ExRx.net

Well, I guess it takes a legislative hearing to figure this out. I don't know how long that will take, or how much it will cost. Will this just determine if sugar causes obesity in California? Will each state's legislature need to hold it's own hearing? Will the states need to finish with all of this before the US congress can get around to having it's own hearing?

Then I wonder what Calif is going to do about it. Ban Coke? Tax it? Spend 2 million bucks on a public-awareness campaign?

I propose that vending machines have a built-in scale. Someone would have to create a laser system, or photo cells or something to measure the height. If you were above a certain body-mass index, the machine won't dispense pop, but would issue a stern lecture on obesity, do doubt telling you to go on a low fat diet, but leaving you on your own to figure out how to be on low fat and still avoid carbs.

Or we could have government-issued ID cards, and only those certified as non-obese by government-approved doctors (gee, I'd love to be one of these!) would be eligible to buy pop.

I'm on a roll here. We'd have to have special obesity police to patrol, and enforce the no-pop laws. They'd go undercover into restaurants. They could sneak into the homes of the obese posing as meter-readers, but check the fridge for forbidden beverages.

Of course, we'd have to restrict the sale of sugar, since people could be making Kool-Aid with it. Hmmmm. That'll be tougher.

"If we are serious about curbing the obesity epidemic, we have to start with the biggest culprit," That culprit is ourselves.

They just make the drinks they dont force anyone to drink them. Most people know soft drinks are bad and continue to drink them.

It's just like smoking, everyone knows the dangers of ciggarettes and if they still choose to smoke, they should have that right.

lol sometimes I just want to relax, drink coke and eat a tub of ice-cream while watching southpark. AND NO ONE CAN TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME LOL BLAHHH

It wasn't until a couple years ago that I started doing research and seeing how problematic fruit juice and skim milk are. I don't think I've ever seen anything from the mainstream media on that. The proposed soda/juice tax is the first (little) coverage.

this is so stupid, sugar doesnt cause obesity by itslelf, so many factors lead to obesity, my friends and I love sugar we dont even cut it out of our diets when were in season. One of my friends eats a bad of peach rings right after he lifts and another bag after he changes but hes skinny as hell, people who eat a lot of sugar should be exercinsing to burn it off. Any food can make you fat if you eat it in excess and dont burn it off.

The world is filled with all kinds of people, some carb tolerant, some not. If you have fat around your waist, I expect you are not carb tolerant and you need to watch your sugar. No, sugar doesn't make you fat by itself but it is probably the single biggest factor. The idea that weight control is merely an calorie in/calorie out problem is clearly wrong. It's not how much you take it, it's what your body does with it. For many people, you have to manage your hormonal response to food. You can't judge everyone on the grounds that some people can eat anything and not gain weight.

Sugar isnt the biggest cause of obesity its fast food think about it why are Americans the fattest country in the world? because we have fast food restaurants everywhere.......... Its not just the people who eat it every day... It's also the people who eat it once a week. It has so much preservatives in it that it actually slows down ur metabolism for a few days. Take mcdonalds that food has so much preserves in it that it can last months if it was left out in the open,

sorry for spelling and grammar errors Im in a rush lol

Some people can eat a lot of carbs and not see bad side effects. Some can eat a moderate amount and be ok (I consider myself in this category). Some have to eat low carbs. A lot lean towards the latter and don't even realize it because of mainstream medical authorities are telling them to eat plenty of carbs.

But most people aren't listening and are eating a lot of all three protein, fat, and carbs. I think there are three dietary keys to weight loss that get lost in the mix-

1. Low carb. This is the obvious take of most of this board. Easiest to do, simply because you don't have to limit your caloric intake as much as the other two plans. But its actually hard to do in the modern world, simply because it severely limits your options if you're going out to the eat or with friends, simply because this is the least popular option.

2. A balance of all three- The middle of the road, which is good for people who have a moderate amount of discipline, simply because you can still enjoy all three as long as you don't go overboard. Have to watch your caloric intake moreso than option 1.

3. Low fat- The most popular, and most doomed to fail. It can be done though, and not as difficult as most people think. You have to watch your caloric intake more, eat low fat, and eat a lot of lean protein like fish and chicken with a moderate amount of good carbs. The problem with the outlook is most go for a high carb and low fat AND moderately low protein with it (a bunch of rice and pasta dishes), which is just stupid.

I do not believe it possible to loose weight without eating a moderate amount of protein on any diet, unless you simply just eat like 1000 cals a day, which isn't sustainable to most. So protein is really the key in the end. But my conclusions are purely anecdotal.



I sorta lump sugar and white bread in the same category of badness...and this is pretty much what fast food serves- items which are all just a gigantic mess of protein fat and carbs or incredibly high carb dishes. So your comparison of fast food is like saying its not cigarettes that cause cancer its the tar and other random ingredients in them...the fast food that is making our country fat is making it fat because of the high carb content.

Rucifer, Thanks for that. Like you, I group sugar and refined grains together as you body doesn't differentiate. It's all sugar.

TimetGrow, there are a lot of factors, fast food, donuts, pop, breakfast cereal, etc. Another is the constant advertising of this harmful stuff. It's impossible to have a social life without having a sandwich and a sweet when you really want a piece of beef jerky. Eating like a cave man is not conducive to polite society. All that said, it's high time that official bodies are coming to realize that sugar is not a benign substance.

Obviously fast food is bad - it's all bleached flour and potatoes, and the meal deal comes with a liter of carbonated sugar.

a person is more likely to get fatter eating 1 mcdonald per week compared to drinking 2 cans of soda or more a week

That's a non-argument. The average drink at MacDonalds is about the same as 2 cans of pop.

true true but if you jsut get burger and fries ur still getting messed up, put it this way, my friend wanted to gain 11 pounds in 1 month so he can play a bigger line man for football and he started having a big mac as a snack before 7th period and right after practice , he only gained about 6 pounds in a month but his body got messed up his stomach was bulgier, his arms jiggled even more and he lost a lot of his strength cause he was able to dead lift 405 for 2 reps and after he started the diet he was down to doing 385 for barely 1 rep, his stamina suffered greatly as well, he got off that diet tho and right after he did, he was back in track

this is a true story i did not stretch any of the details

You are totally missing the point. But anyway, just to play along- hostess and little debbie cup cakes and twinkies would put on weight faster than mcdonalds. Eat a box of each every day for a month and see what happens. So they are responsible then for the obesity epidemic, not mcdonalds right.

You're actually comparing apples to apples. Junk food is junk food, whether its mcdonalds or soda (which mcdonalds contains soda so that's not really the point). You have to blame all junk food, not just one provider of it. You could possibly make a bigger case by saying fast food started the junk food craze, but then again, I am only 26 and really have no knowledge of what the first junk food was.

TimetoGrow, you can also loose weight just eating fast food.

If you eat nothing but double bigmac's withought the bun in the middle and no drink and no fries, you'll most likely loose weight.

Fast food is not the problem, it's ignorance. People are ignorant of what is actually healthy.