Sugar

Now the UK will have to pay moar for sugar. Not meaning sugar as in the white crap that makes your coffee not taste like coffee but your soft drinks/pop whatever you call them.

The sugar tax is coming so I hope Jamie Oliver is prepared for abuse.

What do you think? Should sugary products be more expensive for health concerns or should be just be able to think on our own and continue on our obese and diabetic futures?

That's lame.

I don't have a problem with the UK government raising taxes on sugary products, like nicotine it's bad for you and if the rise in price helps put people off buying it and the extra money gets put to a good use it's a good idea.

To be honest it's ridiculous. Who knows what will come next. In 10-20 years, ALL junk food and drink could be made illegal to purchase, sell, manufacture, or eat/drink.

Isn't there a saying called quality over quantity? I'd rather live with unhealthiness in my life (alongside healthy things) and die at 40 from some sort of disease (unless I had a family) than live 90 years off protein shakes, garden salads, and low fat products.

Have a think everyone. What have you eaten/drank in the past 7 days? What has been unhealthy? What would it have been like if you didn't have those things? Because the small things lead to ridiculous things. I eat quite a lot of junk to be honest. But I also eat a lot of healthy things too. It should be up to us to decide whether we want to risk a small increased chance of getting diseases.

« Last edited by Matt77 on Mar 17th 2016 »

Makes sense. People should be left to think on their own... but they don't think long term.
Drinks are a good thing to tackle as of all the calorie rich items on the shelf they are the ones that I believe most people don't think about being as bad as they are. You can eat your salad for lunch, but if you wash it down with a can of soda you might as well have had a burger.
Even if it doesn't stop people drinking as much then it will at least raise some cash to pay for the medical care.

I understand your point Matt.. although its a young persons point and the closer you get to 40 the more you will want to see 50 and then 60 etc. But as you said it's about balance, a balanced diet. I eat healthy stuff and unhealthy stuff and as long as I maintain a bit of a mix and don't binge very day I will cope with that. Measures like these are to highlight that sugary drinks are on the bad side and need to be seen as a treat, an indulgence that you need to have occasionally and balanced with something healthy. If you drink the odd one and exercise, then you'll probably make it to the big 40.

« Last edited by testuser on Mar 17th 2016 »

If you have seen the film Demolition Man I think it will come to that. I hope its soon I want to know what the 3 sea shells are for XD

What they need to do is educate. I think that instead of religion they should have this type of study. Each school should have a garden where the kids grow veg and fruit (whatever can be locally grown) and they should learn how to prepare food in a healthy way. I think its more or less done in Japanese schools and I would fully support schools doing that in the UK and Spain. Healthy food doesn't have to be boring. I had a salad tonight that had orange slices, passion fruit with olive oil, a touch of apple cider vinegre and with all the normal salad ingredients and it was lovely. Its all a question of creativity mixed with a little knowledge.

Being more conscious of what you are eating can help balance your moods, fight anxiety, depression and all sorts of illnesses.

Screw soda/pop/fizzy drinks I dont drink them anyway :evi

lol our PM is saying they won't do it.

Didn't Jamie Oliver used to punish his daughter by forcing her to eat really hot chilis? I'm pretty sure somebody said that was a form of child abuse...

Dan - Yes that is child abuse, if true.

Mark - Valid points yes. But why is it always sugary drinks that get caned? Alcohol can cause death, domestic violence, and problems with the brain, yet prohibition hasn't been seen in a western country since 1933. One day someone is going to suggest a ban of sugary drinks & more will support it, yet it isn't anywhere near as bad as alcohol.

Nikki - This kind of thing is increasing in popularity here in Australia. About half way through my primary school days our school introduced veggie gardens, & about 7 years later they're still there. And I agree, people definitely need to be educated about healthy food. I'm a big fan of simple salads, always have been & always will be, however I also love my junk, whether it's junk food or sugary drinks. I've been educated, & I understand the risks and rewards of unhealthiness, so why can't everyone else be the same?

Matt, I think you are confusing the tax with a ban. They are not banning the drinks, only adding a small tax to them to discourage consumption a bit. Alcohol has been taxed for the same reasons for a very long time.

They won't ever ban these products, no matter how much Nikki wants her seashells.

« Last edited by testuser on Mar 18th 2016 »

I understand the difference. My point is that this tax has been created largely because of the 100% all healthy food & drink people complaining, and these people will probably one day ask for the banning of sugary drinks altogether. (I went off into a bit of a tangent)

« Last edited by Matt77 on Mar 18th 2016 »

I don't think it really makes a difference, other than garnering more money for the UK government, and putting people who hate soda and complain about soda at ease.

People who love soda or who are addicted to soda/caffeinated soda will still go and buy it regardless. I imagine you'll see some drop in sales, but not a significant amount. I'm not saying that it won't help some people, but in the long run it won't make a difference unless it's outright banned or the tax is so ungodly high that only crazy/rich people will buy soda.

I watch a documentary the other day explaining that these days a loaf of bread is as bad for you as a packet of Skittles, both unbelievably contain almost the same amount of sugar.

But a loaf of bread won't get you shot.

You've lost me there KingofCorn, not sure what you mean with that comment?

Bread contains sugar I'm pretty sure, or maybe it's just here...

A lot of your more processed breads have a lot more sugar than needed and I dunno why. Merica

Bread and skittles have very little in common though. Apart from the fact that a loaf of bread is a lot larger and most people won't eat a loaf in one go. There are also many types of bread that will have no sugar or a lot of sugar. Brioche bread is very sweet, most burger buns have a fair amount of sugar.
Breads (overall) in america are apparently a lot sweeter than those in the UK. I dont know if this is true but it seems to be a general consensus. My cinnamon raisin bagel I had today was quite sweet. But then that's to be expected.

Yeah white bread is actually really bad for you and apparently can make a very noticeable contribution to an overhanging gut!

Chocolate's already pricey enough here, although I tend to by it in LIDL where it's ridiculously cheap (39p for a good quality 100g bar when in Tesco a boring over-sugared 40g Dairy Milk is 63p or whatever).

Obesity is becoming bigger (pun half-intended) in the UK though. The problem is, though, that healthy eating is neither cheap nor easy. My diet is neither good nor bad. I tend to eat a few pasta dishes and sometimes fish, but I also eat a lot of red meat (particularly sausages!) and chocolate, and have one or two pizzas a week. It's kinda balanced I suppose.

Obesity isn't completely linked to diet, though. Fresh air and regular exercise are also very important, and doing so regularly burns away a lot of those extra calories. Sitting in a bedroom all day playing video games is very unhealthy.

Obesity obviously can be due to thyroid problems too not just diet but I wouldnt advise everyone to slog away everyday in gym to keep themselves slim. Ive seen so many pig out more due to tough exercise because they feel they have earned it! Oh people people people you cant justify your pizza and pint of beer because you were doing cardio for an hour.

Mark, one day I WILL find out what those seashells were for!

Yeah the gym makes me very hungry. My metabolism isn't the utter ridiculousness it once was, but is still pretty damn high. They say to eat something high-protein after the gym, like a steak or something, which generally gets the job done (if I eat a steak after the gym I just eat it on its own or with some Reggae Reggae sauce). Bananas are good too. Usually I just eat whatever I fancy though, even after the gym (I only go once a week so it's not like I have to spend too much time wondering what to eat afterwards).

I'm not getting the seashell reference