ANTI-SODA

[Satya]

I am devoutly anti-soda. I have a clear bias against sugar-laden drinks. So when New York came out with this PSA, it brought a smile to my face.

Check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F4t8zL6F0c

[Peterlover14]

That is disgusting! I agree, I don't like soda either.

But do you really need to show that to everyone?

[Satya]

Until people understand what they're doing to themselves, yes.

[Jayelle]

Wow. That was disgusting and effective.

and it's Anti-Pop.

[Satya]

Are you sure you don't mean Anti-Cola? Or perhaps Anti-Coke?

[Sonikku13]

There are 5.37 million fans of Coca-Cola on Facebook. I'm sure they'd be annoyed if there was a soda ban.

[neo-dragon]

What's pop compared to alcohol or cigarettes?

[Gravity Defier]

I saw this when it first came out, months ago at the very least; it didn't work on me then and it doesn't really work on me now. I drink soda whenever I eat out, so maybe once a month, and will have one at home maybe twice a month. No big deal.

[neo-dragon]

I indulge in maybe two a week. I'll let you know when I start packing on the pounds.

[Sonikku13]

I'm sure 168 fluid ounces of soda a week won't cause any problems.

[powerfulcheese04]

PET scan research has shown that the graphic anti-smoking ads actually STIMULATE the craving centers in the brain... so... i doubt this is particularly effective.


Also, I <3 soda. Diet Dr Pepper is practically my lifeblood. I get caffeine withdrawal migraines without it.

[Caspian]

Considering the vast amounts of sugar in soda, particularly since it is high-fructose corn syrup, which your body isn't able to process properly, not to mention the amount of water used to make cola that might otherwise be drunk as ... well, water, I'm going to have to say that it's fairly clear that cola really is bad for you and for the world, even 168 oz a week.

Also, neo-dragon, the fact that cigarettes and alcohol are worse is irrelevant. Cigarettes bad. Cola ... also bad.

People do stuff that's bad for them, and that's their prerogative, but don't fool yourself into thinking that it's not actually bad for you.

Also, that ad was seriously gross.

[neo-dragon]

Also, neo-dragon, the fact that cigarettes and alcohol are worse is irrelevant. Cigarettes bad. Cola ... also bad.

People do stuff that's bad for them, and that's their prerogative, but don't fool yourself into thinking that it's not actually bad for you.

Never said it wasn't.

But this is the same Satya who believes that it's worse than pointless to devote resources to animal welfare while there are serious human problems in the world. By his logic he should really be spending his energy advocating against much more serious health threats.

As for my own personal well being, I think that the effects of a couple of pops a week are negligible. I don't smoke, do drugs, drink alcohol or even coffee. I feel no guilt in allowing myself one minor indulgence. (Okay, two if you count occasional fast food).

[Wil]

Ah man, let me tell you how awesome it is not being addicted to any drugs, alcohol, or caffeine:

SUPER AWESOME!

Seriously though. How can you caffeine addicts live like that, being so utterly dependent on a substance? Talk about being tied down. It must be TERRIBLE having to ensure that you get caffeine every day lest your body turn on you with lethargy and migraines. I mean, you know what I do in the morning? I wake up, yawn, pop right out of bed, eat a delicious, small breakfast and spend the next 16 hours feeling awesome while drinking my 64 through 128 ounces of only water every day.

Soda is bad for you in the good-ole US of A. In Mexico, Europe, and (maybe) Canada, it is less bad for you (because they actually use sugar as opposed to HFCS), but still not good. Diet soda is about a thousand times worse than regular soda. If Soda is the earthquake in Chile, then diet soda is the earthquake in Haiti. I pity all the people that drink diet soda, thinking it better for them, when in fact they are unknowingly speeding up the onset or even further advancing their type 2 diabetes as well as doing who knows what else to their body.

I think anyone who drinks any significant amount of soda (more than one every FEW MONTHS) is silly (and as we all know, I use silly as code for stupid).

[Petra456]

I dunno, that add did nothing for me (except ya know, make me not want to drink a can of fat)...

I love Dr. Pepper. I go though phases where I won't drink any for about a week, then i'll have one almost every day for who knows how long. I don't feel like I need one, but I do really like the taste. I don't even do it for the caffeine (doesn't effect my mood or energy, coffee doesn't either).

I do however prefer milk. Mmm milk.

[Graff^]

I don't really love soda. I mean I usually drink water or milk. Occasoinly(sp) if I go out to eat I'll order some root beer, but usually I just drink water.

[Satya]

Ah man, let me tell you how awesome it is not being addicted to any drugs, alcohol, or caffeine:

SUPER AWESOME!

SO awesome.

Caspian's right about the why. Neo-dragon misses the point about why it's important. Oh, there are more serious health concerns? No, there aren't - I'm pretty sure heart-disease and other cardiovascular disorders are one of the biggest killers of people in the developed world. Obesity = a leading cause. Consumption of ridiculously bad foods/drinks = a leading cause of obesity. Attacking any part of that chain of causality is a step in the right direction. Yes, let's also devote more resources to cancer research and other worthwhile human health issues. Yes, let's also devote more resources to lowering pollution and curbing human environmental impact. But let's also keep focus on reinforcing healthy life habits. No one is going to force you to eat right - but I can't say that I think that the rest of society should be burdened with caring for you if you do something that screws yourself up. Jumped off a building trying to look like a cool free-runner? Why do I have to pay for your broken face? Ate yourself into a coronary? Why do I have to pay for your triple-bypass? Drank yourself into liver failure? You should get the picture by now. But knowing you... probably not.

[Eddie Pinz]

Jumped off a building trying to look like a cool free-runner? Why do I have to pay for your broken face? Ate yourself into a coronary? Why do I have to pay for your triple-bypass? Drank yourself into liver failure?

Because you're a nice guy. I appreciate it. Thanks Satya.

[Jebus]

I drink large amounts of sugar drinks on the weekends because they mix well with alcohols.

I am glad people who do not do this feel good about themselves. I do not intend to change until I start displaying any real signs of becoming a fatty fat fat.

(Note: I love water though, and it is my preferred drink for most the week. I drink bottled water often, and I don't care what you environment freaks think about it.)

[CezeN]

As Jebus pretty much said, Satya, isn't it okay to drink let's just say 3 cups of soda a day, if you balance it out with plenty of water?

inb4itdependsonhowmuchplentyis

[Luet]

When Pepsi comes out with the limited edition Throwback Pepsi (made with real sugar instead of HFCS) once or twice a year, I stock up on lots of boxes of it because I feel it's marginally better. That way, when I do have a craving for soda once or twice a week I have a can of that. My husband, otoh, has the equivalent of 2-3 cans of regular HFCS soda day and I wish I could get him to cut back.

[Mich]

But high fructose corn syrup is okay in moderation! After all, it's made from corn, has the same calories as sugar, and tastes just as good!

[Luet]

I don't even have to click on your link, I'm sure it's one of those horrid commercials promoting HFCS by the corn council or whatever. Gah, I hate them so much.

[Sonikku13]

HFCS 55 tastes like table sugar. Whats wrong with HFCS? It's just fructose and glucose!

[Satya]

Why would anyone want to drink sugar-water?

[jotabe]

Isn't it what bikers and trekkers drink?

[Graff^]

I actually enjoy sugar water. Use the sugar usually reserved for
coffee and put 3-4 spoonfulls in your glass of water. Mix throughly and enjoy!

[Mich]

Why would anyone want to drink sugar-water?

I can think of at least one reason...

[Sonikku13]

After a nice, long day of exercise, the first thing I can grab is some Dr. Pepper!

Also, if you have sucrase deficiency, then you can't break down sucrose, which means HFCS 55 is great for those people with sucrose intolerance.

Let me add that sucrose may cause faster tooth decay than HFCS. However, take it with a grain of salt as there are no citations of scientific studies for it.

HFCS is lower on the glycemic index than table sugar. This means that HFCS releases it's carbohydrates to the blood stream slower than table sugar.

[Wil]

HFCS is lower on the glycemic index than table sugar. This means that HFCS releases it's carbohydrates to the blood stream slower than table sugar.

Which matters not because:

which your body isn't able to process properly

HFCS is s*** for you. Deal with it.

After a nice, long day of exercise, the first thing I [do is negate it all by grabbing] some Dr. Pepper!

Fix'd.

[Sonikku13]

And cane sugar is bad for you too. It's just the fact that HFCS has a stigma.

[human.]

I read somewhere that athletes (professionals or the equivalent) are really the only people in general who can process HFCS really well because of the large amount of exercise they get. Nearly everyone else isn't active enough to do so.

[locke]

I think sugar saps the ability of my brain to function.

Like at the coffee shop, drink a coffee and blast my way through the sudoku and the crossword in about twenty five minutes.

Drink a coffee and eat a brownie and not solve either and only get them 25% done spending most of the time frustrated.

Sugar or HFCS, same difference in making Adam's brain take a vacation.

Though I still want to try the retro pepsi.

[jotabe]

I think sugar saps the ability of my brain to function.

I don't know the specific metabolization of sugar, but that seems to be counterintuitive, because the brain is a simple sugars junkie. Brain cells can't process fat or proteins for energy, not even slightly complex sugars like lactose or sucrose (they have to be broken down first).

Maybe the brownie (which should have a fair amount of fat, i think, that's why they taste slightly acidic) slows down the caffeine effect?

[Young Val]

I was a HUGE caffeine fiend, particularly when I was a smoker. I grew up on soda and it was pretty much my lifeblood. I admit freely I never, ever, EVER drank water and still struggle to do so.

Several months after I quit smoking in 2006 (still have never had a cigarette since the day I quit cold turkey, and I'm definitely way beyond temptation now. Pretty much just ashamed of my former habit, although I still love to write smoking scenes in my fiction) I decided to quit caffeine temporarily. I was drinking upwards of three full pots of coffee and 5-6 bottles of soda a day and I felt like HELL. (I was also an insomniac and--as older members will undoubtedly remember--deeply depressed and generally just a total mess, so there was a lot to feel like hell about, but I was pretty sure the shaking and the feeling that my blood had congealed in my veins was due to the excess caffeine).

So I quit caffeine cold turkey and had a far worse time with it than I ever did with cigarettes. Withdrawal symptoms I couldn't even believe. Headaches, nausea, the works. And it lasted for over a week! I went two straight months caffeine free (mostly because the withdrawal was so horrific that I was afraid to have to go through it all again) but gradually reintroduced coffee and soda at a more sane consumption rate.

As I became more interested in the wheres and whys and hows of my food, I eventually joined the anti-corn syrup cult ( ) albeit reluctantly. It took a LOT to convince me. David was on board way before I was. Now we are almost 100% processed-food-free. Which is a lot of work, actually. But it's made easier by our passion for cooking.

ANYWAY. Now I'm rambling.

I almost never drink soda anymore unless it's made with cane sugar. There's an awesome company, Goose Island, that makes a line of sodas with cane sugar, and they are DELICIOUS. We don't get them regularly, but every now and then we'll splurge.

I don't feel superior because of my eating and drinking habits. In fact, a lot of times I miss the things I used to love because I "can't" have them anymore. I try to get creative and make from scratch versions of processed foods I used to love (I made Ring Dings for my dad's birthday) but that can be a lot of work.