You’ll have to excuse my pun but America, Mexico, Sugar and Trump do seem to be part of the same twisted and distorted tale. First things first. Unless you are deaf, dumb and blind or living on the moon, the science is in and sugar is out. If has been confirmed beyond any reasonable doubt that sugar in any form is toxic to human health in virtually any dose. Thus sugar should share the same fate with tobacco. The first order of business is for science to pinpoint the risks of consuming sugar and the underlying pathology leading to these risks.
The Science is in and Sugar is Out
We now have many scientific studies and papers outlining the health risks of consuming sugar and several excellent books on the topic have been written including “Good Calories, Bad Calories” and “The Case Against Sugar” by Gary Taubes and “Fat Chance” and “The Hacking of the American Mind” by Robert Lustig.
Exactly where does President Trump fall on this continuum of the health risks of sugar? Earlier this summer after the United States and Mexico reached a new agreement on sugar trade he tweeted: “New Sugar deal negotiated with Mexico is a very good one for both Mexico and the U.S.” Apparently, U.S. sugar producers had estimated they had lost more than $4 billion because Mexico has been flooding the market with subsidized sugar. Can you imagine how ridiculous these statements would be if the word “cocaine” was substituted for “sugar”. Any such deal is unlikely to impact sugar consumption in either country because both countries heavily subsidize cocaine….whoops—I mean sugar to keep the price artificially low.
The First National Tax on Sugary Soda
Mexico has a good motivation for dumping their sugar in the U.S. rather than keeping it at home. For the past two years Mexico has placed a one peso tax per liter of sugary soda. They are the first country in the world to successfully tax sugar on a national level. They did so for good reason—more than 70% of their population is overweight or obese and they are ground zero for a major diabetes epidemic. These health risks are also affecting many Mexican children. Despite the low level of taxation, sugary soda consumption dropped 5.5% in first year and 9.7% in the second year. I suspect that it isn’t the tax itself that is pushing down consumption, but rather all the associated publicity about the health dangers of consuming sugary soda. We have a home in Mazatlan and we know that Mexican’s are not fools and they clearly seem to be well ahead of us when it comes to the dangers of sugar.
Former New York Mayor Bloomberg tried to initiate a soda tax in New York several years ago but it was struck down by the courts. Like any good New York fighter, Bloomberg got back on his feet and recently helped pass the Berkeley penny per ounce tax on sugary beverages, the first such tax in the United States. Chicago recently implemented a similar tax on sugary beverages but there’s a good chance the Cook County Board will overturn it in the next month or so.
San Francisco recently passed an ordinance that would require soda advertisements to include a prominent warning about the adverse health effects of sugary drinks. The court ruled that this ordinance likely violated the beverage makers first amendment rights! Trump and the National Republican Committee have come out against taxes on sugary beverages because they are “regressive”. Perhaps they believe the same to be true for a tax on cocaine—it’s a bad idea because poor people wouldn’t be able to buy as much cocaine and/or sugary soda as the rich folks.
Wall, Wall–Who’s Gonna Build the Wall!
I don’t know about you, but this non-sense is starting to make my head spin! Trump wants to build a wall to keep Mexicans out of our country. There’s only one problem with his idea—it’s based on faulty logic. Most Mexicans from Mazatlan that I meet don’t want to come to this country. Living in Mazatlan is like living in paradise. Many Americans retire in Mazatlan because of the wonderful lifestyle and low cost of living. When they start spending their dollars it raises prices for all the local poor Mexicans who can barely afford to buy a can of Coke regardless of where it comes from. I suspect that many Mexicans would be happy to build a wall to keep us out and they would be more than willing to pay for it!
And by the way Donald, perhaps it’s time to stop Tweeting and start reading newspapers. You can build a wall a mile high and it will do absolutely nothing to keep Mexicans out because they know how to tunnel!
When He Presses That Red Button Perhaps Kim Jong-un Gets “Coked”
Oh, there’s even a stranger Coke-Trump connection. He has a red button on his desk that when pressed will summon a butler with a tall glass of ice cold Coca Cola. He has also sent out a Tweet storm of messages about why diet soda doesn’t work because it makes you hungry.
It’s Much, Much Worse than it Looks
We now believe that long term consumption of highly processed food loaded with sugar, highly refined carbohydrates and excessive omega 6 fatty acids can eventually fry your brain leading to a condition called Carbohydrate Associated Reversible Brain syndrome or CARB syndrome. People with CARB syndrome can develop up to 22 brain dysfunction symptoms that interfere with normal brain function. So now we have two world leaders with obvious CARB syndrome threatening to anile each other with nuclear weapons. I would have to say that things definitely don’t go better with Coke! Stay tuned because with Trump at the helm this whole mess will almost certainly get worse. And please don’t start yelling at me for attacking Trump—I voted for the guy!