How much Coke (a-Cola) do you think is excessive?

[katemary63]

Yes, I think it's excessive, even broken down. But then we don't drink pop/ soda unless we're having company or a party. Sugar drinks are bad for you and so is all that caffeine.

[Parrothead]

It doesn't seem excessive to me, but I drink up to 7 cans a day. I am trying to limit it to 4 right now and wean myself off.

 

If I had 2-liter bottles, I'd drink one a day.

[Spy Car]

And at passover time when Jews can't drink/eat corn products. Many grocery stores carry the sugar coke. :)

 

OK...I'll admit it, I will allow myself ONE Coke a year IF I can find "kosher for passover" Coke (instead of the dreaded High Fructose Corn Syrup abomination).

 

But in recent years, despite living in a heavily Jewish neighborhood, I just haven't been seeing kosher Coke. We can easily get "Mexican" Coke (also made from cane-sugar) but it's too sweet for my taste.

 

Kosher Coke is the real deal.

 

Bill

[jenadina]

I have to agree about harping on your hubby for this...I'm the soda-drinker here (but I prefer Pepsi) and my husband is always making comments about it. It drives me up the wall and makes me LESS likely to stop drinking it!

[Renthead Mommy]

But in recent years, despite living in a heavily Jewish neighborhood, I just haven't been seeing kosher Coke. We can easily get "Mexican" Coke (also made from cane-sugar) but it's too sweet for my taste.

 

Kosher Coke is the real deal.

 

Bill

 

Have you ever been to the World of Coke in Atlanta? They have all the different 'cokes' from around the world. It's so funny how the same thing (coke) changes from culture to culture. Some were much sweeter, like the Mexican one you mentioned, and some were almost bitter they were so un-sweet.

[Spy Car]

Have you ever been to the World of Coke in Atlanta? They have all the different 'cokes' from around the world. It's so funny how the same thing (coke) changes from culture to culture. Some were much sweeter, like the Mexican one you mentioned, and some were almost bitter they were so un-sweet.

 

I have not. I've never even heard of it. Thanks for mentioning it.

 

While I'm on record saying Coke is poison, I'm totally intrigued by the opportunies to sample the cultural differences in food and beverages, Coke included. It's kind of..."my thing"

 

Bill (hypocrite :D)

[Renthead Mommy]

I have not. I've never even heard of it. Thanks for mentioning it.

 

While I'm on record saying Coke is poison, I'm totally intrigued by the opportunies to sample the cultural differences in food and beverages, Coke included. It's kind of..."my thing"

 

Bill (hypocrite :D)

 

If you ever end up in Atlanta with extra time (certainly don't skip other good things for it, but extra time it's good for) it's a fun stop. It give a little history of coke, showing how it was bottled, explained how old soda shops worked. Then you go to the tasting room. They give you a cup and you can try coke from all over the world.

 

The culutral difference in food is a fun thing. We live in Okinawa. Americans' make up a 1/3 of the island population. They've been here 60 years. The areas around the bases are very Americanized. They (the Okinawans) realized Americans were over here, missing what they had back home. So back home resturants are over here, but with a twist.

 

McDonald's has the ebi-burger which is a shrimp burger.

KFC doesn't do mashed potatoes at all, and their batter is just different.

Baskin Robins have some very funky flavors.

A&W is much more oreinted toward everything other than hotdogs.

The only thing decaf you can get at Starbucks is regular coffee, no fancy coffee decafs.

 

And that's just the chain places. Regular Mom and Pop places have their own little twist on things as well. Italian food is good, but certainly interesting/different. Burgers get very interesting toppings. Taco Rice is a big Okinawan dish. Basically it's a taco without a shell, dumped over rice. And they really don't do anything too sweet over here.

 

And water. Water at your table usually comes in a little juice sized glass. The Okinawans really don't drink water at resturants I think. I've been told the cute little glasses on the table (as opposed to the big water goblets we are used to) came about from Americans asking for water to go with their meals. That was very suprising to me, especially as hot as it gets here. The vending machines are very interesting. They have some super funky drinks in them as well.

 

So yes, the food cultural difference thing is very interesting.

[Spy Car]

So yes, the food cultural difference thing is very interesting.

 

Very interesting post.

 

You're really hitting me where I live. And actually I was in Tokyo some years back making a television series on the cross-cultural influences of American firms doing business in Japan, and Japanese ones in the US.

 

McDonalds was one of the subjects so (in the interest of "research") I ate a good quantity of "Japan-only" or Japanese influenced offerings from McDonalds franchises all over Tokyo. Fortunately we also got taken out to some pretty darn-fancy Kaiseki restaurants by our deep-pocketed Japanese hosts. What some of those meals must have cost staggers my mind!

 

Living in Los Angeles (where ingredients from almost every culture are easily available) and with a wife who is an adventurous eater as I am, we eat a pretty unusual diet by American standards and love sampling and cooking the foods of cultures from around the world.

 

Bill

[Danestress]

I'm an adult too, and I choose not to exercise. My husband occasionally tries to convince me that I should. Why? Because he adores me, and he knows the children do, and he wants to grow old with someone healthy and vibrant. He doesn't nag and gripe about it, but he's encouraging and sometimes pointed, with mixed success.

 

If my husband were drinking a couple of regular sodas a day, I would, at some point try to tell him that all that sugar really isn't good for a person. Yes, he's an adult. But he's an adult who has wedded himself to me for life, and his health and happiness is my happiness.

 

Since Jana said her husband doesn't really listen to her, then maybe there isn't much point, because repeatedly nagging doesn't really work. But how strange it is to me to think that because someone is an adult, their welfare is none of my concern. I try to convince my father to drink more water. I try to convince my mother to drink less wine. I don't dwell on it and make a pest of myself, but I do bring up those concerns at the right moment, and when my husband does the same to me, I understand that if I grow old and weak, it affect him too - he has to live with my poor decisions.

[Peek a Boo]

I realized i lied..... DH's cup isn't 44oz.... it's 68oz.

 

aha-- The Super Duper Big Gulp size that won't fit in my cupholder. i could do that.....

[Erica in PA]

I'm an adult too, and I choose not to exercise. My husband occasionally tries to convince me that I should. Why? Because he adores me, and he knows the children do, and he wants to grow old with someone healthy and vibrant. He doesn't nag and gripe about it, but he's encouraging and sometimes pointed, with mixed success.

 

If my husband were drinking a couple of regular sodas a day, I would, at some point try to tell him that all that sugar really isn't good for a person. Yes, he's an adult. But he's an adult who has wedded himself to me for life, and his health and happiness is my happiness.

 

Since Jana said her husband doesn't really listen to her, then maybe there isn't much point, because repeatedly nagging doesn't really work. But how strange it is to me to think that because someone is an adult, their welfare is none of my concern. I try to convince my father to drink more water. I try to convince my mother to drink less wine. I don't dwell on it and make a pest of myself, but I do bring up those concerns at the right moment, and when my husband does the same to me, I understand that if I grow old and weak, it affect him too - he has to live with my poor decisions.

 

But then it comes down to the question... is drinking two cans of soda per day truly a serious, life-altering health concern? Not exercising definitely is. I don't agree that drinking some soda daily is comparable to not exercising, in terms of health risks. I would say it would be more like your husband telling you that you should be exercising 6 days per week instead of four. There may be some health benefits, but ultimately it's not a big enough deal to get overly concerned about.

[Erica in PA]

Perhaps she has 3 children, one of whom might be a babe-in-arms, and she might prize keeping her husband alive to help father his children and be an companion to her in old age.

 

Coke is poison. Any amount is excessive.

 

Bill

 

Do you have data to support your contention that Coke is actually lethal? I have never heard that assertion before, and as a soda drinker myself, of course I would want to know if there is research which proves this. I like soda, but I certainly wouldn't give up my life to drink it.

[Sharon in SC]

But then it comes down to the question... is drinking two cans of soda per day truly a serious, life-altering health concern? Not exercising definitely is. I don't agree that drinking some soda daily is comparable to not exercising, in terms of health risks. I would say it would be more like your husband telling you that you should be exercising 6 days per week instead of four. There may be some health benefits, but ultimately it's not a big enough deal to get overly concerned about.

 

I agree. I see comparing a couple cans of soda a day to lack of exercising in terms of detriment to health as apples and oranges. I just don't see data equating the two regarding direct effects on overall health.

[Spy Car]

Do you have data to support your contention that Coke is actually lethal? I have never heard that assertion before, and as a soda drinker myself, of course I would want to know if there is research which proves this. I like soda, but I certainly wouldn't give up my life to drink it.

 

Coke isn't lethal in the sense that on the day you taste it you will surely die.

 

Same with cigarettes for that matter.

 

American Coke is sweetened with "high-fructose corn syrup". Studies conflict on the damage caused to human health by HFCS vs cane-sugar. Studies funded by the corn-syrup produces and the beverage industry tend to discount an added risk, and independent studies then to show other-wise.

 

The is a significant concern about the bodies ability to metabolize HFCS raised by numerous studies.

 

Even if it proves to be no wore than cane-sugar, the artificially low-cost of HFCS (due to agricultural subsidies) has caused serving sizes of soft-drink to soar from 8 oz (when I was a child) to 64 oz Big Gulps (and the like).

 

I wish I had on hand the statistics for just how a seemingly incremental increase in the consumption of soft-drinks leads to weight increases that are (over time) very significant.

 

Obesity is killing people. It's leading to early deaths, and robbing people of their quality of life. Type two diabetes rates are sky-rocketing, and look at children today. I'm shock by how many profoundly obese children their are today, and how many of the remainder are not lean.

 

I've got no doubt that the consumption of nutritionally empty calories is a very negative habit for any person to engage in.

 

This is where we have to use our minds and ask if drinks like Coke "Good" or "Evil". And I'm convinced it fall in the latter category. So I would not give it to my child, and if my spouse than a soda habit I'd be more-than-a-little-bit distressed. In fact, I'd consider it a serious health threat and an threat to the life of my loved one.

 

Bill

[Peek a Boo]

.... Studies funded by the corn-syrup produces and the beverage industry tend to discount an added risk, and independent studies then to show other-wise.

 

The is a significant concern about the bodies ability to metabolize HFCS raised by numerous studies.

 

well, 'independent studies aren't exactly non-biased either.....

Follow the funding, regardless the 'independence" of an organization/ study.

 

and since each person handles different things in different ways [smoking/ alcohol/ not exercising, etc], I'll have to sit off to the side sipping my coke and just be glad there'll be more coke for the rest of us ;)

[DB in NJ]

IMO, more than 2-3 cans of soda a week is way too much. growing up, we only had soda for holidays! I drink diet coke and have 1 or 2 a week. My kids drink regular soda and aren't allowed more than 2-3 a week.

[Spy Car]

well, 'independent studies aren't exactly non-biased either.....

Follow the funding, regardless the 'independence" of an organization/ study.

 

and since each person handles different things in different ways [smoking/ alcohol/ not exercising, etc], I'll have to sit off to the side sipping my coke and just be glad there'll be more coke for the rest of us ;)

 

You might want to fire up a Marlboro Red to complete the experience.

 

What, me worry? :bigear:

 

Bill

[Peek a Boo]

You might want to fire up a Marlboro Red to complete the experience.

 

hee hee...

nah, I've seen the xrays of smoking on the lungs. That type of physical evidence is hard to spin, regardless your funding, lol. Altho i do know people that smoke and are older than dirt w/ few expected problems.

 

I've never smoked, and I've never been drunk.

dh likes a cigar every once in a while. :lol:

I'll stop my confessions there....:D

[Janna]

Here's the deal. You all are right. There is nothing that states definitively that Coke is "lethal" or "poison". However, it does have ingredients in it that have been proven to be harmful. It is a widely accepted argument that colas are not good for you. As stated in this thread alone, it wears down tooth enamel, has approx. 10 tsp of sugar in 1 can of pop, contains HFCS which is widely accepted to be questionable at best, causes osteoporosis, can lead to (even cause?) dehydration, is a leading cause of obesity with it's large and empty calorie amounts...I mean, the list goes on and on. I really don't think anyone can find one person who can say with certainty that colas (for the sake of argument, I'm talking about regular colas, not diet, which in my opinion are even worse) are healthy. I am not even convinced that you would be able to find a large amount of people who would agree that colas are not damaging over a long period of time.

 

If I take the amount of Coke that I listed in my OP and break it down by year, it would be this:

 

Take 122 2-liter bottles and line them up. That's how many are consumed in ONE PERSON'S BODY in a year.

 

That's equivilent to 7,808 oz. a year.

 

That's 6,466 tsp of sugar from Coke alone

 

That's 25,864 grams of sugar - again, from Coke alone.

 

The average person should not consume more than 100 grams of sugar per day. With these numbers, it would be 70.86 grams of sugar per day - just from the Coke.

 

This is all what ONE PERSON consumes (based on my OP).

 

I post these numbers (and the ones in my OP) to show what drinking a seemingly small amount a day (2 cans) adds up to over time. I think that is the key.

 

Maybe after reading these numbers you still don't think it's excessive. But I find it to be hard to swallow. ;)

Edited January 17, 2009 by Janna
spelling error

[Alphabetika]

Is there any chance he'd take notice if you added up what it costs to drink that level of Coke? Maybe the economic angle would work...

[Erica in PA]

Coke isn't lethal in the sense that on the day you taste it you will surely die.

 

Same with cigarettes for that matter.

 

American Coke is sweetened with "high-fructose corn syrup". Studies conflict on the damage caused to human health by HFCS vs cane-sugar. Studies funded by the corn-syrup produces and the beverage industry tend to discount an added risk, and independent studies then to show other-wise.

 

The is a significant concern about the bodies ability to metabolize HFCS raised by numerous studies.

 

Even if it proves to be no wore than cane-sugar, the artificially low-cost of HFCS (due to agricultural subsidies) has caused serving sizes of soft-drink to soar from 8 oz (when I was a child) to 64 oz Big Gulps (and the like).

 

I wish I had on hand the statistics for just how a seemingly incremental increase in the consumption of soft-drinks leads to weight increases that are (over time) very significant.

 

Obesity is killing people. It's leading to early deaths, and robbing people of their quality of life. Type two diabetes rates are sky-rocketing, and look at children today. I'm shock by how many profoundly obese children their are today, and how many of the remainder are not lean.

 

I've got no doubt that the consumption of nutritionally empty calories is a very negative habit for any person to engage in.

 

This is where we have to use our minds and ask if drinks like Coke "Good" or "Evil". And I'm convinced it fall in the latter category. So I would not give it to my child, and if my spouse than a soda habit I'd be more-than-a-little-bit distressed. In fact, I'd consider it a serious health threat and an threat to the life of my loved one.

 

Bill

 

Thank for the reply, Bill, I appreciate that. It helps me understand your position better. Ultimately I can't agree totally with your conclusions, unless a study demonstrates that any of the ingredients in soda actually cause health problems (as has already been proven with cigarettes). If that day comes, I'll be the first to give up my 1-2 cans per day. :)

[Danestress]

20 teaspoons of sugar a day just in what one drinks without thinking about it, is a detriment to health. Whether it's better or worse than something else isn't really the point.

 

I don't think that the fact that I am an adult means that my husband/parents/sisters wouldn't point out to me the possible health consequences of that and hope to convince me to change it. That doesn't mean they would start a relentless nag campaign, and I am sure the OP wasn't planning on that. I guess you have to be sensitive to how the other person will receive what you say. But I don't see why it's such a big deal to try to convince a beloved one to make a change for the better in health. Maybe it's because I have close and easy relations with my family members - including my DH. I guess if I were already in a difficult relationship, I might feel differently. But I don't think the fact that DH is an adult means I wouldn't try to convince him to increase his Omega-3s or that he wouldn't try to convince me to cut back on fish high in mercury. Substitute in whatever health concern you think is on par with 20 teaspoons of sugar a day - I just thought it was an interesting position.

Edited January 17, 2009 by Danestress

[Peek a Boo]

Here's the deal. You all are right. There is nothing that states definitively that Coke is "lethal" or "poison". However, it does have ingredients in it that have been proven to be harmful. It is a widely accepted argument that colas are not good for you.

 

um, LOTS of normal foods have ingredients that 'have proven to be harmful" --even water ;) Salt itself 'in excess' can cause serious problems for 'most' people.

 

"the deal" is that people vary so widely in what their bodies can and can't handle that accepting the phrase "for the average person" is fairly naive. One must first determine whether they are indeed 'average.'

 

"not good for YOU" is subjective too: again, one person's body is ideally suited to certain foods, others aren't. Just look at the range of allergies out there.....

 

 

and for danestress:

"a detriment to health" depends on the health situation of each individual. Statistically speaking, pregnancy itself is a "detriment to health." ;)

 

I absolutely agree that for some people even one soda a year is 'excessive.' :D

[datmama4]

The only viable option in your argument is the diabetes, which I have talked to him about many times.

 

 

 

I haven't read all the posts, so I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned this, but I've heard that pop/soda/whatever your region calls it is bad for your body because of the carbonation, whether there is sugar or artificial sweetener, caffeine or not. I wish I could sound like an informed person rather than an "I heard this somewhere" person, LOL, but I truly can't remember where I read it. Basically, what I remember is that the carbonation in pop depletes the calcium in your body, and if you're a heavy pop drinker, you are opening yourself up for osteoporosis problems in the future (this, I believe, was in reference to women's health, but...).

 

Now that I've sort of said half-information about a subject I'm vaguely familiar with, (*laughing here*) does this ring a bell with anyone else?

 

Lynda

[vansolkema1996]

My husband drinks about a 6 pk of Coke a day and one pot of coffee. Way to much!

[Spy Car]

Thank for the reply, Bill, I appreciate that. It helps me understand your position better. Ultimately I can't agree totally with your conclusions, unless a study demonstrates that any of the ingredients in soda actually cause health problems (as has already been proven with cigarettes). If that day comes, I'll be the first to give up my 1-2 cans per day. :)

 

It's your life, you get to make your own decisions.

 

The science is clear on the health consequences of over-consumption of soft-drinks. You can ignore the obvious truth, but you do so at your peril.

 

When I was a kid, I constantly heard from smokers that until the risks were "proven" they were were just going to keep puffing away. Sadly, most of these people died as a direct result of their decisions.

 

I'd urge you to really think it through,

 

Bill

[Peek a Boo]

The science is clear on the health consequences of over-consumption of soft-drinks. You can ignore the obvious truth, but you do so at your peril.

 

The science is clear on the perils of over consuming ANYthing.

 

The science is NOT clear as to what constitutes "over consumption" for each individual.

[dcjlkplus3]

I think whether you or I think it's excessive is irrelevant. He's an adult. Let him drink what he wants. Why do you think it's necessary to convince him?

:iagree:

[Sharon in SC]

The science is clear on the perils of over consuming ANYthing.

 

The science is NOT clear as to what constitutes "over consumption" for each individual.

 

Yes.