4 ms·

I'm a skeptic. But this article rings way too much like what the tobacco industry published back in the 50s and 60s. And what climate change deniers published m

by alecco 12y ago

I'm a skeptic. But this article rings way too much like what the tobacco industry published back in the 50s and 60s. And what climate change deniers published more openly in recent times. Ask any dietician, in particular pediatrics. Ask any obesity researcher. They are super clear on what's going on with the current obesity epidemic. And they squarely blame soft drinks and processed foods with their multibillion dollar advertising budgets. Confusion and distraction. That's what trillion-dollar industries do when they are cornered. Remember, many contrarian science authors were later exposed as shills. Like Malcolm Gladwell. Also, it might not be a matter of influence. Contrarian articles get a lot more viewers by people in denial, guilt-shifting and all. So, I'm very skeptical to this skeptical piece. But it's worth reading.

WBrentWilliams 12y ago
You are quite correct to be skeptical. See my reply below. That said, a single pattern noticed is only correlation. It is far better to ask three questions: What do we know? How do we know it? What does the shape of what we don't know look like? Hence my call for a match on the wholism side to the reductionist methods on weight management.
Pxtl 12y ago
I work in public health research and the blame on soft-drinks is not unanimous. Soft drinks are pointed-at because they're the simplest target. Dropping soft-drinks is not a life-shatteringly hard change to make, and it's effective. But at the same time, other things are being assessed for their contribution. Suburban sprawl, the dual-income household, and the rise of more sedentary hobbies are all being examined. Now, soft drinks are still a cause for the modern obesity epidemic, just not the cause. There are many other shifts in modern lifestyles that are also contributing. edit: clarification. Also, caveat: I'm IT in public health, not a researcher.
- AJ007 12y ago
  Anything that spikes blood sugar is going to cause problems because the individual is stuck riding a sugar high and attempting to prevent or get out of the following crash. This is a daily, hour to hour struggle. Describing it as anything less would be a disservice. Trying to not eat after a blood sugar crash is as difficult as a male with peak testosterone passing up sex. Dropping soft drinks, if you substitute with water/tea/coffee, will be a life altering change. I did it, dropped 10 pounds within a month, never gained it back, (already fairly thin at that point) and stopped getting cavities. Over the following years it made it so much easier to convert my diet from pizza/frozen foods to fresh vegetables and unprocessed meat. I drink minimal alcohol, but for those individuals who drink heavily giving up soft drinks may not prove to have much or any impact. There are food products that should be consumed rarely -- holidays, and humans are consuming them every day. The behavior goes from every day to perhaps 50% of the food consumed is stuff that any registered dietician will say isn't very healthy for you. Just sit in a grocery store and watch what morbidly obese people purchase verse someone who is thin and fit (and not a drug addict.) Night and day. The science has come a really long way since I was a child in only the 1990s. We believed the only healthy diets were extremely low fat. Get rid of fat whenever possible, exercise, and you will be very healthy. No on credible believes that anymore. The problem now is largely behavior modification methods. Perhaps a success with behavior modification will trigger challenges pivoting the US food supply off corn/soy/wheat production but that is solvable.
  - Pxtl 12y ago
    Sorry, what I meant by life-altering is that it doesn't require you to completely rearrange your life like other weight-loss strategies. I agree it can have great impact. Soft drinks are obviously the lowest-hanging-fruit, but they're not the only one.
  - a8da6b0c91d 12y ago
    Ugh, please knock it off with the taubsian glycemic misinformation. Nobody with a clue buys into this carbs and insulin story. The 90s science hasn't changed and is right as far as obesity goes. Low fat is a good way to lean out. The human body is very inefficient at lipogensis and so carbohydrates in isolation tend not to contribute to body fat gain. All stored fat is simply swallowed fat.
  - judk 12y ago
    What's wrong with soy, as a health concern? I have only heard monoculture GMO and industrial land mismanagement concerns
- alecco 12y ago
  Really? I read a lot about diabetes since several people in my family suffer it. It seems quite unanimous on most journals. I'd love to see links to independent research stating sugary soft drinks are not related.
  - Pxtl 12y ago
    I never said that soft drinks aren't a cause for the modern obesity epidemic, just not the cause. They're noteworthy, though, because cutting out soft-drinks is incredibly straightforward and simple and effective.
- jqm 12y ago
  Anecdotal... I have two co-workers who are extremely overweight. I don't care, nor do I judge. I do however scratch my head when they both come in with 44 ounce full sugar sodas at least once, and sometimes twice a day. I couldn't drink one of those even once without my body feeling like absolute poop. I guess I'm just kind of amazed at their fortitude.

by alecco 12y ago

WBrentWilliams 12y ago

You are quite correct to be skeptical. See my reply below. That said, a single pattern noticed is only correlation. It is far better to ask three questions: What do we know? How do we know it? What does the shape of what we don't know look like? Hence my call for a match on the wholism side to the reductionist methods on weight management.

Pxtl 12y ago

I work in public health research and the blame on soft-drinks is not unanimous. Soft drinks are pointed-at because they're the simplest target. Dropping soft-drinks is not a life-shatteringly hard change to make, and it's effective. But at the same time, other things are being assessed for their contribution. Suburban sprawl, the dual-income household, and the rise of more sedentary hobbies are all being examined. Now, soft drinks are still a cause for the modern obesity epidemic, just not the cause. There are many other shifts in modern lifestyles that are also contributing. edit: clarification. Also, caveat: I'm IT in public health, not a researcher.

AJ007 12y ago
Anything that spikes blood sugar is going to cause problems because the individual is stuck riding a sugar high and attempting to prevent or get out of the following crash. This is a daily, hour to hour struggle. Describing it as anything less would be a disservice. Trying to not eat after a blood sugar crash is as difficult as a male with peak testosterone passing up sex. Dropping soft drinks, if you substitute with water/tea/coffee, will be a life altering change. I did it, dropped 10 pounds within a month, never gained it back, (already fairly thin at that point) and stopped getting cavities. Over the following years it made it so much easier to convert my diet from pizza/frozen foods to fresh vegetables and unprocessed meat. I drink minimal alcohol, but for those individuals who drink heavily giving up soft drinks may not prove to have much or any impact. There are food products that should be consumed rarely -- holidays, and humans are consuming them every day. The behavior goes from every day to perhaps 50% of the food consumed is stuff that any registered dietician will say isn't very healthy for you. Just sit in a grocery store and watch what morbidly obese people purchase verse someone who is thin and fit (and not a drug addict.) Night and day. The science has come a really long way since I was a child in only the 1990s. We believed the only healthy diets were extremely low fat. Get rid of fat whenever possible, exercise, and you will be very healthy. No on credible believes that anymore. The problem now is largely behavior modification methods. Perhaps a success with behavior modification will trigger challenges pivoting the US food supply off corn/soy/wheat production but that is solvable.
- Pxtl 12y ago
  Sorry, what I meant by life-altering is that it doesn't require you to completely rearrange your life like other weight-loss strategies. I agree it can have great impact. Soft drinks are obviously the lowest-hanging-fruit, but they're not the only one.
- a8da6b0c91d 12y ago
  Ugh, please knock it off with the taubsian glycemic misinformation. Nobody with a clue buys into this carbs and insulin story. The 90s science hasn't changed and is right as far as obesity goes. Low fat is a good way to lean out. The human body is very inefficient at lipogensis and so carbohydrates in isolation tend not to contribute to body fat gain. All stored fat is simply swallowed fat.
- judk 12y ago
  What's wrong with soy, as a health concern? I have only heard monoculture GMO and industrial land mismanagement concerns
alecco 12y ago
Really? I read a lot about diabetes since several people in my family suffer it. It seems quite unanimous on most journals. I'd love to see links to independent research stating sugary soft drinks are not related.
- Pxtl 12y ago
  I never said that soft drinks aren't a cause for the modern obesity epidemic, just not the cause. They're noteworthy, though, because cutting out soft-drinks is incredibly straightforward and simple and effective.
jqm 12y ago
Anecdotal... I have two co-workers who are extremely overweight. I don't care, nor do I judge. I do however scratch my head when they both come in with 44 ounce full sugar sodas at least once, and sometimes twice a day. I couldn't drink one of those even once without my body feeling like absolute poop. I guess I'm just kind of amazed at their fortitude.