The One Graph That Proves What All Americans Suspected About Soda

Culture

According to a new study by Credit Suisse titled "Sugar Consumption At a Crossroads," there is a general correlation between GDP per capita and soda consumption per capita. In other words, the richer the country, the more soda they drink.

The U.S., however, is the most extreme outlier — so extreme that Credit Suisse literally had to expand its findings chat to include it.

The study also found that the U.S., Argentina, Mexico, and Australia lead global sugar consumption at more the double world average (17 teaspoons a day) which range from 40 teaspoons for the U.S. to 35 for Mexico. Added sugars now represent almost 17% of a normal U.S. diet. That's significantly more than the American Heart Association recommendation of six teaspoons of added sugar a day for women (100 calories) and nine for men (150 calories). In a normal U.S. diet, almost 17% of calories come from added sugars, and 43% of those calories come from sweetened beverages. 

For many, these shocking findings come as no surprise. In fact, a Yale University Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity study last year found that a majority of Americans understand that soda is bad for them. Still a Gallup poll last year found almost half of surveyed Americans drink soda on a daily basis with an average daily intake of 2.6 glasses per day. 

Given the way sugar acts on the brain, sugar is said to be just as addictive as cocaine, a fact that the food industry capitalizes on. "Take the fat out of food, it tastes like cardboard," said Lustig. "And the food industry knew that. So they replaced it with sugar."

What are your thoughts on America's shocking soda consumption?