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[-] Zephorah@discuss.online 19 points 3 days ago

That’s not a bad idea. It is addictive. Tax it like alcohol and tobacco. I’ve watched a subset of diabetics scream that they need sugar no matter what healthcare tries to say about it. Tears. More often, anger and spiteful overconsumption in reaction to being told no. (A subset, not all.)

[-] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 22 points 3 days ago

If a diabetic has low blood sugar, then they literally DO need sugar, and fast!

[-] AVincentInSpace@pawb.social 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Which is true, and a good argument in favor of diabetics having easy access to sugary things -- not having them when they're needed can literally be life-threatening. It is not, however, am argument for everyone having easy access to them -- corporations bet on people getting addicted to them, and sugary drinks in particular give a sharp increase in risk for developing diabetes (according to one study, 25% increase in risk per 16oz sugary drink per day).

[-] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

There's no question that sugar is bad for you. I just wanted to point out that the person I was replying to was VERY wrong about what diabetes is and how it works.

[-] slemptastrophe@piefed.social 6 points 3 days ago

I was one of those people who knew my lifestyle was unhealthy, and turning it around was always just one week away. The diagnosis of type II felt like a loss of agency. Like it was no longer my choice to cut back on, or to cut out sugar.

Once the initial shock of diagnosis and grief over all the foods I'd lost settled down, the truth was clear. I had made the choice. The choice to open every single one of those sodas, the choice to go with convenience over health. The choice to kick the can down the road, and I still had the choice to diet, or die slowly.

Not gonna lie and say my diet is perfect now but, according to my NP, my labs paint the picture of someone successfully managing diabetes. I know I still have some work to do though.

[-] brb@sh.itjust.works 5 points 3 days ago

That's what we are doing in Finland. Sugar free drinks are taxed at 20c/l but other drinks can go up to 59c/l depending on the sugar amount

Just checked prices from one grocery store and coke zero 24-pack is 15.50€ while the regular one is 19.50€

Overall, Coke is most affordable compared with minimum wage in England, especially when Coke Zero is on offer, then Helsinki; in the US it takes the most minimum-wage work to buy a litre, and because regular and sugar-free cost exactly the same, there’s no price incentive at all to choose the sugar-free one.

In England for a 24 pack (330ml?), sugar is £15 (€17.5, $20 USD), sugar free is £12 with a deal for £8.50 (€10, $11.5 USD), no deals for the sugar one! £12.71 is minimum wage here (€14.86, $17.21 USD). In US Walmart I see 24 pack of sugar and non sugar for $15.37 USD (12 OZx24) and US minimum wage is $7.25 USD (£5.40, €6.30).

Location and drink EUR per litre GBP per litre USD per litre
Helsinki — regular Coke €2.46 £2.10 $2.85
Helsinki — Coke Zero €1.96 £1.67 $2.26
England — regular Coke €2.22 £1.89 $2.56
England — Coke Zero, normal price €1.77 £1.52 $2.05
England — Coke Zero, offer price €1.26 £1.07 $1.45
US Walmart — regular Coke €1.56 £1.33 $1.80
US Walmart — Coke Zero €1.56 £1.33 $1.80
Location and wage benchmark EUR/hour GBP/hour USD/hour Work for 1 litre of regular Coke Work for 1 litre of Coke Zero
Helsinki — first-year supermarket minimum €11.61 £9.92 $13.43 12.7 minutes 10.1 minutes
UK — adult minimum wage €14.87 £12.71 $17.20 8.9 minutes 7.2 minutes normally; 5.1 on offer
US — federal minimum wage €6.27 £5.36 $7.25 14.9 minutes 14.9 minutes
[-] dmir@gehirneimer.de 3 points 2 days ago

Sugar free drinks are taxed at 20c/l

Does that include artificial sweeteners? I have some sort of prejudice against them that I couldn't substantiate with research, but one thing is certain: none of them felt good to me.

I am much happier with drinking less sweet beverages overall, but made with regular sugar. Actually tend to spend less that way, even if I pay more for less - I just happen to be buying that much less frequently that way.

[-] Zarobi@aussie.zone 2 points 3 days ago

Random story: I saw a diabetic refuse to have his gangrenous "pinky toe" removed to save his life. Not even a foot, just the one smallest toe. I think about him sometimes.

I think it's been proven sugar is literally an addictive substance; it's hard to say no when it's not your rational mind in control. I have "pre"diabetes even though I never ate sugar; but I ate lots of other carbs and got unlucky. Rice and pasta and (non-American) bread every day sort of thing.

I come from an ethnicity of starvation and poverty, and there's growing research showing that diabetes actually used to be a protective adaptation. The idea is that, if you didn't have many carbs per day, just stretch out that 1 carrot for the whole day. It makes sense in that lens.

Then, overnight, society changed, and we're eating 30 carrots worth of carbs every day. Body didn't get the memo and makes those carbs last as long as possible, as it used to, but now it's a bad thing and causes high blood sugar.

I think it's been proven sugar is literally an addictive substance; it's hard to say no when it's not your rational mind in control.

A coworker at my previous work laughed when I said I'm addicted to sugar in the similar way he's addicted to cigarettes. Most people seem to be ignorant about it.

I come from an ethnicity of starvation and poverty, and there's growing research showing that diabetes actually used to be a protective adaptation.

In a similar vein this is why island nations have the highest rate of obesity. Their metabolism adapted to scarcity. But some people want to convince everyone that it's as simple as calories-in-calories-out, as if every body works the same..

[-] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago

People should try a month of avoiding sugar. Most won't make it a day.

[-] slemptastrophe@piefed.social 1 points 2 days ago

I used to get irritated at the "It's just as simple as ci;co" attitude on r/loseit. For a different reason though.

It's more than calories in, calories out. It's shopping, and prepping, and cooking, and cleaning, and more prepping, and dishes, and........

And having the spoons to do all of that consistently. 😮‍💨

this post was submitted on 16 Aug 2026
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