Don't stop at minute maid fruit drinks, almost the enitre modern american diet is complete garbage for our health. Peoples lack of knowledge on health is horrific. US life expectancy has gone down for the 2nd year in a row... that's just so god damn pathetic considering the USA is "supposed" to be one of the most developed naitions in the world, the US life expectancy isn't even in the top 35 countries, it might even drop outside of 40 or 45 in the next year or two at this rate.
Talk about lack of knowledge. You have about four thousand kids being taught that the fruit juices are healthy choices. The misconception that a 16 oz glass of processed orange juice with all the extra sugar is healthy obviously goes beyond this school. Edit: when I tell people I want a diet drink because im diabetic some people almost take offense. They believe something like the idea we consume too much sugar is a conspiracy
Oh...it was confusing, then, since you wrote "Im writing this because im working in a high school..."
I'll agree with you that if you are a late 80s or early 90s kid, you probably were raised on fruit juice. It wasn't frowned upon as much back then. My mom luckily was a fresh off the boat Desi who always cooks and never really brought that much prepackaged **** with added sugar or that many sugary drinks. Just a lot of water, tea and milk for liquids.
I think they get around it by saying HealthIER choices . . .. . Every health class I had stressed water was the best but its been decades since I been in one. . . so . . you might know what the teaching now better than me I know alot of commercials and programs say that but that is just advertising not ignorance or stupidity I been hearing lately that diet drink are bad for you in other ways Rocket River
I eliminated most sugar from my diet and lost about 40 pounds a few years ago. Even though I still eat lots of "unhealthy" meats like bacon, my indicators such as cholesterol dropped significantly. The easiest thing you can do for your health is skip drinking any flavored liquid except coffee and tea. Artificial sweeteners raise blood sugar and insulin. https://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20140917/artificial-sweeteners-blood-sugar#1 This year, I'm trying to reduce my meat consumption to only 25 percent of my diet.
I have managed to get sugary drinks out of my diet. I just drink water, coffee, and wine now (alcohol is a different conversation ). But, I know changing one's diet is hard, especially when the motivation is not intrinsic. I have a family member who developed diabetes in his twenties. I respect the hell out of him because he managed to radically transform his diet so he can manage his condition without medicines. Won't eat anything with sugar, no starches; basically eats a ton of vegetables plus meat, and regularly eats nopalitos which he finds knocks down his blood sugar. When his father later developed diabetes, he was able to put him on his same diet and they are both under control. I think that's amazing because it was a victory for me just to stop drinking Coke. I fear the day the doctor tells me I have high cholesterol or high blood pressure or something and I have to change how I eat.
It took me five years to give up sugary drinks. It was pathetic but I finally ran into some complications I couldn't deal with
There is too much marketing in the food industry and most people are confused about what is healthy. I would guess most people didn't know that Gatorade is probably the worst thing you can drink if you're not running a marathon.
My wife and I made the change to just water and nothing else (well, technically, water/coffee/wine/bourbon [me]). It was pretty damned easy to do. Just don't buy that **** anymore at the grocery store and suddenly all you have to drink is water. Boom, problem averted. If you absolutely have to have some flavoring, I like the Stur brand water flavors. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00C1LXBFC/
I used to only drink fruit punch Gatorade as a baby until college. Didn't drink milk as a baby. Couldn't stand water. Only other alternative were sugary juices or soft drinks. No diabeetus! I think growing up in that constant state of dehydration is probably why I feel okay with only a few cups of water a day. But yeah, even regular Gatorade is too sugary for you for real hydration. Gatorade watered down 1:1 is the right concentration for your body, but tastes awful. So I double fist a bottle of Gatorade and a water bottle now when I need to.
Sometimes it is genetics. I eat relatively healthy and am pretty active. I have normal blood pressure and my cholesterol isn't high. But I fight my weight and have since my early 20's. My brother has the same issues. My uncle eats nothing but home cooked Vietnamese food (his wife is Vietnamese)...same thing. That's even after he had the lap band surgery. Sometimes, genetics wins.
Genetics is why I have diabetes. Im type 1 the type you're born with. My body produces no insulin. A lot of type 2s can lose weight and rid themselves of diabetes. The weird thing is im in a strange category having it appear in my 30s. Also doctors are really still learning about it as I should have never been diagnosed as type 2
My mother is Type 2, as are some other family members. I can appreciate what you're going through. Even as well as my mother controlled her diet and activity once she was diagnosed, she's still had many problems (including kidney failure and a subsequent transplant 12 years ago).
