No Go With The Giant Soda Ban in NY

“An appeals court on Tuesday unanimously upheld a decision striking down New York City’s restrictions on the sale of large, sugary drinks“, was the opening line in a recent piece in the Times.

Is this a bad thing?

I don’t think so.

No, it’s not because I secretly like to have a Big Gulp when I’m in New York (although apparently the 64-ounce sodas from 7-11 would have been exempt from the law anyway… go figure); rather I don’t think that restricting the availability of gigantic servings of soda is treating the problem.  It’s treating the symptom.

No different from thinking that telling your teenager who has always had access to candy in the house that he or she can no longer have candy would result in them never getting candy one their own.

Or drugs, for that matter.

Heroin is illegal.  So is cocaine.  Does that mean that those who are battling addiction are unable to get it?

I digress.

The path to winning this war against obesity lies within education.   People have to understand exactly what they are doing to their bodies and genuinely want to cease consuming this absolute liquid rubbish.

While I think the concept is great- it’s no more realistic than if I were to start a campaign to make my hometown of Los Angeles 100% Paleo.   I believe the outcome would be better health for everyone but…and this is a big, old ‘butt’- everyone would first want to give it a try and believe in its benefits.

Think of all those skeptics out there that think Paleo is too restrictive/hard/high in protein or fat blah, blah, blah…If we took away all their pastas, bagels, cream, cheeses and tried to force them to follow the Paleo diet, I’m rather certain they’d just go outside of Los Angeles to procure those things to their heart’s desire.

The media’s  messages portraying fit athletes, or beautiful celebrities enjoying a tall, cold glass of soda helps add to the false idea that soda can be a part of anyone’s diet.   While no one ever claims it’s ‘good for you’, at the same time, no one is telling the truth about how just a little corn syrup is too much corn syrup and all those fake sugars are actually not a healthy thing to ingest.

Bottom line?

In my opinion, funds spent on campaigns like this would be far better allocated to educational purposes.

It’s back to the old adage about giving a man a fishing oil, rather than giving him a fish.

Teach! Think about what you’re putting in your body.  And if it’s not food that nourishes you, don’t do it!