I am an extremely adamant Pepsi drinker. I drink a ton of Pepsi… I try to limit it to one can a day and usually fail. Actually, as I write this article, it is still early in the day and I am already on my second can. Oops! Caffeine is one of my favorite parts of the day and I simply refuse to give it up. (For now at least.)
Written in the headlines recently, there has been a lot of debate on soda and caffeine. In the article above, caffeine is targeted as the cause for a teenager in Ohio’s sudden death. Headlines can be deceiving however, because the death was not from a can of Pepsi, a Redbull, or a cup of coffee. The teenager snorted caffeine powder which puts the caffeine amount of approximately 70 Red Bull beverages into your body all at once. Soft drink manufacturers did not kill this teenager, internet-bought caffeine powder did. Pepsi, Coke, Starbucks etc. are going to shoulder the blame however, because people don’t bother to read more. The headline is like the cover of a book and the average consumer is judging by it.
The government would also like for us to hate on soft drinks. The government has proposed a tax on soft drinks claiming that they are the cause for obesity and diabetes. I am a 24 year old girl who drinks two Pepsi’s (or more) per day. Does that make me 400 lbs? Absolutely not. I also watch my fat intake, don’t consume other sugars, lift weights at the gym 4 times per week and do cardio 3 times per week. I also take the stairs at work, consciously do not buy the cookies I like at the grocery store, and control what I put in my mouth.
This tax suggestion and media attack on soft drinks speaks to a whole different issue: control.
Some people are born with serious self control. My supremely skinny friend is able to control what she puts in her body each and every day. Another friend, equally as skinny, doesn’t control as much but does work out two times per day, five days a week. Some people are able to control and compensate for what they want, what they do, what they eat, etc. Is it really the government’s job to control what we put into our own bodies? I am all for healthy eating and regulation, but a bottle of water costs $1.49 at my local gas station and a can of soda costs 99 cents. This small outburst of control is going to raise the cost of living, raise the governments reach on your everyday life, and not change a thing. The fact of the matter is, I will still buy Pepsi. Obese people will still buy soft drinks. People will still get diabetes, still get fat, and still drink soda. Gas is over 4 dollars a gallon… have we stopped buying it? NOPE.
I have been nice up until now Mr. Government, but once you try and take away my Pepsi, we are going to have a huge issue. STAND DOWN on the soda tax, or there’s gonna be a major Revolution of epic proportions starting with me.