If you look at the statistics you can see that the countries consuming the most softdrinks per capita (US and Mexico) come in around 2 cans per capita per day.
First, I would consider something extremely unhealthy which leads to a reduction of life expectancy which is similar to other extremely unhealthy consumption such as with the opiod epidemic. I haven't of any study which would suggest that a can of soda or juice every other day would inflict a strongly negative health outcome (at least if counter-balanced by other healthy behaviors).
Second, it is strange to use extreme terms for behavior which is already endemic and normal in a population. You would want to use terms such as highly and extreme for instance for those who consume half a gallon or a gallon of soda per day.
I agree to some extent. But it doesn't strike me as strange to use such terms for a behavior which is endemic in a country with a very bad rate of morbid obesity which could well be linked to such behavior.
What if it wasn’t actually pleasurable, but what you are doing is feeding certain species in your microbiome that control you by telling you it is pleasurable so you continue to feed them at the expense of your own health.
What if you don't actually want to be alive, but your bio-chemistry has been evolved over millennia to make chemical reactions that cause you to fear death, crave reproducing, and strive for a culture of preventing death of your species?
What's wrong with a little obesity, tooth decay, acid reflux, or insulin tolerance? The only people who complained to me about those symptoms were quitters. So maybe quitting soda is the REAL culprit, huh.
> Is your microbiome not "you"? It's as active a participant in your hormone balance as any other organ in your body.
Your microbiome is definitely not "you". You can take antibiotics and nuke your entire microbiome, and you'll be mostly fine. Nuke "any other organ in your body" and you're gonna have much bigger problems.
The tenants in an apartment are not the apartment. You're the apartment, you're letting the microbiome stay as tenants as long as they pay their rent (break difficult foods to your advantage). Unruly tenants get thrown out. Of course it takes some effort to evict - this is the craving for particular foods that must be overcome to consciously stop eating those foods.
If you endure the unhappiness generated against you by your microbiome, you can change it. Eat what you know is good regardless of microbiome happiness, and you'll cultivate a microbiome that is happy when you eat that.
Your microbiome alters the very taste of foods in your mouth. It was hard for me to stop eating meat and start eating plants because the plants tasted like shit, but after some time sticking with it everything flipped - plants started tasting amazing, meat not so much anymore.
Well, why would you deliberately endure discomfort? That's one of the defining characteristics of our species: Our ability to consciously delay gratification to achieve better long term results.
If you starve your microbiome of sugar, then certain bacteria will die or go dormant.
Notwithstanding how you, or I, define “you”, once that change is made to your microbiome, you won’t find that coke to be very pleasurable.
I don’t think it’s about being less valid, but if you were to find out you were not making decisions for yourself rather someone or something else was controlling your decision making processes, would you make simple changes to take back control?
https://www.statista.com/statistics/505794/cds-per-capita-co...
So, 1 can per every other day is 1/4 the average consumption. It would be strange to call such a consumption level highly unhealthy.