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

The toxic truth about sugar Added sweeteners pose dangers to health that justify controlling them like alcohol, argue Robert H. Lustig, Laura A. Schmidt and Claire D. Brindis.

Read the Nature journal commentary in full at the link.

The United States spends $65 billion in lost productivity and $150 billion on health-care resources annually for morbidities associated with metabolic syndrome. Seventy-five per cent of all US health-care dollars are now spent on treating these diseases and their resultant disabilities. Because about 25% of military applicants are now rejected for obesity-related reasons, the past three US surgeons general and the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff have declared obesity a “threat to national security”.

Originally posted by fulllotusqigong
So the person who refused to watch the OP science lecture now has to contend that the lecturer is published in the most prestigious science journal with the facts that sugar is toxic.

I posted that both were bad on page 4. I see that you don't understand what the words toxic and poison mean or realize that the doctor is using them as buzzwords.

Did you ever get around to finding the LD50 of hfcs?

So should HFCS be banned? Yes like alcohol is banned from workplaces and schools. HFCS should be treated like a poison just like alcohol.

Alcohol is not treated like poison. It is treated as a drug because it is psychotropic.

The Obesity Epidemic: Banning HFCS is the Solution

Obesity has reached staggering proportions in America, home to the most obese people in the world. The obesity rate of adult Americans has increased in 28 states over the past year, with Blacks and Latinos most at risk, according a new report released by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The report also found that over 67 percent of states have obesity rates above 25 percent, and that the number of states where adult obesity rates exceed 30 percent has doubled in the past year. The report also noted a link between lower income groups and higher obesity rates, but this should come as no surprise. Poorer people have less money to spend and therefore buy the cheapest food available. Unfortunately, this cheap food is also the unhealthiest. It is mainly processed food, and full of chemical additives such as high fructose corn syrup. But soaring obesity rates do not stop with American adults. In another recently-released report, one statistic really stuck out: that of extremely obese males aged 6 to 19. For this group, obesity has increased from 9% in 1999-2000 to 15% in 2009-2010 - an alarmimng increase of 67% in ten short years! Childhood obesity has become an epidemic in America, so much so that the First Lady, Michelle Obama, has launched a very ambitious plan to end childhood obesity in a single generation. She needs to be applauded for taking on this herculean task. "We want to eliminate this problem of childhood obesity in a generation. We want to get that done," said the first lady when she spoke with Robin Roberts of Good Morning America. "We want our kids to face a different and more optimistic future in terms of their lifespan." The nationwide campaign started by Mrs. Obama is called "Let's Move," and it's built on four key pillars: Getting parents more informed about nutrition and exercise, improving the quality of food in schools, making healthy foods more affordable and accessible for families, and focusing more on physical education. The initiative started by the First Lady is impressive, but sadly there is no mystery behind this obesity epidemic, and the other epidemic that it has spawned - that of diabetes. These twin epidemics are directly attributable to the standard American diet: fast-food, sodas, canned goods, microwave dinners - most of which are chemically altered - combined with the lack of exercise. This is a recipe for disaster. And Americans have chosen to literally eat themselves to death. The real cause of the twin epidemics of obesity and diabetes in America is high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), a man-made chemical added to just about every processed food. This poison interferes with your hormones (this is the way your body communicates at a cellular level) and prevents your brain from telling you that you are full and need to stop eating. If you consider that of all the money spent on food in America, ninety percent (yes, 90%!) is spent on processed food, devoid of any fiber or nutrition and chock full of HFCS. Educating parents is part of the obesity solution, but banning HFCS will win the war against obesity and diabetes. It will kill two birds with one stone.

First, hepatic fructose metabolism is similar to ethanol, as they both serve as substrates for de novo lipogenesis, and in the process both promote hepatic insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, and hepatic steatosis. Second, fructosylation of proteins with resultant superoxide formation can result in hepatic inflammation similar to acetaldehyde, an intermediary metabolite of ethanol. Lastly, by stimulating the “hedonic pathway” of the brain both directly and indirectly, fructose creates habituation, and possibly dependence; also paralleling ethanol. Thus, fructose induces alterations in both hepatic metabolism and central nervous system energy signaling, leading to a “vicious cycle” of excessive consumption and disease consistent with metabolic syndrome. On a societal level, the treatment of fructose as a commodity exhibits market similarities to ethanol. Analogous to ethanol, societal efforts to reduce fructose consumption will likely be necessary to combat the obesity epidemic.

Fructose: Metabolic, Hedonic, and Societal Parallels with Ethanol

reply to post by fulllotusqigong

Wow 4 posts almost back to back and not one opinion or discussion about the links content.

By the way alcohol has been enjoyed by many for thousands of years. Some can't handle it but many can. In some populations it even leads to longevity.

Liquor is the key to longevity

Raymonde and Lucienne Wattelade, French sisters who turn 98 today, have been recognized by Guinness as the world's oldest twins. They live together by the sea and stay active, but say their secret is drinking pastis and whiskey.

98 years and it still hasn't killed them. That is a pretty #ty poison you got there. And with that I will let you keep beating this dead horse.

reply to post by randomname


Sorry to burst your bubble, but Coca Cola doesn't use coca leaves for their soda. They used coca leaves long ago to give you the caffeine rush, through the coc aine. When caffeine was discovered they dumped the coca leaves as they were no longer needed. Now you drink High Fructose corn syrup(a lot), salt(a lot), food coloring and some artificial sweeteners(licorice, anise and other things). basically a chemical cocktail....

Originally posted by TWISTEDWORDS
reply to post by randomname

 

Sorry to burst your bubble, but Coca Cola doesn't use coca leaves for their soda. They used coca leaves long ago to give you the caffeine rush, through the coc aine. When caffeine was discovered they dumped the coca leaves as they were no longer needed. Now you drink High Fructose corn syrup(a lot), salt(a lot), food coloring and some artificial sweeteners(licorice, anise and other things). basically a chemical cocktail....

Yeah, yuck. Maybe once in a year I'll enjoy a mountain dew.

I know someone who drank 2 sodas a day, man her teeth were nasty. Cavities galore. She brushed all the time too. This was when I was growing up in my early teens. That stuff just eroded her teeth like mad.

I was never a huge soda drinker, always usually water or unsweetened iced tea. No cavities until age 22 when I got off well water and started using public water with flouride. Go figure!

reply to post by fulllotusqigong


It must affect different people in different ways. I have consumed Coke since I was a teen as much as a six pack a day if not more. Cannot be good to me no doubt but I like it, and I am anything but overweight, I am 5'11 130 on a good day. I weighed 124 in highschool so maybe a six pound gain and I am in my middle 40's today.

If sugar or fructose is consumed by the liver and turns to fat and turns off the mechanism that tells the body it is full, and then just turns to fat after the body uses all that its needs then the body would continue to burn the fat like no tomorrow so I do not understand how that would contribute to obesity, the opposite would occur actually if the body thinks it is straving it is going to burn massive amounts of fat.

Like I say I know it is not good for you and won't argue that fact but I do not believe it to be the source of obesity, Genes are the source of obesity and a lack of activity. It is popular to blame everything on something, makes us feel good to say its not my fault its that darn coke. I know people that do not drink coke nor do they eat lots of sugary deserts but are still overweight and these people excercise everyday as they are in the military.

Facts are that we have become much more dependent on the conveince of technology today than in our past and in addition to the gene issue this is what is a primary cause of obesity in the world. Television was something we only watched at night when I was a kid, video games were a novelty when they existed, many kids do not even have bicycles today and if they do they don't ride them. We out of necessity today use cars to go everywhere, as a child we use to walk to the store several times a day for you guessed it to buy coke, candy and other sugary products.

There is no doubt in my mind that sugar contributes to poor health in the world or should I say over consumption of sugar, but no conspiracy, just what it does. The individual with a predispostion to gaining weight is responsiable not a product on the shelf.

I have had a physical very recently, and my blood pressure is low, almost too low and I smoke, my sugar levels are completly normal and I consume more Coke in a month than some people consume in a year, my colesteral is that of a new born baby and since I am from the south I do enjoy my fried foods. I do not hold back what I eat, but I do eat small portions because I get full. Resturants today serve huge portions and I never can finish what they serve but watch those around me clean their plates after eating at least two appetizers for themselves.

Genes are what causes the obesity problem and self control, we cannot blame a product, as I am living breathing proof, at this point anyway...LOL...that its just not true. These products contribute to the problem but only because of sefl control issues and not fron a conspriacy to make us fat.

reply to post by TWISTEDWORDS


U forgot the phosphoric acid...yummmyyyyy

Originally posted by MentalData
reply to post by TWISTEDWORDS

 

U forgot the phosphoric acid...yummmyyyyy

Which apparently debunked a man claiming to have found a mouse in his Pepsi drink.

Pepsi countered the mouse would have been jelly

reply to post by DJMSN

not worth sharing the knowledge. i will keep people in the dark

Originally posted by k1k1to
reply to post by fulllotusqigong

 

what about all the fat people that arent "genetically" pre disposed to be fat...and they dont drink any sodas and are still fat?

i know a couple of people who are about 50-70 lbs overweight, and theyve never touched a soda in their lives..

i dont thing sugar is the only culprit for obesity

It isn't. Obesity is caused by eating too much and exercising too little. If you eat more calories than you burn up you will get fat. Period.

All this business of secret conspiracies and GM crops and blaming MacDonald's and Coca Cola is just trying to blame other people for your own bad choices.

The idea than anyone is genetically programmed to be fat, regardless of how much they eat is also nonsense. Besides the fact that it violates the laws of thermodynamics it flies in the face of genetics. We are all evolved from hunter gatherers in Africa and there were no obese hunter gatherers.

If you want to lose weight, eat less, exercise more! Don't blame others for your own lack of willpower. End of.

Originally posted by plnelson

Originally posted by k1k1to
reply to post by fulllotusqigong

 

what about all the fat people that arent "genetically" pre disposed to be fat...and they dont drink any sodas and are still fat?

i know a couple of people who are about 50-70 lbs overweight, and theyve never touched a soda in their lives..

i dont thing sugar is the only culprit for obesity

It isn't. Obesity is caused by eating too much and exercising too little. If you eat more calories than you burn up you will get fat. Period.

All this business of secret conspiracies and GM crops and blaming MacDonald's and Coca Cola is just trying to blame other people for your own bad choices.

The idea than anyone is genetically programmed to be fat, regardless of how much they eat is also nonsense. Besides the fact that it violates the laws of thermodynamics it flies in the face of genetics. We are all evolved from hunter gatherers in Africa and there were no obese hunter gatherers.

If you want to lose weight, eat less, exercise more! Don't blame others for your own lack of willpower. End of.

This vid is a bit wacky -- for example:

Potatoes, in comparison, are nutrient-rich, a natural source of potassium and vitamin C.

Potatoes are also a complete protein.

Unpurified Carbs are not evil

I always had a pretty natural healthy body, even thou I ate pretty bad in the past. Anyway I slowly became a coke addict, and I started to notice I was gaining weight pretty quick.

Once I got off it, I lost the weight pretty damn fast!

At least they don't put coc aine in it anymore haha.

p.s I'm now doing P90x

Originally posted by _Phoenix_
I always had a pretty natural healthy body, even thou I ate pretty bad in the past. Anyway I slowly became a coke addict, and I started to notice I was gaining weight pretty quick.

Once I got off it, I lost the weight pretty damn fast!

At least they don't put coc aine in it anymore haha.

p.s I'm now doing P90x

edit on 6-2-2012 by _Phoenix_ because: (no reason given)

Yeah I know a local construction worker who is always chugging sodas and he's got a big pot belly. I just want to tell him -- you will lose 16 pounds in a year if you drink one less soda a day -- and nothing more -- no exercise needed!!

But saying that kind of stuff is kind of tricky. haha. People are easily offended by diet since food is so ritualistic.

One Soda per Day Adds 15 Pounds per Year A new review of available research pinpoints exactly how much soft drinks and other sugary beverages contribute to weight gain and obesity in the United States. Just one extra can each day can add as much as 15 pounds to your weight over the course of a single year. Researchers at Harvard School of Public Health reviewed 30 nutritional studies conducted over the past four decades which revealed a number of other facts, including: Soft drinks contribute about half of the additional sweeteners in the average American diet, and that amounts to a third of all carbohydrate calories consumed. Limiting a child's intake of soft drinks over a year lowered his or her risks of obesity. Consuming more sugary drinks led to higher weight gains and greater obesity risks. A nutritionist commenting on the review noted that satiety studies show that people do not compensate for calories from beverages by consuming less food. As a result, when caloric beverages are consumed, those calories are simply added on top of the rest of the total daily caloric intake. Many studies show that heavy adults and children are more likely to drink sugary beverages. A one-year intervention study showed that reducing the intake of soft drinks in school-age children reduced the incidence of excess weight and obesity. Consider stevia as an alternative zero-calorie, zero-glycemic sweetener. Source: Malik VS, Schulze MB, Hu FB. Intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and weight gain: a systematic review. Am J Clin Nutr. 2006 Aug;84(2):274-88.

Better to just stick to the science instead of the focus on individuals

This thread is something else...

So you want to hide the US food "culture" (if you can actually call it that) which is actually JUNK behind a coca-cola or soda conspiracy?

You think the problem is in coke? or mcdonalds? Your problem is not what you eat, is how often you eat it and how fast can you burn it.

I'm from europe... I drink coke pretty much every day, eat mcdonalds prolly once a week, chicken wings well... sometimes, but I LOVE THEM, pretty much the same stuff americans do, but am I a 2-ton idiot? No...

Why? Maybe because I'm not a lazy ass sitting on my couch all day watching american idol, the kardashians and all the trash tv that makes me go numb to the outside world entering in a cicle with no return.

The thing is, americans CANT, and I mean, they really are unable to moderate things. People are huge, cars are huge (prolly so ppl can fit in there), everything is done, built, eaten, constructed in MEGALOMANIAC ways. You like EXCESS, SURPLUS, everything to feed your illusions of grandeur... so... its the American Culture killing americans, making them fat as rhinos, dumb and ignorant.

The "American Way" is not something the rest of the world actually look at as if its something to achieve... rather to avoid. Its a selfish, dangerous self-destructing way..

You're doing that to yourselves, dont blame the industry, dont blame the tv... the tv gives you what you want to see, the food industry gives you what you want to eat, drink, the car industry makes the worst cars on the planet, why? Not because they CANT do it, but rather because the average american wants a freakin couch on wheels with a damn cup holder and something to rest their french fries on where they can sit like fat kings while driving on AUTO (yes because the average american cant be bothered to learn to SHIFT... so, manual cars are a no-no) your roads are STRAIGHT LINES, your main motor sport is a bunch of idiots driving around in circles for 500 MILES... and you dont get tired of it! Your main sport is played by "armored trucks" on steroids, with extensive layers of body armor cause they must be too afraid to hurt themselves while... well... running! You feed millions to a stupid show called "wrestling", which is fake and made up with some sort of overweight, steroid based pseudo super heros, but nevertheless you feed it. Monster Trucks are simply idiotic... who the hell wants to pay to see a big ass truck drive over scrapyard cars? Your destruction derby is made with cars with no windows (glass is dangerous so the tough guys are worried about safety). Your TV is trash. From beginning to end its TRASH. Everything ruined by commercials each 5 minutes (you know that american shows in europe have to be "glued on" to only include one commercial cause its ridiculous to see conan o'brian invite a guy and going for the commercial BEFORE the guy starts talking) not to mention the reality shows and freakin MTV that should be closed FOREVER and its owners be charged of intentionally making a channel that degrades society BY THE SECOND and I could go on and on about megalomaniac things which are both dumb, mind-numbing, with no skill required what so ever.

The United States are a nation OUT OF CONTROL... always going for the biggest, largest, heaviest, etc.

Its a lazy culture made by a lazy ppl... what are you complaining about? Its what you want, need, ask,... what I call trash, you call freedom. Freedom to self-destruct, to implode.

Now I give you a song dedicated to the "American way".

Choose life.
Choose a job.
Choose a career.
Choose a family.
Choose a #ing big television,
Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players, and electrical tin can openers.
Choose good health, low cholesterol and dental insurance.
Choose fixed-interest mortgage repayments.
Choose a starter home.
Choose your friends.
Choose leisure wear and matching luggage.
Choose a three piece suite on hire purchase in a range of #ing fabrics.
Choose DIY and wondering who the # you are on a Sunday morning.
Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing #ing junk food into your mouth.
Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, #ed-up brats you have spawned to replace yourself.
Choose your future. Choose life . . .

Dont blame anyone but yourselves... Theres no conspiracy here.

Originally posted by FraternitasSaturni
This thread is something else...

So you want to hide the US food "culture" (if you can actually call it that) which is actually JUNK behind a coca-cola or soda conspiracy?

Well I completely agree with your post about the American Way. haha. I mean it's not funny but I won't go into it. Let's just say I've been arrested over half a dozen times protesting against the American Way.

Anyway on the thread topic -- the real issue here is HFCS which is not found in Coke outside the U.S.

As the OP states -- the "new" Coke increased the salt to hide the increased sweetness of the HFCS.

According to Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy estimates, the average American eats around 12 teaspoons of high fructose corn syrup every day. Teenagers, who are known for drinking more soda, are perhaps even eating 80 percent more than this. High fructose corn syrup has been on the market since the early 70s. Since then, the consumption of high fructose corn syrup in America has increased by over 1,000 percent according to an article in the April 2004 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Is our high consumption of high fructose corn syrup storing up a whole heap of problems for our health?

So the question is what makes HFCS so bad?

Top 10 Health Dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup

Yeah sugar is bad but HFCS is on mega-welfare in the U.S. so the welfare HFCS is put into the sodas and also tons of processed food.

One of the big differences between HFCS and sugar is reactive carbonyls

A 2007 study from the Rutgers University in New Brunswick linked drinks containing high fructose corn syrup to the development of diabetes, particularly in children. The laboratory study showed that high fructose corn syrup- sweetened drinks had high levels of compounds called reactive carbonyls. Reactive carbonyls have the potential to trigger cell and tissue damage that can cause diabetes or make diabetes worse. Reactive carbonyls are not found in table sugar, where fructose and glucose components are chemically stable. The researchers are looking at ways in which tea components added to soft drinks can limit the levels of reactive carbonyls.

So the deal is that Coke has "exclusive" contracts with schools and workplaces creating a guaranteed market of captive consumers -- it's like the old "company store" concept to increase profits by recycling back wages into company products. A worker or a student is isolated and surrounded by Coke products and these exclusive contracts can only be broken based on a "material" violation of the duty -- not a health violation.

Also Coke is documented to heinous murder and environmental destruction outside the U.S. but the U.S. contracts are considered not privy to international violations and Coke disclaims any obligation.

Slowly though the laws are being changed -- new ordinances are changing what type of "food" vendors are allowed nearby schools or in low income neighborhoods that normally lack fresh fruit and vegetables.

So it takes more than individual behavior - it's a structural problem. Another big issue is the marketing of bottle feeding for babies -- even including free samples in the mail. So then the bottle feeding and then fruit juices are covered by welfare again -- for people in poverty in the U.S.

Education helps but people are being not just exposed to HFCS all the time -- they are in environments where there are little alternatives -- either the alternatives cost too much or are not available.

So the laws do need to be changed and this requires mass action -- like the recent mass petition action to stop Coke "bottled" water in the national parks in the U.S.






More details on the Coca Cola Case documentary here

I have been suckin back coca cola since i was a kid, gotta love that sugar crisp

reply to post by FraternitasSaturni


Well let's here where you're from so we can tear your culture apart, too. Remember, the stereotypical American is not your typical American. Don't be an idiot by believing that America is what you see on your own T.V.

Excellent information. I've never heard anyone say that good health is 80% diet and 20% exercise, but I find it to be a refreshing claim.
With the passing of the new year my roommates have all latched on to the notion of 'getting in shape' and I applaud their efforts, but I find it frustrating that they so narrowly define health. Basically, you ONLY get in shape by doing MORE exercise and by eating LESS sugar/fat. These assumptions represent a (justifiably) minimal understanding of the roles that FOOD, LIFESTYLE, GENETICS, and ENVIRONMENT play in our health. Instead, it is much easier to be sold on joining a gym or buying protein powder or eating at Subway instead of McDonald's (Bravo).
I'm probably just too much of a cynic, but I'd like to offer up a dietary rule for your consideration:
A diet that requires you to think MORE about WHAT you're going to eat is typically better than one that requires you to think LESS