In response to Dr. Arnold Ritterband’s June 14 letter regarding John McLoughlin’s June 8 column about Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s soft drink restriction, I must admit the good doctor made several very valid points about the links between excessive caloric intake and obesity, diabetes and hypertension. I certainly won’t debate them. What I will debate, however, is Mayor Bloomberg’s right to legislate people’s behavior and eating habits. While it is certainly inadvisable to consume ridiculous amounts of such items as soda and fatty foods, it is nonetheless our right to do so. The choice between good health or bad is certainly a personal one. My point is that what I choose to wash down my Big Mac with is none of Mayor Bloomberg’s or Dr. Ritterband’s business. I would hope the mayor, as well as the doctor, have much more important things to do than monitor what people eat. I would hate to dine out with either of them.
WHEREAS: High intake of soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages increases the risk of obesity and diabetes; and
WHEREAS:
New York City has a plan to limit the serving size of soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages sold in restaurants; now therefore be it
ORDERED:
That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to refer the matter of a ban on soda and sugar-sweetened beverages in restaurants to the Cambridge Public Health Department for a recommendation.
Wine Wine has the highest sugar content of any alcoholic beverage. A 6-oz. glass of chardonnay has 4 g of sugar, and the same size serving of pinot noir has 2 g. The fermentation process of wine does not completely eliminate the sugar in its base ingredients, and other carbohydrate content survives the process as well. A 6-oz. glass of pinot noir has 4 g of carbohydrates and chardonnay has 2 g per 6 oz. Your body will convert these carbs into glucose.
Beer Beer doesn't have any sugar content. It can be high in carbohydrates, however, and this can have the same impact on your diet as a cookie or a piece of candy. A 12-oz. bottle of Samuel Adams Boston Lager contains 18 g of carbohydrates. Light beer usually contains less, however. A 12-oz. bottle of Bud Light has only 7 g of sugar. Your body won't convert the carbohydrates to glucose immediately, however. It processes the alcohol content first.
Tips Liqueurs start out as liquor, but many have sugar added after distillation, so they can have a quite high sugar content. For example, a 1-oz. shot of Kahlua or the same serving of triple sec contains 11 g of sugar. A 1-oz. shot of Bailey's Irish Cream has 6 g of sugar. Adding mixers to distilled beverages can also change the sugar content dramatically. If you combine vodka with 8 oz. of orange juice, you've added 24 g of sugar to the drink, even though the vodka originally had none. If you add 8 oz. of tonic water to your gin, it will contribute 27 g of sugar. If you're watching your sugar intake but would like a cocktail, you would be better off with wine, which has just a little sugar, versus a mixed drink, unless you combine distilled liquor with water or a diet soft drink.
[Columnist John] McLoughlin (June 8 Gazette) and others are waxing indignant about the attempt by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to limit the size of bottled drinks in restaurants. At first glance, it does seem unfair to deny soda guzzlers their craving. But unfortunately, soda drinks are implicated in our easily observed obesity epidemic. Now, courtesy of those wonderful health practitioners at the Mayo Clinic, we list some of the possible consequences of obesity: high cholesterol, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, cancer, including cancer of the uterus, cervix, ovaries, breast, colon, rectum and prostate, depression, erectile dysfunction and sexual health issues. There are many others. Enjoy the full list at: www.mayoclinic. DSECTION=complications. Now a soda guzzler might argue that it’s a free country, and if they want to run the risk of one or more of the above goodies, they have the right. But they also claim the right to access emergency rooms, hospital beds, doctor consultations, insulin and other medications, dialysis machines, etc., whether they have insurance or not. And the strain on the country’s medical facility in treating so many people for these preventable conditions is enormous. Consequently, we see the skyrocketing of health insurance rates. So, in a way, we all pay the price. Let’s ease up on the poor mayor. He’s only trying to save us some money.
if freedom is all about saving your fellow taxpayer money then our freedom is limited.....eventually those folks would be too sick to even get there and would die sooner.....
I've seen folks live long because they 'took care' of themselves only to cost our fellow taxpayers $$$ because they lived longer and OLDER....not necessarily 'sick' but with needed assist IT COSTS $$ TOO...
6 of 1
1/2 dozen of another.....
mayor bloomberg and his lisp are just 'offended' by the blubber.....people have to WANT to fix themselves
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Doctor didn’t tell the whole truth about the danger in drinking soda
Re Dr. Arnold Ritterband’s June 14 letter (“Bloomberg’s plan won’t kill anyone, but supersized sodas do”): As an EMT myself, I find it appalling that a member of the medical field would stoop so low as to provide very misleading information in an effort to endorse lessening individuals’ freedom of choice. Dr. Ritterband says that if you drink a large soda, you will endanger your life; you will [possibly] become obese and diabetic. While sodas certainly are one thing that can cause obesity if overindulged in, this is hardly the whole story. Let’s be a thorn in the good doctor’s and Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s side and present all the facts. Soda is not the sole cause of obesity in America; in fact, it’s not even the leading cause. There are a lot of products we ingest that have the potential to make us fat. If we follow the good doctor’s line of reasoning, we must also ban all beef that is less than 93 percent lean, all bacon, all whole and 2 percent milk, any sugary snacks, any fatty snacks, butter, ice cream, eggs — the list would wipe out most of the grocery section in your local stores. But here’s the real kicker: Foods do not cause you to get fat by themselves. Rather, it is the choices each individual makes. Otherwise, everyone who ever ingested a bottle of Mountain Dew would be grossly overweight and yet, many athletes “do the Dew.” Overindulgence is what causes obesity, combined with a refusal to get off the couch and exercise. The idea of banning certain sizes of soda is brainless. A person who wants to drink a lot of soda will merely buy more smaller ones, or find someone who will sell it in spite of the ban. Perhaps Mayor Bloomberg and Dr. Ritterband never actually attended a history class, so it may shock them to learn that this type of government-endorsed ban was attempted before. It was called Prohibition, and is widely regarded as one of the most epic failures of the 20th century. Soda is a completely legal beverage. Telling taxpayers how much they are allowed to drink or even purchase is only a short hop away from government telling you how to live every other legal aspect of your life: “Welcome to New York City — no need to think for yourself here, your government will do that for you!” I don’t know anything about Dr. Ritterband’s life, but I’d be willing to lay odds that he partakes in activities that could be potentially dangerous to his health. Perhaps next we should ban riding bikes mountain climbing, driving cars, crossing the street and swimming, as all are potentially life-threatening activities. We could also include being a doctor at a free clinic where one is exposed to a cornucopia of communicable diseases, some of which could surely end one’s life much faster than a 20-ounce Pepsi. While Dr. Ritterband’s letter isn’t false per se, it omits a majority of the facts. It does a great disservice to our medical fi eld when a doctor takes it upon himself to tell people how to live their lives.
the only reason the 'sheople leaders' are touting this is so that national healthcare(oxymoron untruth) doesn't exist....they are using the wrong terminology and using the words "care" and "insurance" interchangeably.
half of our problem from 2 generations of INSURANCE SALESMEN and the belief in such....
HEALTHCARE IS PERSONAL CHOICE HEALTHINSURANCE IS HOPING SOMEONE ELSE WILL PICK UP YOUR TAB
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Politicians should read what they say. In the June 25 Daily Gazette Associated Press article about the New York City Gay Pride Parade, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is quoted as saying: “New York is a place where you can do whatever you want to do” and “The government should get out of your personal life.” I guess this does not apply if you want to buy a large soda or a gun in New York, two items that the mayor is spending much money, time and energy to prevent us from doing. Please, Mayor Bloomberg, stay out of our personal lives.
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