If you are a Coca Cola hooligan, to the point of identifying what type of Coca Cola you are drinking… we come with bad news. The big soda company has decided to replace high fructose corn syrup with cane sugar, and of course, some people have celebrated it and others have not… Social media has filled with comments about it, and it has even been praised by White House officials as a great victory for “Make America Healthy Again”, Trump himself has shared on his social networks that it is delicious and much better.
What is “Make America Healthy Again”?
It is a political slogan that wants to place public health at the center of the debate, and it is usually used to promote healthy lifestyle habits and public health campaigns such as vaccination and reducing contagion.
Although it sounds very cool, the reality is that the United States is not a very healthy place, there is a very high rate of obesity and diabetes, so any campaign of this kind (if real changes are made) will allow us to live better as a society…
But is it really better?
Look, they promise us a “more natural” Coca Cola, it sounds nice, healthy, fresher… but nutritionists do not agree, they confirm that both types of sugar work exactly the same inside the body and act the same on metabolism, particularly in regard to obesity and the risk of developing diabetes.
What is the difference between cane sugar and corn syrup?
Although they sound very different, the truth is that they are more similar than we would like. Cane sugar is sucrose (half glucose, half fructose) and the corn syrup used in sodas has a little more fructose (55 percent) but the difference is minimal in reality… Because the body processes them the same, not to mention that both affect the liver the same way… Both increase liver fat and favor processes related to type 2 diabetes.
A “healthier” Coca Cola
Yes, that is what they sell you, and the government presented the change as if we were facing a huge advance in health… But if you look at it from another perspective, the damage is the same, they have only tried to dress it up so it sounds better. As much as we love a cold Coca Cola, we must understand that it is not healthy for our body (no matter what label they put on it).
A can of Coca Cola has 39 grams of sugar, it does not matter if it comes from cane or corn; it is still more than half of the daily recommended maximum in this country (and in any country). So nutritionally, it is still the same as always.
And is it less processed if it has cane sugar?
Well… no. The industrial processes that both sugars undergo are the same, so they remain “empty calories”. Cane sugar is refined from crystallized juices, and corn syrup comes from a similar process, and both are metabolized in the liver causing obesity and diabetes.
What could improve public health?
Mainly, that Coca Cola’s change be real, but many nutritionists believe that what would truly change the situation would be reducing the total consumption of sugars in foods and beverages, and forcing companies to indicate how much fructose each product contains.
The problem is that while a “healthier” policy is announced, others like SNAP or Medicaid are suffering cuts. A bit contradictory, right?
And then… what changes for the consumer?
For us nothing, Coca Cola will continue being a (very sugary) drink that is consumed regularly and whose risks we already know, ultra processed foods are part of the daily life of millions of American families…
A lot of marketing, little health
Coca Cola dominates the world of branding, and this formula change is a brilliant move from a media and political perspective. But regarding health… everything remains the same. Sugar is, in reality, a poison that kills us very slowly and that we should eradicate from our diets… and that is something only the government can do.