Recently I received two emails referencing diabetes. One was from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation publishing the findings of a feasibility study of implementing a nationwide tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). The other was from a client telling me about his major decrease in his A1C levels. Since we’re in the midst of an epidemic rise in Diabetes Type 2, I read both with great interest.
Studies are being done on taxing your SSBs. Taxes on sodas? Consider the cigarette tax: cigarettes were first taxed by our federal government in1862. Iowa became the first to levy taxes at a state level in 1921 and by 1969 all states were taxing cigarettes. Has this affected the amount of smokers? Yes. The greater the amount of tax increase, the greater the proportion of smokers who have stopped smoking. The same principle may apply to SSBs as well.
In January, 2012, Health Affairs published the first major study predicting how specific health problems and financial costs could be reduced by a nationwide tax on SSBs. The researchers calculated that a penny-per-ounce tax would help the U.S. avoid more than $17 billion in medical costs during a ten year period. It will be interesting to see how soon taxation would be implemented because so many diseases result from obesity.
An A1C level is a tool to measure blood sugar levels for the past 2-3 month period. My client who emailed me about his A1C levels certainly had his diabetes exacerbate due to his intake of these SSBs. He had no idea how much sugar a mega large drink contained until I informed him. When I ran into him one day he told me he should come see me sometime. His coloring was so bad I asked him to come see me that day. I was shocked his A1C level was off the charts and he didn’t even have an appointment to see a physician for several weeks! His complaint was that he only felt like sleeping and struggled to get up to go to work. I thought it was a wonder he was still alive!
The normal range for A1C is 4.5-6% and considered pre-diabetic if your range is 5.7-6.4%. My client’s 17.3% level scared him so badly that he was motivated to implement some lifestyle changes in order to get it down. Currently it’s 7.3%. Did you know that for every 1% you lower your A1C, you may also lower your risk of certain diabetes complications by 40%? This is huge!
High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is one of the key ingredients in sugar-sweetened beverages. In 2010, a Princeton University research team was able to demonstrate that rats with access to HFCS gained significantly more weight than those with access to table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same. Also, long-term consumption of HFCS led to abnormal increases in body fat, especially in the abdomen, and a rise in triglyceride levels.
Decrease your consumption of these SSBs and foods with HFCS and you’ll weigh less and have better health.