Sugar, Soda, and Kids’ Health: The Metabolic Health Crisis Driven by the Food Industry

The United States government subsidizes ultra-processed foods and sugar, and the healthcare system focuses on treating diseases rather than preventing them. These issues are harming kids’ health and leading to crisis-level rates of prediabetes and diabetes in both adults and children.

🎤 For A Whole New Level, @drcaseyskitchen sat down with @calleymeans founder of @truemedpayments. And Calley just happens to be Dr. Casey’s brother. In the episode, they discuss problems with the food industry, government subsidies, and healthcare. They propose possible solutions to these issues (including how TrueMed can help), while also offering suggestions for parents wanting to set their kids up for better metabolic health right now.

🥤 Calley Means shares how the U.S. government subsidizes Coca-Cola and other ultra-processed foods. And how Coca-Cola has given money to the American Diabetes Association. These issues mean that the ultra-processed food industry is “rigging institutions of trust,” he says. (PMID: 27745783)

🥤 Calley Means says that if he had to isolate just one thing—even though there are many things—as the main culprit of the metabolic health crisis, he would point his finger at liquid sugar, which is what most sodas are. He calls liquid sugar a “weapon of mass destruction.”

🍭 “I think the most shameful policy in the United States right now,” he explains, “is that the USDA says that Americans two years and up can have up to 10% of calories as added sugar, which is just unconscionable.” Our bodies need zero added sugar.

🚼 As a new parent himself, Calley Means is thinking about—now more than ever—what kids are eating. His advice to parents is to avoid as much as possible the three ingredients he says make up the foundation of ultra-processed foods: added sugar, refined grains, and seed oils.

🚼 Giving kids ultra-processed foods sets them up for metabolic health issues as they grow. But focusing on healthy eating early in kids’ lives sets them up to have a healthy gut microbiome and better metabolic health, he adds.

✅ He encourages parents to select whole, unprocessed items and to supplement with healthy brands like @myserenitykids.

#metabolichealth #metabolism #CGM #levelshealth #healthtips #healthy #healthylife #bloodsugar

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Levels helps you see how food affects your health. With real-time, personalized data gathered through biosensors like continuous glucose monitors (CGM), you learn which diet and lifestyle choices improve your metabolic health so you can live a longer, fuller, healthier life.

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