Sugar Laden Ddrinks Kill 25,000 Each Year?

I have a sister-in-law who drinks 12 or more regular Pepsi's a day.  No kidding. This article off the web is for her: 

In a study that's sure to shake up the soda ban debate, Harvard researchers have linked the sugary drinks to 180,000 deaths a year worldwide, 25,000 in the United States alone.

"We know that sugar-sweetened beverages are linked to obesity, and that a large number of deaths are caused by obesity-related diseases. But until now, nobody had really put these pieces together," said Gitanjali Singh, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston and lead author of the study presented today at the American Heart Association's annual meeting in New Orleans.

Singh and colleagues spent five years putting the pieces together. Using data from national health surveys around the world, the team tied sugar-sweetened beverages to 133,000 deaths from diabetes, 44,000 deaths from cardiovascular diseases and 6,000 deaths from cancer in 2010.

The study adds to mounting evidence that sugar-sweetened beverages, loaded with calories that carry little nutritional value, are a public health hazard.

"I think our findings should really impel policymakers to make effective policies to reduce sugary beverage consumption since it causes a significant number of deaths," said Singh, adding that she thinks "cause" is an appropriate word despite the limitations of the association study.

The American Beverage Association criticized the study, which has yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, calling it "more about sensationalism than science."

"It does not show that consuming sugar-sweetened beverages causes chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease or cancer - the real causes of death among the studied subjects," the industry group said in a statement. "The researchers make a huge leap when they take beverage intake calculations from around the globe and allege that those beverages are the cause of deaths which the authors themselves acknowledge are due to chronic disease."

The study comes one week after a judge blocked New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposed ban on supersized sodas, and one day after Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed a bill preventing municipalities from setting limits on soda and salt content.

"It is simply not the role of government to micro-regulate citizens' dietary decisions," Bryant said in a statement. "The responsibility for one's personal health depends on individual choices about a proper diet and appropriate exercise."

But some experts say evidence-based policies could curb soda consumption and save lives. Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, senior author of the new study, said he now plans to study the effects of sugary drink regulation and taxation on health and health care costs.

"I think that's the kind of information that policymakers need," said Mozaffarian, who is an epidemiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health.

In the meantime, Americans can take steps on their own to cut sugary drinks and shed pounds.

"It may not be easy at first, but your body will thank you," said ABC News' chief health and medical editor Dr. Richard Besser. "Study after study links intake of sugary drinks to poor health effects."

"It is quite frightening to see the rise in chronic diseases as people around the world consume more and more sugary drinks," Besser added. "It reminds me of the way lung cancer is on the rise around the world as more and more people smoke cigarettes."



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9 Health Risks that Aren't Worth Taking

9 Health Risks that Aren't Worth Taking Redbook Healthy Living – by Melinda Wenner Moyer. 

Thanks to Wendy for this great reminder for some of us, as well as identifying new health risks in our already overly toxic environment.  I for one did not know about shower curtains and never thought about pet flea and tick collars.  I did however know about the toxicity of tooth paste and have been using a natural toothpaste for the past six years.  My dentist remarks how healthy my gums looks.   I guess that's a complement.  Plus I'm pretty happy not waking in the morning with bad breath.       

Cell Phone.
Holding your cell phone up to your ear. Although the overall risk is still very low, research suggests that people who have spent the past decade or more frequently talking on their cell phones in the traditional way are more likely to develop brain tumors. John Walls, a spokesperson for industry trade group CTIA: The Wireless Association, points out that no major American health organization has said that wireless devices are a public health risk. (The World Health Organization, though, has expressed concern.) And texting or talking while driving--which boosts your chances of having a car wreck by a factor of four--poses a far bigger risk than the radiation may. But considering that you can get an earbud-type hands-free set for as little as five bucks, why not take the safest tack? "I think the data are strong enough that using a hands-free set with your cell makes a lot of sense," says public health expert Ted Schettler, M.D., science director of the Science and Environmental Health Network.

PVC shower curtains.
That funky, chemical-y smell of new polyvinyl chloride (PVC) shower curtains comes from volatile organic compounds, which may be carcinogenic over time and can cause nausea and headaches in the short term, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. "I always recommend the good old-fashioned fabric curtains," says preventive-medicine expert Suzanne Pham, M.D. Want something waterproof? Look for vinyl acetate, which is safer, she says.

Microwaving in plastic.
Heat releases some of the chemical building blocks in plastic, sending them into whatever food or drink you're warming up. One such chemical, bisphenol A (BPA), "can mimic the effects of estrogen in the body, potentially leading to issues like premature puberty and breast or testicular cancer," says Pham. Even BPA-free plastics could release substances that can have negative effects, so it's best to avoid microwaving any plastic container, says Jennifer Lowry, M.D., a medical toxicologist at Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics in Kansas City, MO. All of our experts agree: Heat food or drink in glass or ceramic.

Pet Tick Collars.
Adults who play with a cat or dog while it's wearing a flea and tick collar are exposed to up to 500 times the Environmental Protection Agency's safe level of pesticides, according to a first-of-its-kind study by scientists at the Natural Resources Defense Council. For children, the levels can be 1,000 times higher than what's safe. The worst are collars containing chemicals called (get ready for a mouthful) propoxur or tetrachlorvinphos, which kill pests by disrupting their nerve pathways. Four out of five top-selling brands we shopped for contained one of these, so check labels. Luckily there are other effective pest-killing options. "Pills that pets take internally seem to be safer," says Jerome Paulson, M.D., chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics council on environmental health. Two common brands are Capstar and Program, which you can get for between $20 and $60 online or from your vet.

Constantly running a humidifier.
Those little steam machines can be a life saver for parents with a stuffed-up kid who can't sleep, but using them too often might make things worse. A study by the New York State Department of Health found that one of the biggest predictors of whether children developed asthma was the frequent use of a humidifier at home. "Too much moisture promotes mold and dust mite growth," which could be a problem for the whole family, explains Morris Nejat, M.D., a pediatrician and allergist in New York City.

Certain antibacterial soaps and toothpastes.
Triclosan is a germ killer found in a lot of antibacterial hand soaps, body washes, and even some brand-name cavity-control toothpastes. But the American Medical Association recommends against the use of triclosan in our homes, because it may encourage the development of scary bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics. "Studies have shown that these triclosan products don't work any better than regular cleansers or toothpastes, but they damage the environment and potentially place our long-term health at risk," says Susan Shaw, Ph.D., an environmental scientist at the State University of New York, Albany.

In fact,  I suggest everyone read the ingredients label on their toothpaste and especially the warning for consuming too much of it.  A few years ago when I had my teeth cleaned, the dentisit gave me a flouride rinse. Having not been on flouride for several years, the amount he gave me almost made me throw up.   Since then I do not take the flouride rinse.  My dentist cannot tell the different to my teeth, so I'm starting to convince him that a quality natural toothpaste is good for the person and flouride is bad.  

X-ray airport scanners.
You know those "backscatter" full-body X-ray machines at airport security gates? Europe banned them several months ago because of health concerns, but the machines are still in use in some airports in the States. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) says the amount of radiation emitted by each scan is minuscule, but independent research suggests the dose to some parts of the body is at least 45 times higher than the TSA claims and may even increase cancer risk, particularly for the elderly and women predisposed to breast cancer. Since you're already going to be exposed to radiation by flying, avoid the extra rays and ask for a pat-down, says John Sedat, Ph.D., a professor emeritus at the versity of California, San Francisco.

Colon cleanse.
Celebs may swear by this kind of thing, but colonics and colon-cleansing pills could be dangerous, our experts said. The intestines are self-cleaning, so unless you're getting a colonoscopy, there's no reason to sweep the whole thing out, says gastroenterologist Lisa Ganjhu. The pills are poorly regulated and could make you laxative-dependent, she says; colonic enemas carry a risk of intestinal perforation, which requires surgery to fix. To keep your digestive system working smoothly, says Ganjhu, stay hydrated; eat lots of fruits, veggies, and whole grains; and exercise. If you regularly have gas or constipation, a probiotic supplement may help by adding more healthy bacteria to your gut.

Ready-to-feed canned baby formula.
Bisphenol A (BPA) isn't only found in plastic--it's also used to line the inside of cans to keep bacteria out. And according to tests conducted by the nonprofit Environmental Working Group, one of the foods that ends up most contaminated with BPA is canned liquid infant formula. (Powdered formula, on the other hand, contains almost no traces of BPA from its packaging.) If you must use liquid canned or bottled formula, make sure not to warm it up in its original container, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends.




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Obesity- An American Epidemic

From an article titled "Obesity: A Big Fat Problem For America’s Future" by Siemond Chan of The Exchange. The full article with more graphs and information can be found here.

On average an obese person pays $1,429 more in health care costs than normal weight people:

Medicare pays $1,723 more for obese beneficiaries than normal weight people.

Medicaid pays $1,021 more for obese beneficiaries than normal weight people.

Private insureres pay $1,140 for obese beneficiaries than normal weight people

In 2003, as much as $75 billion of the nation's public health costs, half of which are publically funded (read by tax payer dollars), was attributable to obesity. If obesity continues at it's epidemic pace, the projected health care costs will soar to $343 billion by 2018.




Comments from the article on Yahoo are interesting:

Laurie Foster · Ithaca College Americans are obese because we are sold and consume products that are not real food! Look at this country in the 70's before slick marketing execs and fat cat CEO's developed ways to sell you butter "flavored", cheese "food", and hydrogenated oils... no obese people! Look at your peanut butter! It contains no peanut oil! They take it out and sell it at profit and replace with less healthy and less expensive oils. Chains restaurants are poisoning you for $9.95 a meal! Anything in sealed plastic that does not expire until 2016 is poison. It just makes the companies who paid a CHEMIST to make the "food" rich! We are being poisoned day and night by plastics, fragrances, and fake food but our government does nothing because they are slave to super wealthy companies who can hire super expensive lobbyists. Did you know that the cost to make a Pringles package tube costs more than the Pringles inside? Wake up! Fight back! We need do something!

David Kinsey · Account Executive at Kinsey and Kinsey
You are all dummies. Businesses sell these things because the market dictates their sale. You can stop eating manufactured food products really easily, BY NOT BUYING THEM. Quit wasting your efforts on blaming the government and look at what you have in the cabinets and in your refrigerator. The longer Americans continue to purchase over processed food the more of it we are going to get. You can't demand the cheapest goods, then complain because you got fat, and whine about the ingredients in those goods. Who cares how much it costs to make Pringles, don't buy them! Spend a dollar more on healthy options and a thousand less in healthcare expenditures.



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