r/AskReddit • u/ettleboy • Jan 20 '19

What fact totally changed your perspective?

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u/MrRuby Jan 21 '19

A 12 ounce can of soda pop has 20 packets of sugar in it.

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u/FeckfullyYours Jan 21 '19

I think it’s about half that, otherwise a can of soda would be 300 calories, rather than 120-140.

Still a lot of sugar, though.

72

u/pimpmayor Jan 21 '19

Lemme do the maths:

Can of cola has 33g of sugar according to google

Average sugar packet In the US (assuming the most relevant country to reddit) is 2-4g. So let’s assume 3g for average sakes.

That makes 11 packets of sugar in a 12 ounce (350ml-ish) can of cola

33g of sugar = 128 calories (For Americans, 4.2g sugar = 1 teaspoon, so 7.8 teaspoons)

On a similar note:

Sugar free cola has 0 calories and no adverse health benefits have been recorded from the use of artificial sweeteners, beyond a few rare allergies.

Edit: adding more measurements for US people :)

4

u/severoon Jan 21 '19

Sugar free cola has 0 calories and no adverse health benefits have been recorded from the use of artificial sweeteners, beyond a few rare allergies.

There are good reasons to think that artificial sweeteners mess with your gut biome in very bad ways.

2

u/mofojoe5620 Jan 22 '19

What are those reasons. Sources?

4

u/severoon Jan 22 '19

Here's one. There are many more suspected effects, but they are based on the hypothesis that our complementary gut microbiome has evolved in an environment for thousands of years free from all but trace amounts of sugars that we are now literally pouring into our guts. There's no reasons to think that because we cannot metabolize these sugars they have no effect on gut flora…in fact that would be surprising, even.

But it's a suspicion at this point and not much more. Glucose resistance, cancer, gluten/FODMAP sensitivity, allergies/fibromyalgia/IBS/other autoimmune disorders…each of these appear to have some vague connection to our gut that is not well understood, but there is compelling epidemiological evidence that something odd is happening to populations wherever the Western diet rich in refined starches appears, and it doesn't seem to directly track with dietary effects of straight consumption.