Coke Discloses Millions in Grants for Health Research and Programs

New submitter erinrivers11 writes: Following criticism that Coke has supported research that plays down the role of soft drinks in the spread of obesity, the company released a list showing nearly $120 million in grants to medical, research and community organizations. The Times reports: "The list, published Tuesday on the company’s website, details hundreds of Coke grants, large and small, to a variety of organizations since 2010, including physician groups, university researchers, cancer and diabetes organizations and public parks, and even a foundation for the National Institutes of Health."

Comments

Heard this before

[Virtucon]

For years the tobacco industry did something along the same lines.
It's the calories stupid.

Re:Heard this before

[LesPeters]

Specifically, it's the reaction the body has to the carbohydrates (sugar): spiking insulin levels, blocking the release of fat as a fuel source, and encouraging the body to store energy as fat.

Re:Heard this before

[Anonymous Coward]

Specifically, it's the reaction the body has to the carbohydrates (sugar): spiking insulin levels, blocking the release of fat as a fuel source, and encouraging the body to store energy as fat.

Bingo!

I find it interesting that since the 1970s the government has been parroting the research done by Ancel Keys in the 1950s that states that a high carbohydrate low fat diet is what is needed to avoid heart disease, despite:
                    1- This advice being followed rarely results in weight loss, better handling of dislipidemia or the occurrence of type 2 diabetes.
                    2- The emergence of these three disorders in epidemic proportions since the adoption of the Ancel Keys paradigm by the government in the 1970s.

At this point, the advice being given to people touched by obesity and diabetes is precisely upside down and backwards to what will actually help resolve the condition and serious health problems later on down the line.

Easiest ways to avoid heart disease and diabetes and obesity are in order of effectiveness:

            1- Consume less carbohydrates per day as percentage of total calories
            2- Consume more saturated fats (which increase HDL cholesterol. the "Good" cholesterol)
            3- Consume slightly less calories than you consume, whilst maintaining the percentages of lowered carbohydrate calories, increased fat calories and moderate protein calories. Less calories results in weight loss and less carbohydrates results in both the mobilization of stored body fat as an energy source and the lowering of blood triglycerides and LDL cholesterol numbers.
          4- The lessening of the need for insulin to maintain energy levels and stabilize blood sugar levels results in the lowering of inflammatory responses through out the body further reducing the risks for heart disease, stroke, arteriosclerosis and a laundry list of other statistically big killers (Various types of Cancer... etc)

Strangely however doctors who recognize these 4 simple facts are in short supply. My doctor got onto me about my blood sugars being low and swore that I was going to end up with some form of dementia later on in life because of it and did not listen to the fact that I get most of my daily energy from fat calories in my "Ketogenic" diet, which there are mountains of evidence of this type of diet being neuro-protective and are widely used to slow down alzheimer . parkinson, epilepsy and other similar conditions. Ketogenisis is a very good explanation of the age old observation of people gaining a mental "Clarity" of an almost spiritual nature when fasting.. IE shifting from carbohydrate sources of cellular energy (of which the brain is a very large consumer) to lipid based sources of energy.. (such as Beta Hydroxy Buterate, Aceto-Acetone and Acetone.)

I think it is a cultural paradigm and the type 2 diabetes and obesity epidemic is a direct result of it.

Re:Heard this before

[PolygamousRanchKid]

It's the calories stupid.

In a Coke sponsored study, Coke Scientists concluded that calories don't make people fat. Marriage makes people fat. The Coke Scientists simply measured the waistlines of married and single people, and came to this obvious conclusion.

Changes nothing

[ramriot]

It does not matter how much they spend on neutral research for general healthcare, they spent money on 'targeted research' (I won't call it science) to the benefit of their own business interests.

Oh it's worse

[popo]

Sodium benzoate causes cancer. They knew about it for years. When it looked like the whole story was about to break, they *silently* pull it and replace it with potassium benzoate.

Does that cause cancer? The jury's still out, but the signs aren't good.

Bottom line is, there's little doubt that KO pumped Americans full of carcinogens for decades. And the "new" alternative is highly suspect.

Society as a whole moves like an oiltanker

[dr.Flake]

Of course Coca Cola is the personification of "evil big food" and they will do whatever it takes to keep making money as water running from the tap. Its amazing how much money one can make from selling flavoured sugar water plus some advertising.

But the negative effects of increased sugar intake is nothing new. For several years the anti-fructose movement has been making noise and has been showing increasing insight is the underlying mechanisms. Famous example spokesperson of this movement is Dr Lustig, and googling his name alone gives a boatload of references.

But where is the response from society (not from some smart commercial brands), where is the education in schools, in children's TV programs, in popular scientific programs, in journals being read by large percentages of the population. And when will we start listening to this??!!

We still buy all this processed junk, with the bright coloured labels promising everything and being "fat free". We as a society have to immediately start buying other food products. More "real" unprocessed foods, and please leave those products with added sugar packaged in plastic in the store. Spend more time buying, cooking, eating and ENJOYING this food.

The industry will make whatever we buy. Self regulation from their side is an illusion.

So WE need to change.

Re:Society as a whole moves like an oiltanker

[dr.Flake]

31 Healthy Meals You Can Make in 10 Minutes or Less:

  http://greatist.com/eat/10-min...

Re:Not our fault.

[MagickalMyst]

Decades ago, indirectly, with the advent of subliminal advertising.

Drink this and thank me later:

[PopeRatzo]

OK, I'm going to help you guys out. Give you something healthy, delicious and refreshing to drink that won't make you fat, ruin your teeth or cause you to grow a tumor the size of a pillbox hat on your head. Stay with me.

1) Get a soda stream. They're cheap now, and I found mine at a garage sale. Staples, Target and others still sell the CO2 tanks, and if you're clever you can figure out how to get your own refilled on the cheap.

2) When you make the soda, just leave it as plain carbonated water and stick it in the fridge. By the way, you can "overcharge" soda with a SodaStream so that the carbonation levels are much higher than regular pop. This is what I do because I like that carbonated "burn" you get. The SodaStream bottles have special caps so that the carbonation doesn't escape, so you can always have some good fizzy water at the ready when you want it.

3) Brew up some green tea with a good amount of ginger. It can also be fruit-flavored for a little sweetness. When my wife makes jam, I save some of the fruit juice left over and put that in, too. Make the tea STRONG because it's gonna be your flavoring syrup for the drink you're making.

4) Now this is the kicker: When the tea cools, shake some cayenne pepper on it and stir it in. This you have to do by taste because people tolerate different levels of hot. I know it sounds weird, but trust me. You gotta add the cayenne pepper to the flavoring mix (although one of my friends waits until after he's mixed the flavoring with the soda water to sprinkle the cayenne pepper, because he thinks he's a bad-ass, but really he ain't shit. I could totally kick his ass if I were 15 years younger. He also puts a little ginseng in the tea, but I don't do that because I don't have any trouble in that area, if you get my drift.

5. When you're ready for a great drink, pour a nice glass of the soda water, and then pour a little of the tea/ginger/fruitjuice/cayenne pepper mix in and stir. It'll foam up a bit creating a nice little "head" in the glass. The flavoring mixture stores very well in the fridge, just shake it up when you're ready to add it to the soda water.

I'm telling you, this stuff is like ginger ale with a hard-on. It's like Dr Pepper, if Dr Pepper were played by Peter Capaldi. You can drink it all day and it won't make you fat, and the ginger and cayenne pepper are healthy as hell. You'll doubt me, but hand-to-god, when I drink this stuff my sinus allergies get better. It's good for digestion and it will save you a ton of money over store-bought soda pop. I mean hundreds of dollars over the course of a year.

Fuck Coke.

Re:Manipulate people opinions

[tripleevenfall]

I wonder if someone will do a study on whether or not there are any people left who don't know that soda is bad for you, or what it is that forces people to drink it...

Damned if you do, damned if you don't

[Solandri]

I'm alarmed at the growing tendency for people to jump to conclusions on topics/conspiracy theories with popular support. Coke making donations to and providing grants for medical research companies, or even directly funding research into sugared beverages and obesity is not in and of itself evidence that they're trying to manipulate the research. If it is, you put Coke in an impossible damned if you do, damned if you don't position. If they do make the donations, you criticize them for trying to manipulate research results in their favor. If they don't make the donations, you criticize them for being greedy corporate bastards who won't even donate to scientific research relevant to their product.

The donations themselves are not evidence that Coke has been trying to manipulate research results. If you want to support that hypothesis, you need to come up with specific incidents where Coke made the donations conditional on withholding or changing research results unfavorable to their product.

Just because a majority of people want to believe this theory doesn't free you from the logical and ethical obligation to actually prove the claim. The person advocating the hypothesis always has the burden of proof.