Worldwide Macro impact of sugar-sweetened beverages

Investment Analysis Clubs Macro Economic Trends and Risks
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We’re not talking about alcohol here. This thorough research defined sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) as any beverage with added sugars and ≥50 kcal per 8 oz serving, including commercial or homemade beverages, soft drinks, energy drinks, fruit drinks, punch, lemonade and aguas frescas. This definition excluded 100% fruit and vegetable juices, noncaloric artificially sweetened drinks and sweetened milk.

SSBs are the drinks that Moms give their kids. Like Coke, Kool-Aid and lemonade. (My mother was anti-sugar and didn’t allow any of these in our house. We were strictly limited to water, milk and frozen orange juice which she diluted with 4 cans of water instead of 3. We also weren’t allowed to eat white bread or candy.)

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-024-03345-4

Burdens of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease attributable to sugar-sweetened beverages in 184 countries, Nature Medicine (2025)

The consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) is associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cardiovascular diseases (CVD)… In 2020, 2.2 million (95% uncertainty interval 2.0–2.3) new T2D cases and 1.2 million (95% uncertainty interval 1.1–1.3) new CVD cases were attributable to SSBs worldwide, representing 9.8% and 3.1%, respectively, of all incident cases…The largest proportional T2D and CVD attributable burdens in 2020 were in Latin America and the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa, and the largest increases from 1990 to 2020 were in sub-Saharan Africa. … [end quote]

The impact in Sub-Saharan Africa, which has the world’s fastest growing population, is growing faster than any other region. The burden of chronic illness on these countries will be immense.

There are many truly dangerous diseases in these areas. But it would be worthwhile to educate mothers about the dangers of innocuous-seeming sweet drinks to their beloved children.

Wendy

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Nobody cares about the impact of sugar sweetened swill as long as farm state senators are getting Dark Money from Big Ag. It just another way the Confederacy is poisoning the nation.

intercst

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  1. It’s a world-wide problem.
  2. As far as I am aware, the big HFCS producing states weren’t part of the Confederacy.
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Giving every state 2 senators, regardless of population, was a compromise at the nation’s founding to keep the slave states in the Union (along with the 3/5ths rule for the slaves.) Today, that gives the lightly populated farm states, no matter where they are, an outsized voice in the nation’s policy.

For example, each California senator represents nearly 19.8 million people, over 68 times as many as the 290,000 people each Wyoming senator represents.

intercst

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Starches are long strings of sugars.

Starch is the stored form of sugars in plants and is made up of a mixture of amylose and amylopectin (both polymers of glucose). Basically, starch is a long chain of glucose monomers.

Carbohydrates – MHCC Biology 112: Biology for Health Professions.

The real problem are whatever causes insulin spikes. Sugars that are digested slowly the body can deal with.

  • Oranges are less harmful than freshly squeezed orange juice.
  • Al dente pasta is less harmful than overcooked pasta.
  • Day old potatoes are less harmful than freshly boiled potatoes.

Digestive health
The fiber found in potatoes is a special type called “resistant starch,” which has the health benefits of both soluble fiber and insoluble fiber. You can increase the resistant starch in potatoes by cooking them a day ahead and cooling them in the fridge overnight. Feel free to reheat them before you eat.

The Captain

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It was also to protect small states such as Vermont from the power of large states such as Virginia.

DB2

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