That's about the most inane and ridiculous argument I've heard from people who say fruit juice contains sugar also. Blah blah.

It's NOT the same thing at all and just lumping all sugars together to conflate the issue is a non argument.

"Unlike table sugar, which only provides calories, the natural sugar in 100% orange juice comes with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Orange juice is one of nature’s nutrient-rich foods! And a convenient way to reach one’s daily fruit intake recommendations."

The main sugar is fructose which doesn't have near the same effect on metabolism and doesn't cause type two diabetes. As well, if you juice your own oranges you get fiber. Let's not forget about all the vitamins, minerals and trace elements contained in natural juices.

Most soda contains sucrose which has been processed from sugar beets or cane. It's been treated to remove any "contaminants" such as vitamins and minerals and trace elements. To use the sugar your body must use it's own stores of vitamins and minerals so it's basically causing you to be malnourished.

My English teacher would stop traffic.

I'm so glad you gave me a name. You'd think the lyrics would make it easy to find...but no.

I'm just going on what my observations are. I've told my friend what he is doing to his health and he gets it, or says he does but he can't seem to connect his actions to reality. It's like he puts on a show to impress me with what he's learned but he gets to the store and comes back with total crap. He makes excuses trying to say he doesn't do it that often but the reality is totally opposite.

He prefers to go to a fast food venue to get food any time he gets hungry for something real and uses coupons. Well, then he's getting very poor value for his money and it's crap tasting food to begin with. Taco Bell, Arby's, etc. It's almost like he lives in a fog of make believe and I'm guessing that's what most people are doing.

Many reasons. It is normalized. I remember a decade ago when taco bell advertised 24 hour drive through and made referencing to inventing yet another meal time to our arsenal.

Social factors: People use food as tools of compliance, reject their food and they get offended. It gets even worse when they tie food to culture, then all of a sudden by eating responsibly you are genociding your heritage.

We are in that smoking/drinking phase where we know the stuff ingested is poison and we do it anyway knowing full well of the ramifications.

I would argue there is less urgency to call out this nonsense which is why people gleefully do it irrespective of the consequences.

It is hard to call it out without being cancelled.

Another big point I would make is people have no cause-and-effect understanding when it comes to the relationship between sugar and every problem it causes. They will decry their obesity, their lack of energy, their increased disease rate, their anxiety, their insomnia, their depression, while ignoring sugar as a possible culprit.

Even looking at the DSM 5 for substance abuse shows significant overlaps with sugar addiction but people just cannot make the connection.

and know that processed sugars are more addictive than pure cocaine

Having tried both cocaine and sugar, have to say my eyes grow weary of reading this kind of statement. Not true in any stretch of the imagination. People don't turn violent after a few hits of sugar and suddenly being cut-off. I've seen some shit back in the day.

Same here, my family drank it for the fizz and because it wasn't loaded with sugar. Now I buy my elderly mother the mini six packs of ginger ale.

I'm fighting an energy drink addition right now, but even then I do not understand how people drink a whole 2 litter in one day. I've already promised myself that I was going to hit the gym hard this year. Now that my local ones are finally open again.