Mexican Town Only Drinks Coke-Diabetes Deaths Up 30%

[Deleted member 5487]

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/14/world/americas/mexico-coca-cola-diabetes.html

What do you guys think about this?

 

[Nebula]

I've long suspected that the very high obesity and insulin resistance rate of both the US and Mexico is due to a high consumption of both high PUFA seed oils (soy bean, cotton seed, etc) and fructose. I think the seed oils especially when fried damage metabolism including the liver and so high fructose consumption leads to fatty liver and other dysfunctions especially when a person is not currently athletic.

Many Mexicans fry everything in seed oils, while many Americans eat lots of processed food that contain seed oils as main ingredients. We could probably reduce a lot metabolic dysfunction in North America by eliminating the use of seed oils in the food supply. I don't think fructose would usually be a problem otherwise.

 

[Captain_Coconut]

I suspect that high sugar exacerbates the inflammatory effects from high pufa and a generally high fat diet. Drinking coke all day without much calcium will upset the calcium to phosphorous ratio.

 

[haidut]

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/14/world/americas/mexico-coca-cola-diabetes.html

What do you guys think about this?

@Nebula @Captain_Coconut
I think aside from the F.U.D. designed to blame sugar once again, the article contains these gems that show something else is at play.
"...In a country that is among the world’s top consumers of sugary drinks, Chiapas is a champion: Residents of San Cristóbal and the lush highlands that envelop the city drink on average more than two liters, or more than half a gallon, of soda a day. The effect on public health has been devastating. The mortality rate from diabetes in Chiapas increased 30 percent between 2013 and 2016, and the disease is now the second-leading cause of death in the state after heart disease, claiming more than 3,000 lives every year."

"...“Soft drinks have always been more available than water,” said Ms. Abadía, 35, a security guard who, like her parents, has struggled with obesity and diabetes. Vicente Vaqueiros, 33, a doctor at the clinic in San Juan Chamula, a nearby farming town, said health care workers were struggling to deal with the surge in diabetes."

So, let me recap this. Obesity and diabetes seem to be part of the daily life in Chiapas and have been for decades (http://www.oecd.org/cfe/regional-policy/Mexican-States-Highlights-English.pdf). So is Coke/soda, which in Chiapas residents' own words has "always been more available than water". In other words, neither diabetes rates, nor soda availability changed recently. Yet, somehow Chiapas residents suddenly "decided" to start drying in droves in the period 2013-2016! I think the real question, which the article (probably inadvertently) alluded to is what happened in 2013-2016?? I bet some "blockbuster" drug for treating diabetes was introduced in that state during that period. The newest drugs for lowering HbA1c are well-known for increasing all-cause mortality and it is expected that blackbox warnings will be added to all of them by the end of 2018.
Study claims low HbA1c increases mortality risk

It does not help that Chiapas is one of the poorest Mexican states, and has the lowest rate of waste disposal in the entire country (see lined PDF above).
NYT has long ago surrendered the attempt to produce real journalism but I think even they should be able to dig into this story and find out what happened in 2013-2016. A 30% surge in mortality from ANY disease is a national catastrophy and does not happen without a sudden change in the environment, which (in this case) is not the drinking of soda/Coke.

 

[tankasnowgod]

What do I think of it? Not very much.

I don't think much of the New York Times in general. I think most reporters are idiots. And when it comes to anything health related, they have little to no clue.

To be fair, there is a lot of anecdotal evidence that increased soda consumption and increases in diabetes (type 2) go hand in hand... but, so does increased calorie consumption, processed food, food fortification, disastrous health guidelines, moving away from traditional nutrient dense foods, the war on cholesterol, an increase in sedentary lifestyle, and on and on. That NYT article simply was designed to enforce the top down mandate that sugar is bad bad bad all the freaking time. Literally, it means nothing.

 

[haidut]

What do I think of it? Not very much.

I don't think much of the New York Times in general. I think most reporters are idiots. And when it comes to anything health related, they have little to no clue.

To be fair, there is a lot of anecdotal evidence that increased soda consumption and increases in diabetes (type 2) go hand in hand... but, so does increased calorie consumption, processed food, food fortification, disastrous health guidelines, moving away from traditional nutrient dense foods, the war on cholesterol, an increase in sedentary lifestyle, and on and on. That NYT article simply was designed to enforce the top down mandate that sugar is bad bad bad all the freaking time. Literally, it means nothing.

I think this is more than simple incompetence. The NYT has been commissioned, as usual, to cover up something nefarious by diversion and shifting the blame. Something VERY bad happened in Chiapas to cause 30% surge in diabetes mortality. I don't know what it is, but it is not soda. See my post above.

 

[lvysaur]

Poor people food in general is very unhealthful.

Mexicans should lay off all seed oils, sprout whatever beans they eat, and if they can afford it, start consuming milk.

 

[haidut]

Poor people food in general is very unhealthful.

Mexicans should lay off all seed oils, sprout whatever beans they eat, and if they can afford it, start consuming milk.

That does not explain the increase in mortality. If there was also increase in incidence then it would be more plausible but even then the consumption of Coke stayed the same, so an increase in incidence would also be surprising.
Again, something VERY bad must have happened in 2013-2016 and the few years prior. People don't just start dropping like flies while drinking the same amount of Coke as before.

 

[lvysaur]

That does not explain the increase in mortality. If there was also increase in incidence then I'd agree with you. But incidence stayed the same while mortality increased, in the face of unchanged soda consumption for decades prior. Again, something VERY bad must have happened in 2013-2016 and the few years prior. People don't just start dropping like flies while drinking the same amount of Coke as before.

That's true. Maybe it has something to do with stress resulting from cartel activity, instability or something. Or maybe something else entirely.

 

[MrSmart]

Do the maths, statistics can be a funny thing. After a 30% increase in diabetes-related mortality, the rate currently stands at less than <0.05% in Chiapas.

Now compare that to the US, the rate is around 10% now

Stokes, Andrew, and Samuel H. Preston. "Deaths attributable to diabetes in the United States: comparison of data sources and estimation approaches." PLoS One 12.1 (2017): e0170219.

 

[sladerunner69]

Do the maths, statistics can be a funny thing. After a 30% increase in diabetes-related mortality, the rate currently stands at less than <0.05% in Chiapas.

Now compare that to the US, the rate is around 10% now

Stokes, Andrew, and Samuel H. Preston. "Deaths attributable to diabetes in the United States: comparison of data sources and estimation approaches." PLoS One 12.1 (2017): e0170219.

If the diabetes rate in Chiapas is in fact <0.05%, then that is a soaring achievement. Modern countries should look tot he diets of Chiapians as a model for ourselves.

 

[dbh25]

"Climate change, scientists say, has also played a role in the failure of artesian wells that sustained San Cristóbal for generations."

Coke and weather.

 

[haidut]

Do the maths, statistics can be a funny thing. After a 30% increase in diabetes-related mortality, the rate currently stands at less than <0.05% in Chiapas.

Now compare that to the US, the rate is around 10% now

Stokes, Andrew, and Samuel H. Preston. "Deaths attributable to diabetes in the United States: comparison of data sources and estimation approaches." PLoS One 12.1 (2017): e0170219.

That's interesting and staggering at the same time. In that PDF I linked to in my first post it says that Chiapas ranks 24th out of 32 states in terms of health. So, the bottom 25%. If Chiapas has 0.05% diabetes mortality, imagine how much better things much be in the upper 75%! And Mexico spends a much smaller amount per capita on healthcare than other developed countries. Reminds me of Peat's quote on breast cancer mortality being the lowest in the Appalachian states - the most economically disadvantaged part of US.

@sladerunner69

 

[x-ray peat]

Do the maths, statistics can be a funny thing. After a 30% increase in diabetes-related mortality, the rate currently stands at less than <0.05% in Chiapas.

Now compare that to the US, the rate is around 10% now

Stokes, Andrew, and Samuel H. Preston. "Deaths attributable to diabetes in the United States: comparison of data sources and estimation approaches." PLoS One 12.1 (2017): e0170219.

Your numbers for chiapas cant be correct. do you have a source? Diabetes is their second leading cause of death. In the US its the 6th.

I wonder if the area got several new dialysis clinics and were loading up on anyone they could find, including those who didnt really need it. That would increase the death rates amongst diabetics.

 

[haidut]

Your numbers for chiapas cant be correct. do you have a source? Diabetes is their second leading cause of death. In the US its the 6th.

I wonder if the area got several new dialysis clinics and were loading up on anyone they could find, including those who didnt really need it. That would increase the death rates amongst diabetics.

I don't know about Chiapas specifically, but in Mexico as a whole prediabetes rates are at 14.6% and diabetes is at 2.4%. Still markedly lower than US and many other developed countries. In US, the prediatebes rate is 29%-30% and diabetes is 10%.
https://www.researchgate.net/public...n_young_Mexican_adults_in_primary_health_care

 

[x-ray peat]

I don't know about Chiapas specifically, but in Mexico as a whole prediabetes rates are at 14.6% and diabetes is at 2.4%. Still markedly lower than US and many other developed countries. In US, the prediatebes rate is 29%-30% and diabetes is 10%.
https://www.researchgate.net/public...n_young_Mexican_adults_in_primary_health_care

That study is looking at young adults. The non age adjusted prevalence of diabetes in Mexico is 13.06 vs 10.79% in the US.

Countries ranked by Diabetes prevalence (% of population ages 20 to 79)

The age adjusted rate of diabetes in Mexico is most likely higher since they are a younger country

 

[x-ray peat]

MEXICO CITY — Diabetes is the number one cause of death in Mexico, responsible for 80,000 deaths annually. One cause of this is genetic predisposition, however, the rising rate of obesity is also a huge reason why 14 percent of Mexican adults are diagnosed with diabetes. Diabetes in Mexico is a major health concern, leading to a lower life expectancy and a high risk of developing disabilities.

The number of Mexican adults with diabetes has tripled since 1990, and by 2030 it is estimated that 17 percent of the adult population will have diabetes.
Attempting to Combat the Rise of Diabetes in Mexico

This would explain the 30% increase in mortality due to diabetes. This increase is happening everywhere though.

 

[Wagner83]

A documentary I had seen years ago related the change of life of a particular region of Mexico located in the mountains ( maybe the one mentioned here) and famous for being one the country's biggest water reservoir. Well, coca-cola implanted factories over there (the former coca-cola representative in Mexico became president and started using the water, they confiscated it so much over time that now people don't have running water, they use cokes for their religious/traditional rituals instead of water, and cokes is way cheaper than water, the very water which was theirs . Not to mention this guy who worked for coca-cola mexico and was elected president later on : Vicente Fox - Wikipedia . I had also posted this https://raypeatforum.com/community/...-like-a-six-year-old.16440/page-2#post-223618 .

Apart from that, wouldn't people expect that consuming sodas freely would lead to vitamins (b..) and other nutrients deficiencies pretty quick on a poor diet (or even on a decent diet)? Have b-vitamins deficiencies been connected with diabetes? There is a forum member who absolutely ruined his health at some point because of consuming a crazy amount cokes, and despite coke quadrupling calories with fat gain, he did gain a lot of fat, and quickly at that.

 

[haidut]

MEXICO CITY — Diabetes is the number one cause of death in Mexico, responsible for 80,000 deaths annually. One cause of this is genetic predisposition, however, the rising rate of obesity is also a huge reason why 14 percent of Mexican adults are diagnosed with diabetes. Diabetes in Mexico is a major health concern, leading to a lower life expectancy and a high risk of developing disabilities.

The number of Mexican adults with diabetes has tripled since 1990, and by 2030 it is estimated that 17 percent of the adult population will have diabetes.
Attempting to Combat the Rise of Diabetes in Mexico

This would explain the 30% increase in mortality due to diabetes. This increase is happening everywhere though.

The 30% increase in mortality was only in 2013-2016 period, as per the article. Can you think of a reason why they mentioned only this period if the stats you found suggest it has been happening since 1999?

 

[General Orange]

I like the images.
local activists and health advocates are stupid.
I think coca-cola has a great deal with only 10 cents per 260 gallons of water!

But the problem is the import of cheap vegetable oil by chinese and indian distributors, widely available in supermarkets.
The traditional use of coconut oils buy the locals has declined and been forgotten.
So the poor ppl favor cornoil over 3x expensive coconut oil.
This is detrimental to their health and probably the cause of diabetes, not the soft drinks.