, Blueberry Puree, And

Originally posted by daskakik

The females in the 7 month experiment that recieved HFCS and rationed chow weighed less than the sugar free females.

Princeton study

Your leaving out two of the three factors in the study -- triglycerides and abdominal fat -- both indicating metabolic syndrome

Female rats with 7 months of HFCS access gain significantly more body weight, have more abdominal fat and elevated TG levels compared with chow- and sucrose-fed controls

Originally posted by boaby_phet
i dont get it ... fructose = fruit sugar.

is this dude saying we shouldnt eat fruit ?? wtf!

i call bullcrap, people ALWAYS and i mean ALWAYSSS try and blame something else for their problems, esspecialy if they can blame an inanimate object that cant fight its own casde ... the below said it best.

Originally posted by theubermensch
The cause of obesity is gluttony.

The seven deadly sins are celebrated in the US like nowhere else.

fat people are fat because most time they eat to much, in some cases its purely medical but even in most of the medical cases they wouldnt have got so fat if they changed there diet when they started having to buy bigger clothes!

edit on 29-1-2012 by boaby_phet because: (no reason given)

The irony is that obesity is caused by lack of access to fruits and vegetables which have the fiber and nutritions for healthy energy.

So the poor in the U.S. are more obese than the rich.

Mexico is about to surpass the U.S. in obesity.

It's because of the structural economics - HFCS is put into everything so it's almost impossible to avoid and it's concentrated in cheap processed foods marketed to those on food stamps and buying cheap food like fast food, etc.

Originally posted by soficrow
reply to post by fulllotusqigong

 

Just another scapegoat - a campaign designed to distract, deflect, and support industry's blame-the-victims defense strategy when contaminants make people sick: "bad diet, irresponsible lifestyle and/or genetics." Coke is bad, no doubt, but so are many other things in our world. Look at endocrine disruptors called obesogens.

Corn Syrup is the number 1 Obesogen

Avoid Foods Rich in Obesogens 1. High Fructose Corn Syrup – Whether in sweetened cereals, ketchup or soda, high fructose corn syrup induces insulin resistance in your liver and at the same time it makes you crave more of it, so it is a vicious cycle. Dr Oz asked if it was just high fructose corn syrup or all sugars, and his guests said that sugar is a problem as well. Americans used to eat just 15 grams of sugar a day, and now we are up to 90 grams of sugar a day (on average). The problem is that high fructose corn syrup is in most packaged and processed foods… even foods you would not imagine like pretzels.

Originally posted by lacrimaererum
reply to post by fulllotusqigong

 

You state the video has gone viral. A lot of people come on here and throw that line in as if it is some sort of endorsement. The video has almost 19,000views. I would consider a viral video to be one that has at at least clocked up 1million. When you consider popular music tracks clock up 50million now. 20thousand views is hardly a drop in the ocean.

I do not live in the US. I have visited.The video is interesting however I would not concider coke the secret cause of the obesity crisis in the US. I dont think it is any secret what the cause of obesity is in the US.

Portion size is the cause of obesity in the US.

It also doesn't help when you seem to insist on putting a mountain of melted cheese on everything. I had to stop eating soup in the US becuase no matter where you ordered it there was a block of melted cheese sitting on top. That is absolute insanity. Also adding a jar of mayo to a dish does not make it a salad.

Rather than watching videos that make up excuses why you are so fat, you would be better watching what happens cheese in your body or educating yourself about food.

Ha. Yeah the video has over 1 million hits. Just that specific url had less views.

I'll find a different url --



Yeah almost 2 million views now.

Originally posted by wavemaker
It's not like the US is the only country that drinks Coke. How come Asians don't have the obesity epidemic that the US have? It is more than the Coca Cola conspiracy on why there is obesity epidemic in the US.

Right the obesity epidemic is spreading as HFCS spreads into other countries -- so Mexico is about to pass the U.S. -- it's not just coke -- it's HFCS. So soda drinks account for about 20% of HFCS consumption in the U.S.

So the U.S. remains the focus of HFCS production

“The environmental footprint of HFCS is deep and wide,” writes Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma. “Look no farther than the dead zone in the Gulf [of Mexico], an area the size of New Jersey where virtually nothing will live because it has been starved of oxygen by the fertilizer runoff coming down the Mississippi from the Corn Belt. Then there is the atrazine in the water in farm country — a nasty herbicide that, at concentrations as little as 0.1 part per billion, has been shown to turn male frogs into hermaphrodites.” And we haven’t even started talking about why the stuff might be bad for you yet. Defenders of the HFCS faith are quick to point to studies contradicting stories that cast the sweetener in a negative light. Over at the Accidental Hedonist (a blog that supplied much of the substance and inspiration for this article) author Kate Hopkins puts it this way: The rise in obesity is directly the result of over-production of a government subsidized sweetener. There are “clues” that keep popping up that suggest health dangers as well. One study claimed livers of rats on a high fructose diet looked like the livers of alcoholics, plugged with fat and cirrhotic. Another suggests that HFCS may contribute more to fat that is stored deep in the body around the abdominal organs. This fat is known to promote pre-diabetes (insulin resistance) and to increase blood fats (triglycerides). Two of the enzymes used in the manufacturing process, alpha-amylase and glucose-isomerase, are genetically modified to make them more stable. University of Florida researchers found that fructose-heavy diets “can induce leptin resistance, a condition that can easily lead to becoming overweight.” Leptin is a substance produced by the body to trigger feelings of satiety; it tells us when to stop eating. No wonder that big gulp is so easy to swallow.

Why Japan has no obesity epidemic

Finally, I personally believe that the recent “epidemic” of obesity in the US is primarily the result of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). HFCS doesn’t stimulate leptin production, which is the hormone that signals satiety in the brain. Americans ate mountains of sugar for a century (1877-1977) and never got fat. But the approval of HFCS in 1977 corresponds with the beginning of the obesity epidemic in the US. Refer to the graph in this Wikipedia article below. Notice that the two lines for “Overweight, including obese” and “Obese”. Both start a pronounced upward trend in the 1976-80 period. Production of HFCS went from 3 million short tons in 1980 to 8 million in 1995. In 2005, Americans consumed a per-person average of 54lbs. of HFCS. The Japanese eat very little HFCS, they prefer sugar when they want something sweet. (en.wikipedia.org...)

Originally posted by Doc Holiday
reply to post by fulllotusqigong

 

Coke "specifically" my mums an ER nurse, a majority of nurses drink coke, they claim the acid, chems are germ killers, and that Coke will kill any accidentally inhaled, ingested, toxins...This is only what I hear...not proven...

Myself I stay on a 6-8 coke a day regiment, I'm 6' tall 168 lbs and eat well, veggies, organic when possible, and very little meat.
I'm 40, and can't remember ever being sick, but, thats not to say say I'm just "not normal" or a freak!

edit on 29-1-2012 by Doc Holiday because: (no reason given)

So you're in the U.S.? Because coke outside of the US does not have HFCS. Oh wait I searched your latitude longitude coordinates and got Missouri. haha. What's your exercise routine like?


Well corn syrup production has gone down in the U.S. thanks to it starting to be phased out of some foods.

reply to post by fulllotusqigong

And your leaving out the HFCS and controlled portion group.The fact that the rats that were given HFCS and had controlled portions weighed less proves that the HFCS didn't magically turn the portion into fat.

The only thing that this study proves is that availability of food and gluttony lead to obesity. Even the rats without sugary drinks almost doubled their weight.

No difference was found in TG levels for the 12-h HFCS group (128 ±7 mg/dL) when compared to chow-fed controls. There were no differences found among the groups in serum insulin levels.

The 12 HFCS group had the same trigliceride level than the chow only group. Again HFCS not really showing consistancy. They focus on the 24h HFCS group because it is a large difference but the other HFCS groups didn't show much difference which would imply that moderate intake dosen't pose any threat.

Thats is for me no more coke

Always new it was bad for you but not to this degree..

reply to post by yourmaker


Exactly, people and friends think you are strange just because you have recently become committed to eating right. But what is more of a problem is that healthy foods tend to cost a lot more. I am a college student and find it very difficult to conserve money and buy berries, fish, nuts, and rich greens.

reply to post by daskakik


Wow selective quoting again? haha.

O.K. Let's go through the study results step by step:

3.1. Male rats with daily 12-h HFCS access gain more weight in 8 weeks than animals with equal access to sucrose

3.2. Male rats with ad libitum HFCS for 6 months have increased body weight, abdominal fat and TG levels, compared to controls

3.3. Female rats with 7 months of HFCS access gain significantly more body weight, have more abdominal fat and elevated TG levels compared with chow- and sucrose-fed controls

So far all the results are showing HFCS causing obesity now your saying that there is no difference in weight gain between the HFCS and the other types of food source?

The difference is in RATE of weight gain

However, unlike the current study, there was no difference in body weight between HFCS and sucrose consuming rats, although a more rapid weight gain was noted in HFCS-consuming animals compared to fructose- and sucrose-consuming animals (Light et al., 2009).

reply to post by fulllotusqigong


You don't have to twist my arm to believe that Coca Cola is an evil company. It's not just Coke but the entire corn industry. The sugar industry/ the soy industry, the palm industry. Sadly the water wasted to produce soda could probably save a lot of people.

Originally posted by ThisIsMyName
reply to post by fulllotusqigong

 

You didn't even include the fact that Diet soda is more likely to cause obesity than actual soda.

...probably because that's not a fact. There are countless studies showing the lipogenic effects of sugar sweetened soft drinks. Yes; there is a correlation between obese people and diet soda consumption. Fat people tend to drink diet drinks. But correlation doesn't equal causation. Fat people drink diet sodas because they're dieting.

I will say that there are a few studies that suggest artificial sweeteners may increase hunger. But to say diet sodas are more fattening than sugar sweetened sodas is quite a stretch.