Posts Tagged ‘sugary drinks’

When curiosity fades, research ceases to be science and becomes an exercise in advocacy. That advocacy might be for a commercial interest or it might be for a presumably good cause. But in either case, it’s not sound scientific research with the aim of finding the true answer to a clear question. It is a […]

Two new papers give us a mixed picture of results from the holy war to drive sweet drinks from the American diet. On the front lines in Oakland, California, economists tell us that a beverage tax has had negligible effects. But the good news is that perhaps that doesn’t matter. Researchers have discovered that sweetened […]

This is a spin machine that any politician would be proud to own. Chile enacted a broad set of food system regulations in 2016 that many folks in public health simply love. The intent? Put an end to this obesity thing. This week, PLOS Medicine published a study of their effects and the fan club erupted […]

We have some surprising days ahead in the war on sugar. We now have a decade of it behind us. So people all over the world are responding. Canada offers us a new snapshot that tells us how it’s going there. If you believe the self reports, sugar in Canada is down. But the picture is […]

The New York Times has a new food writer, Yotam Ottolenghi. In his first column for the Times, this British chef and author makes a radical confession about sugar: I rarely go a day without a bite or slice or square of something sweet. If it’s not cake, then it’ll be a cookie, a slice of […]

The French say “non.” No more free refills. As of last Friday, selling unlimited servings of sugary soft drinks for a fixed price is illegal in France. This move continues a steady path of measures intended to curb the rise of obesity there. In 2004, France banned vending machines from schools. In 2011, school cafeterias […]

Remember when “breakfast without orange juice was like a day without sunshine”? The Nutrition Source at Harvard, consistent with many public health nutrition experts, presents a different view these days. It classifies fruit juice alongside alcoholic beverages as something to be consumed sparingly. Whole milk gets the same treatment, by the way. Consumer Reports tells us that “fruit […]

Faith – defined as an enduring belief in something that cannot be directly observed or proven – has played an undeniable role in human history that continues to this day. In the face of uncertainty or incomplete answers, we instinctively fall back on ideas that provide meaning and direction as we search for truth. And so it is that […]

We’ve all heard that sugary drinks pose health risks, but a new risk has been identified relating to certain regional drinking. The risk is called “Mountain Dew Mouth,” and the name derives from the particularly Appalachian habit of carrying a soda, most frequently the regional favorite Mountain Dew, that is sipped all day. Public health […]

Many observers have taken Michael Bloomberg to task for his (so far) ill-fated big soda ban in New York City. But two recently have taken a step back to consider the pros and cons of consumer paternalism and even offer some thoughts on how someone with Bloomberg’s expertise and influence might make a difference in […]