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Time for a sugar tax?


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Sounds a good idea to me and the same should be done with dog food and treats too.... that way maybe we wouldn't have shelled out nearly £6000 already in less than a week on vets bills.  The NHS is suddenly looking very good value for money though :lol: 

Joking aside having seen what undiagnosed diabetes can do to a dog in less than a week including full blown cataracts and total blindness virtually over night (despite no signs of cataracts 2 days before) I now certainly understand the real dangers of diabetes and how prevention is a must.  Scarey disease  !!

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Does sugar cause diabetes?

 

tooth decay yes but not directly diabetes. Diabetes due to obesity possibly but only as a minor contributing factor.

 

Parental laxity in oral hygene as regads their offspring is probably the greatest reason for tooth decay.

 

A tax on sugar would be pointless. legislation to reduce the amount of sugar used in foodstuffs and soft drinks would not be.

 

seems that whenever anything hits the headlines that is deemed "bad for your health" the immediate reaction is to slap a tax on the cause or possible cause.

 

I am sure that if they could find a way to do it they would slap a tax on sunlight as that causes skin cancers etc.

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No we've not taken leave of our senses at all Baz.... we just have a heart   :P :lol:    

Saying that it was much easier to put eye drops into her eyes when she couldn't see a damn thing... a right battle has emerged tonight now she can again.  Not to worry only 4 different eye drops, 4 times a day.... so thats 16 drops... times two eyes = 32 times in one day.  Ooooh.............

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Sid, you don't have to be fat to get diabetes; an interesting promotion for pro-biotics, argues that our modern thirst for sugar derives from an excess of "bad" bacteria in the gut (candida); which feeds on the sugar and basically turns the body into a sugar junkie. Yes exercise is helpful. to burn off excess calories; but we shouldn't be consuming excess calories in the first place; which is why fresh (organic) food, with high fruit and veg content is essential. Thus, sugar consumption, like nicotine and alcohol consumption needs to be deterred by taxation imo.

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I know diabetes can be hereditary, both my mother and my late father were diagnosed with it late in thier lives. my younger bropther was recently diagnosed as having diabetes. none of them, apart from my brother could be classed as over weight let alone obese. however the facty remains that being overweight increases the risk of getting diabetes,heart disease and many other possibly fatal illnesses.

 

Sugar does not cause diabetes, no matter how much you consume on a daily basis.

 

In fact there is little known about what does cause diabetes according to some sources and if you do have diabetes you are warned to avoid excess sugar in your diet. you need some as there has to be a balance between what level will keep you going, too much blood sugar and you are away with the fairies,too little and you could be away with the undertaker.

 

The article I saw was about the removal of milk teeth in children by dentist being on the increase due to tooth decay in young children. Perhaps the manufacturers of bhaby products should look into their products for added sugar. Surprising the number of "juice" drinks that are available for babies and toddlers and once they get the taste like most other addictive substances they want more. Parents assume that giving a child juice to shut them up is ok,especially when they are sold as kids drinks.

 

Fresh fruit too is not as good for your teeth as you think, quite a lot of fruit has a high natural sugar content and also quite high acidity level which all contribute to tooth decay.

As I have often said for every "expert" that advises that something is good for you or bad for you, there is at least one other who will hold the opposing view. it keeps them in a job and justifies their salary.

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Type 2 diabetes is caused by the inability of the pancreas to process "sugar", so refined sugar has to be avoided. The food process companies, have for decades, deliberately added refined sugar and other additives to their products to stimulate demand, which coincides with the increase in obesity. It's perhaps ironic, that we ate a better diet when rationing was introduced during the war; with many growing their own (organic) veg to supplement it. So it seems a no brainer, to make "bad food" more expensive by taxation to deter consumption, whilst making "good food" cheaper by subsidies. Otherwise, we will all be paying more in taxes to support the NHS, in treatment (20%  currently on diabetes), and to argue for gastric band operations will add to this; clearly prevention is better (and cheaper) than the cure.

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Apparently mashed and boiled potatoes are high in natural sugar and quickly raise your blood sugar levels, however if they are served with a knob of butter then blood sugar levels are lower. 

Why's that then and what's in butter that alters the make up of potatoes ?

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It is quite simple.

The salt in the butter leaches some of the water out of the potatoes.

This then allows some of the sugar content of them to be attached to the saturated fats in the butter.

This binding of the sugar to the fats means that in the gut it is released into the bloodstream at a much slower rate than with just the mashed potatoes or boiled potatoes.

The result is that instead of a great surge of sugar into the system it is released over a longer period and thus the sugar contnet of the blood shows little change as the body is able to cope with this and use the sugar to maintain energy levels in the body throughout a longer period rather than trying to use it all up in a mad rush and creating a state of hyperactivity for a short period.

 

ref. a study into sugar binding in saturated fats and it's effects  published in 1923 by barnstable university press written by Alvin A'Laffe G.B.H. ,F.R.S.o.A.L.

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well it seems the "experts" have now proved a link between type 2 diabetes and shift work. if you work shifts, especially irregular shifts then you are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes.

 

from the article on the bbc website.

Studies in a sleep laboratories have shown that making people snooze at the wrong time of day led to the early stages of type 2 diabetes developing within weeks

 

The study, by researchers at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China, showed shift workers were 9% more likely to have type 2 diabetes.

But in men, the figure was 35%. For people chopping and changing between day and night shifts, the risk increased by 42%.

from the article on the bbc website. it based on a study by a chinese university.

 

whether that would show as a different result for other countries is down to the "experts" in those countries.

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A while ago, I would have said yes in regards to a sugar tax. Now, I'm not all that sure. The thing that changed my mind is that beaurocratic haven known as Brussels. Apparently, they want Britain to stop importing cane sugar, and use beet sugar instead. Why? For the simple reason Cane Sugar comes from the Commonwealth countries, and the other from...guess where? :)

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