chiefssth said:IMO, drug problems are worse. A gambling problem can and will cost you everything you have. A drug problem will do the same thing plus it will kill you.
El Iguana said:Don't laugh, but I think soda pop addiction is in some ways worse than gambling and drug addiction.
Unlike drugs and gambling, it is socially acceptable to drink pop anywhere you are 24 hours a day. Hell, there are pop machines in every building on every street corner, in every school, etc. It is a silent killer, thinning bone mass, causing kidney stones, obesity, diabetes.
However many drug & gambling addicts there are, I would wager (pun intended) that there are many more people addicted to soda or coffee, which could be considered drug addiction, I guess.
El Iguana said:And again, the worst thing about soda pop or coffee addiction is that while one could not legally/socially sit in a business meeting and smoke a cigarette, do a line of coke, pop in a dip of chew, or play online blackjack, no one bats an eye when you sip on a jug of coffee or pop.
Likewise, most people don't perceive pop and coffee as health threatening because they don't cause dramatic deaths and/or bankruptcy like drugs, alcohol, or gambling addiction can, but they slowly and quietly chip away at our bank accounts and health.
I guess I'm sensitive to this issue because my wife, who was on the college dance line and weighed about 130 when we got married, understandably gained up to about 160 while pregnant with our 2nd daughter. She subsequently became addicted to Pepsi (not diet, either!) and is now tipping the scales at 202 lbs. Our youngest daughter is 6! My wife has gained 40 lbs in 6 years by drinking pop, and I can't get her to stop. I really don't mind her gaining weight as much as I worry about her health and the effect that her weight gain has on her self esteem.
El Iguana said:Patswin, she drinks about 64 oz per day. Her parents are both overweight, and she was thin when she was young & active, but that's over!
While it seems hard to believe that this could cause her to gain 7 lbs per year, Mens Health magazine had an article in there that if people drink 1 less pop per day they can lose 10 lbs per year! I believe it--people don't realize how much sugar is in just a 12 ounce can of pop. Get out a metric measuring cup and measure 42 grams of sugar sometime....it will make you sick to see how much sugar you drink in one small soda.