4 ms·

Cause and effect is not the only axis you need to look at. Lots of things mentioned on this list happen gradually and can be counteracted; not so with COVID whe

Cause and effect is not the only axis you need to look at. Lots of things mentioned on this list happen gradually and can be counteracted; not so with COVID where you go from (relatively) healthy to dead within a month (not even including Long COVID here)

carlmr 6y ago
The "can be counteracted" part is the one I doubt. Of course if people were perfectly rational they just wouldn't consume sugar, but sugar is addictive and the human psychology doesn't have a simple off switch. If it can be counteracted, it's only with measures that don't depend on individual choice. Also for covid apart from old age the main risk is with all the same cardiovascular issues that sugar is a a causative agent for, so by decreasing sugar consumption we could probably lower covid deaths as well. Maybe a tax on sugar like on cigarettes. One of the main reasons for our high sugar consumption is the food industriy's reliance on sugar to replace taste from proper ingredients. If sugar is more expensive than using quality ingredients the food industry would have a profit motive to move away from it. On the private consumption side, I bought my 1kg of sugar about 2 years ago. If it costs 50€ to buy instead of 50 cents, I could still afford my birthday cake, but would be nudged to consume less.
- wuwuno 6y ago
  It isn't just sugar, it's all the simple carbs that get turned into sugar, such as breads, pasta, rice, cereals, potato chips, popcorn, milk, rice milk, etc once digested. Whole grain bread and pasta's don't have enough fiber to really change their glycemic index, even whole grain bread has a worse glycemic index than Coke. It's no wonder that they expect that 60% of all Americans will be obese by 2030. Insulin, it's a helluva of thing.
  - carlmr 6y ago
    Pasta, even the normal kind has a relatively low glycemic index, white rice is somewhat in the middle. White bread is really the killer here.

carlmr 6y ago

The "can be counteracted" part is the one I doubt. Of course if people were perfectly rational they just wouldn't consume sugar, but sugar is addictive and the human psychology doesn't have a simple off switch. If it can be counteracted, it's only with measures that don't depend on individual choice. Also for covid apart from old age the main risk is with all the same cardiovascular issues that sugar is a a causative agent for, so by decreasing sugar consumption we could probably lower covid deaths as well. Maybe a tax on sugar like on cigarettes. One of the main reasons for our high sugar consumption is the food industriy's reliance on sugar to replace taste from proper ingredients. If sugar is more expensive than using quality ingredients the food industry would have a profit motive to move away from it. On the private consumption side, I bought my 1kg of sugar about 2 years ago. If it costs 50€ to buy instead of 50 cents, I could still afford my birthday cake, but would be nudged to consume less.

wuwuno 6y ago
It isn't just sugar, it's all the simple carbs that get turned into sugar, such as breads, pasta, rice, cereals, potato chips, popcorn, milk, rice milk, etc once digested. Whole grain bread and pasta's don't have enough fiber to really change their glycemic index, even whole grain bread has a worse glycemic index than Coke. It's no wonder that they expect that 60% of all Americans will be obese by 2030. Insulin, it's a helluva of thing.
- carlmr 6y ago
  Pasta, even the normal kind has a relatively low glycemic index, white rice is somewhat in the middle. White bread is really the killer here.