Michael-5 said:
Kasz216 said:
Nationmaster is a horrible site for government statistics.
The number one killer in Mexico? Diabetes.
http://www.voxxi.com/mexico-diabetes-obesity-epidemic/
The reason Europe uses Beat Sugar... (And mexico uses sugar by the way, hence the popularity of "Mexican Coke") is because they don't have crazy corn subsidies like the US does. Well that and a double whammy tax on sugar imports.
In the US it's cheaper to use HFC then it is Sugar. Everywhere else in the world it's cheaper to use real sugar. (Beat or Sugar Cane.)
HFC isn't banned in europe. There is a production quota... but this was done for economic... not health reasons.
It's also why we use inferior Corn based ethanol when Sugar Cane Ethanol is cheaper and cleaner burning.
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Yea, I realize that, I googled that real quick for verification. In the OP I used The World Factbook, it's a lot more accurate and stil Mexico is 7% below USA.
Yes you're right about HFC in Europe, it's not a band, a production quota, but it still forces people not to use it.
Anyway I agree with you, life the corn subsidy. I don't think we have one in Canada, so here we'd have to make regulations for HFC, but for USA I would do a bit of both.
Kasz216 said:
As for what i think about actual regulations and bans and such....
If the majority of society isn't responsible and is becoming obese....
People want to be obese.
That's just it. To pass laws to protect people from what they want is stupid... since what government is for is to make sure that people can pursue their goals without having to worry about others.
Force companies to list accurate health and calorie information sure... anything past that? No.
Oh... as for salt... Most modern studies actually tend to show salt isn't bad for you. Just the stuff it's on is bad for you. Or large increases of salt. If you have an otherwise healthy hight salt diet... you should be fine.
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I don't think people want to be obese. They might not want to be twigs, but some people like having a little meat on the bone. However obesity is defined as having a BMI of 30+, I think even larger people want a BMI between 25-30 (which is still overweight).
The point of passing laws to tax junk food isn't to prevent people from becoming obese when they don't have to. It's so that people can keep eating the foods they love without physical consequence. Maybe I'm being idealistic, but I bet most chips would taste roughly the same with 2/3rds as much fat, and less salt.
Putting salt in pop for example is something there should be a law against, you shouldn't be more thirsty after drinking.
As for salt...where the heck did you hear that? I have a few doctors in the family and I work at a Medical office, and everyone I work with actually suggests having a lower salt diet then the recommended 2g. There's actually a push from the Medical Association for those Nutritional stickers to indicate a lower salt value.
High salt in your diet means you need a lot of potassium to balance it (look up the sodium potassium pump, it's in your red blood cells). Without Potassium, your body flushes out the salt by making you drink and pee more. Tell me, if your body is trying to flush out the salt, then why is a high salt diet good for you?
All salt does is help increase your odds of heart attack and stroke at an older age because your arteries become more rigid, and unable to expand for the extra water needed to dilute your blood, and then you don't get enough oxygen/red blood cells to your brain/heart.
You need to read up on the consequences of salt in your diet.
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If they didn't want to be obese... they wouldn't be... most people have the choice. People do know what's healthy and what isn't. All the nutrition facts are right on the food. (or i suppose it's better to say, people would rather be obese then give up tasty junk food.)
As for Salt.... I have read up the effects of salt in your diet.
According to modern medical research... It has no sceintifically discernable effect.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=its-time-to-end-the-war-on-salt
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jacob-teitelbaum-md/salt-health_b_903673.html
It's not the first time most doctors end up behind the times because they stick to outdated preconcieved notions.
Also, World Factbook is a terrible source. Something like OCED works better but still isn't perfect.
