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Re:Sticker shock over Seattle's new sugary drink tax by smoyer on Tuesday January 09, 2018 @06:36AM (#16105340)
I broadly agree that we americans consume too much sugar but I'm worried that many will find drinking artificial sweeteners as detrimental as I have. Somewhere I have a link to a source article with references to the study behind this article but alas, I'm not finding it in my Pinboard - https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/01/....

What about all our other over-sweetened junk foods? What about all our fried snack-foods?

Re:Sticker shock over Seattle's new sugary drink tax by froindt on Tuesday January 09, 2018 @07:01AM (#16105492)
I've posted this before, but I'd like to bring it up again for those who are unaware.

--

As a general note, the validity of claims from Mercola should be taken with a large grain of salt. He publicly holds a number of frankly dangerous opinions which he bestows upon anyone who reads his website, and has made many millions of dollars from such claims and tactics.

Among other things:

* Questioning whether HIV is the cause of AIDS, claiming manifestations of AIDS (including opportunistic infections and death) may be the result of "psychological stress" brought on by the belief that HIV is harmful.

* Claims that microwaving food alters its chemistry, despite consensus that microwaving food does not adversely affect nutrient content compared to conventionally prepared food.

* Claiming cancer risks arise from mobile phone radiation, which is pseudoscientific.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Mercola

Re:Sticker shock over Seattle's new sugary drink tax by dawhizkid on Tuesday January 09, 2018 @07:59AM (#16105811)
Isn't diet soda consumption also declining in favor of seltzer water (i.e. La Croix?). I thought the reason why La Croix has exploded over the past 2 years or so is because canned carbonated water is the best no calorie/no artificial sweetened alternative to soda.
Re:Sticker shock over Seattle's new sugary drink tax by JeanMarcS on Tuesday January 09, 2018 @08:38AM (#16106009)
Probably unrelated, but I spent 2 weeks in US early December and had trouble finding a tasty sparkling water (most tasted awful) until I randomly found LaCroix and really liked it.

At home I’m using a soda stream machine to sparkle my water (mostly tap water), and I found in LaCroix the equivalent of what I drink mostly.

So I think if it exploded as you say, the taste is involved.

My 2 cents.

Re:Sticker shock over Seattle's new sugary drink tax by Keverw on Tuesday January 09, 2018 @06:37AM (#16105342)
Good point. At least sugar is natural instead of a bunch of man made chemicals.
Re:Sticker shock over Seattle's new sugary drink tax by icebraining on Tuesday January 09, 2018 @06:57AM (#16105464)
The sugar used in drinks - especially in the US - is far from natural. There's no HFCS in nature.
Re:Sticker shock over Seattle's new sugary drink tax by calvano915 on Tuesday January 09, 2018 @05:36PM (#16110811)
HFCS is chemically identical to naturally occurring fructose and glucose (high concentration of simple sugars). Not advocating to consume it, but the possible harms of consumption have to do with simple sugar metabolism, and its consequences, and not the origins of the substance.
Re:Sticker shock over Seattle's new sugary drink tax by Keverw on Tuesday January 09, 2018 @07:05AM (#16105509)
Yep. I would prefer if they went with just regular cane sugar instead but I know some drinks do have a version with that now.
Re:Sticker shock over Seattle's new sugary drink tax by senectus1 on Tuesday January 09, 2018 @08:19PM (#16111805)
Australia overwhelmingly uses cane sugar, but we still have plenty of obesity.

I think its less to do with the type of sugar consumed... and more about how much we consume.

Re:Sticker shock over Seattle's new sugary drink tax by drchickensalad on Tuesday January 09, 2018 @06:51AM (#16105423)
Soft drinks are very refined sugar. Quite different from natural.

Also implying natural is better.

Re:Sticker shock over Seattle's new sugary drink tax by baq on Tuesday January 09, 2018 @06:52AM (#16105431)
'natural' usually comes with fiber, which makes it's digestion completely different.
Re:Sticker shock over Seattle's new sugary drink tax by SAI_Peregrinus on Tuesday January 09, 2018 @10:25AM (#16106773)
Refined sugar (either HFCS or crystallized cane) doesn't come with fiber.