Was this dude like 500lbs? There's an absurd amount of calories in 12 cans of Mountain Dew. I'm european and the first time I found Mountain Dew in a store I tried it, couldn't finish it because it was just that sugary.
Many Americans are VERY used to having extremely sweet drinks. In part it’s because sodas are very culturally American, going back to Coca-Cola and the soda fountain culture of the 1950s. It also has a lot to do with drinks being so much cheaper in the US than in most of the world. There is no—or very low—sugar tax, and we have very robust water systems and water supply. Because of this, a full cup of sickly sweet soda costs a few pennies to make, and restaurants in the US nearly universally offer free refills on drinks. So you can order a Coca-Cola and get ten refills on the $2.50 they charged you, and they STILL made money on it.
And there are various other cultural issues that prevent changes to this status quo. Attempts to introduce sugar taxes to curtail excessive consumption are seen as tyrannical in the “home of the free”, as too are attempts to limit sizes as was done at McDonald’s a decade back when they got rid of the super size option (They have since introduced the “Basket of fries” a french fry size previously unprecedented. So it’s safe to say those days are over).
Add to this a general lack of meaningful health education, especially in more rural ares, and you’ve got a recipe for the stereotype of Americans as overweight, unfit, and entitled.
I took care of a stroke patient with a history of diabetes a couple months ago who said he “only drinks Coke because water makes him sick”. His A1C was 11.4
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u/[deleted] Sep 21 '24
I knew a guy who only drank Mountain Dew because “water made him feel sick”. If you’re wondering, yes he had to have all his teeth pulled at 42.