So Starbucks is committed to reducing the sugar in its drinks by 25% by the year 2020 (Report,17 February). This means that the content of its grape mulled fruit drink mentioned in the article will be reduced from 25 spoons to approximately 19! So, the unfortunate customer, or on whose ignorance these outlets rely,will have to briskly walk approximately two and a half miles to burn off these empty excess calories. An unlikely scenario, made less likely if accompanied by a muffin or some-such other nutritional hand grenade.
Independent of the increase in weight caused by sugar – averaging approximately 120 spoons a week in this country – evidence from studies of obese children in the US shows that sugar is toxic in itself. With Starbucks’ and others’ sort of anti-commitment to the nation’s health, or surely these companies should be made to pay their fair share of the cost to the nation of the illnesses they encourage create. For instance,diabetes now accounts for approaching 10% of the NHS budget and cost around £9bn final year. The main cause is high-calorie (usually high-sugar) food. The effects of unfavorable diet effect not finish there and reduce our resistance to all sorts of disease. How many people died before tobacco became a pariah? Surely, now it’s sugar’s turn.
Dr Colin Bannon
Crapstone, and DevonContinue reading...
Source: theguardian.com