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The government has meddled in many ways: Fat is bad for you. Cholesterol in food is bad for you. Eggs are bad for you. Oats are good for you. No eggs are not so

by pkaye 11y ago

The government has meddled in many ways: Fat is bad for you. Cholesterol in food is bad for you. Eggs are bad for you. Oats are good for you. No eggs are not so bad. The benefits of oats are not that great. Butter is bad for you. Here eat some vegetable oil and margarine instead. Transfats are okay for you. Oops cholesterol in food has no impact on blood cholesterol. Transfats are very bad for you (sorry about that.) Now we know margarine is worse than butter. But really we don't know which fats are bad for you. Or are carbs worse than fats? Who knows... Really the government doesn't know enough about nutritional science. Neither do the scientists it seems. Nor can we trust the companies. Not sure who to trust.

Joof 11y ago
And yet we can probably agree on a few things. Calorie heavy softdrinks with zero nutrients are probably one of the most unhealthy things, but incredibly beneficial to resturaunts due to high markup, long storage times, easy transport and so on. Ordering water when you're out (in America) is often viewed as being cheap. I just prefer water, and not bottled water (it's bad for the environment). Even many waiters may treat you worse for ordering water (since they are paid by meal cost / commission). Our social norms suck.
- pkaye 11y ago
  Sure softdrinks can be bad in excess. However the substitutes like fruit juice are no better (no pulp, sometimes more sugar added) and then there are things like tea and coffee to which people add excess sugar (hello Starbucks) to make it palatable. So it is not just softdrinks that are bad but a wide assortment of drinks with excess sugar.
  - Joof 11y ago
    Softdrinks and other calory-dense drinks with zero nutrients are bad in excess in the way that eating pure sugar is bad in excess. It becomes an excess very quickly. A small slice of chocolate cake contains more nutrition than a soda, but is more likely to be considered a dessert or unusual treat. Part of the problem is that it becomes a standard part of many meals.

by pkaye 11y ago

Joof 11y ago

And yet we can probably agree on a few things. Calorie heavy softdrinks with zero nutrients are probably one of the most unhealthy things, but incredibly beneficial to resturaunts due to high markup, long storage times, easy transport and so on. Ordering water when you're out (in America) is often viewed as being cheap. I just prefer water, and not bottled water (it's bad for the environment). Even many waiters may treat you worse for ordering water (since they are paid by meal cost / commission). Our social norms suck.

pkaye 11y ago
Sure softdrinks can be bad in excess. However the substitutes like fruit juice are no better (no pulp, sometimes more sugar added) and then there are things like tea and coffee to which people add excess sugar (hello Starbucks) to make it palatable. So it is not just softdrinks that are bad but a wide assortment of drinks with excess sugar.
- Joof 11y ago
  Softdrinks and other calory-dense drinks with zero nutrients are bad in excess in the way that eating pure sugar is bad in excess. It becomes an excess very quickly. A small slice of chocolate cake contains more nutrition than a soda, but is more likely to be considered a dessert or unusual treat. Part of the problem is that it becomes a standard part of many meals.