The Great Sugar Debate

Great article!

So true about how American's health problems can be directly traced to their diet-particular the comical over consumption of sugar and meat.

When you look at other countries in the world, their lack of heart disease, (and other preventable lifestyle maladies) is directly related to a great reduction compared to us in meat, dairy, and sugar consumption.. Of course the portions sizes aren't helping us either, which are about twice as big as the were even 20 years ago..

But regarding free will, if people actually still know how bad this kind of stuff is and still choose to do it, (kind of like smoking cigarettes) then it is pretty sad, but it is an individual choice, and should stay that way in my opinion. I think people have to at some point think for themselves, even if they make bad decisions-sometimes that is the only way to learn.

Poor eating and cigarette smoking are very similar in that they are both preventable choices an individual makes that greatly reduce the quality of life, but the difference with those is that you can't get second hand diabetes from sitting next to someone eating a Snickers bar..

So I am not sure how sugar intake could be regulating without infringing in some way on individual rights, but I am for all taxing soda, and other nutritionally void foods of the same ilk, and making it so these cheaper, processed foods cost a lot more than they do now!

When I went to Norway, the cost of a beer was around 11.00 and a pack of cigarettes was about 8.00, and a can of soda was 4.00 and this was over 10 years ago. They don't have very many alcoholics and hardly anyone smokes over there. I am sure the same would hold true if they jacked up the prices on sugar. I don't think it would be bad to start regulating it in this manner AND educating at an early age.

I'm sorry I disagree with jackin up the price. People will buy the sugar no matter the cost. So what will they give up instaed, the healthy things, like fruit and veggies. If you significant lower the prices of "good" food and increas the cost of "bad" food, maybe. But is the big 'agro' companies going to give up their profits. NO! And you think goverment will step in and regulate them~ dreamers~.

People have the freedom to choice what lifestyle they want to live. If they want to eat that cookie and drink that soda, that is their choice.

I like living in a place where yes I may make some stupid choices in my lifestyle but as long as I am not harming others, then its my choice.

That's exactly the point, notme45.

When you choose to eat unhealthy food and avoid exercise, you do harm others. I, and many others like me, end up paying higher healthcare premiums because of the choices of others. Collectively, we all pay more when people are either unwilling to change their behaviors or are ignorant of what they should be doing.

Nothing happens in a vacuum...

When reading notme45's answer...I agree and disagree. Like Brian, I feel that people's lifestyle choices are harming others. These behaviors could be harming kids (if you have them), your co-workers, and the public at large.

But I agree that people should be making better choices on their own. And in that case, I think we need to focus on education when it comes to nutrition, exercise, and health. But not just the children need education...parents too. It's obvious that the children aren't at fault for the childhood obesity problem our country has.

I think we need to take a step back and teach people, like they do with alcohol and tobacco, how bad lifestyle choices equal poor health and other consequences.

Just my opinion though.

I do think people choices are their own but what about the companies that push increasingly high fructose proceeded food that has all natural nutrients stripped and needs to be enriched to still qualify as having any nutitional content? I don't think sugar on its own is toxic but I do think it is hidden in so many processed foods that most do not realise how much they are consuming and how addicted they are to the sugar rush for energy

As Shelly mentions, HFCS is endemic in so many products that we eat, it is hard to separate most processed food from it. The movement toward natural and organic food has made inroads into our diets, much of it through education. Lets face it, they can make plastic substances out of corn (Coca-Cola has a new "green" bottle). It is not a naturally occurring plant, but a mutation that no one is sure where it came from.

If we go down the road of regulating more things such as sugar, where does it stop? Big brother is already in too many of our lives. Fat causes heart disease, so we should ban that? No more meat? Where do we stop this intrusion and have a little more personal responsibility? It really is a much larger question that needs to be addressed before it is too late.

i totally disagree that government regulation is key to any thing.we all have the freedom to eat what we want,good or bad.i choose to eat healthy others choose not to.it is OUR choice,not that of the government.i do not need or want another entity deciding what is best for me or my family.
Education.not Legislation. hopefully, people will choose to do the good thing.but,they have the CHOICE not to as well.

I shudder to think what would happen if sugary food was taxed and regulated. For one thing, people buy cheap, unhealthy food because they can't afford to buy organic food. So if the unhealthy food is dramatically taxed, some people won't be able to eat! AND, since the reason organic food is so expensive is because it's expensive to make it organic in the first place, the price of organic food isn't going to decrease just because of a stupid tax! Those regulation goons should be making it easier for us to eat healthy, not hard for us to eat period!

Everybody on here seems to agree with the concept that education should be used as part of the way out of this situation. However, schools are teaching the new food plate and have a lot of programs in place to try and get kids active. The one thing schools don't have the money for is for healthy food. How many of your kids get a balanced non-processed meal at lunch time? The only way to truly make a change is for the government to step in and provide funding for healthier lunches in the schools. If we tell kids that they need to eat foods from different parts of the plate and then give them cheese sticks and cookies for lunch they don't get it's serious and the education is worthless.

I would agree with many people on here in stating that education is an answer but education needs the government to step in and show kids that they are willing to spend money to make them healthy and that eating well is worth the effort.

I'm with Grace. Unless there is funding, education has enough on it's plate. Put your money where your mouth is!