FREE Subscription
The World’s Most Popular Natural Health Newsletter   
 
 
POSTED BY
Dr. Mercola
July 26 2008
41,940 Views
ARTICLE TOOLS
Email a Friend
Print Article
Save this Article
Bookmark & Share


BROWSE BY CATEGORY

Online Shopping Click Here!
Share your stories here!
Previous Article
Current Newsletter
Next Article
The New Tragic Measure of True Happiness in Africa

Africa, AfricansAfricans purchase 36 billion bottles of Coke a year, at a price of 20-30 American cents per bottle. Since the price is so low, and because Coca-Cola analyzes sales so closely, the Coke bottle has actually become a reliable tracker of stability and prosperity in Africa.

For example, the ups and downs during Kenya’s post-election violence this year could be traced in sales of Coke in Nairobi’s slums and in western Kenya’s villages.

Coca-Cola is the largest private-sector employer in Africa. A study has suggested that 1 percent of South Africa’s economy is in some way related to the distribution and sale of Coke.

The company expects sales in Africa to grow by an annual 10 to 13 percent over the next few years, outstripping economic growth.

Dr. Mercola Dr. Mercola's Comments:
When violence breaks out in Africa, Coke sales go down. When things are more prosperous, their sales go up. That Coca-Cola has become a bellwether on a continent that is home to millions of starving people is unsettling, to say the least.

Yet, Coca-Cola boasts that they are the largest private-sector employer in Africa. And they’ve just invested $50 million in a new bottling plant, and another $10 million in new offices, for the region. Isn’t this a positive thing for the struggling economy?

For some reason, a wolf in sheep’s clothing comes to mind.

Coca-Cola and other bottling plants like Pepsi are well known for running water wells dry and contaminating whatever water is left. Some of the plants draw from 800,000 to 1.5 million liters of water from common groundwater resources daily. Other water is supplied to Coca-Cola via water trucks that extract water from neighboring villages.

Meanwhile, the average wage in many parts of Africa is less than $1 a day, and this family from Chad spent just $1.23 on food to feed their family for a week. So 20-30 cents for a Coke is not so cheap after all.

Infiltrating Africa with Coke -- “Its system of distribution, which moves the sugary drink from bottling plants deep into slums and the bush a few crates at a time,” according to the Economist -- is the goal for Coca-Cola’s marketers, but really does the world need more soda plants?

Soda: The World’s Favorite Beverage?

A major percentage of the world’s population already drinks soda, but perhaps nowhere are the perils of this behavior more obvious than in the United States.

As of 2005, white bread was dethroned as the number one source of calories in the American diet, being replaced by soft drinks. During the past half-century, the number of carbonated soft-drink drinkers rose more than 450 percent and jumped from 11 gallons in 1946 to 49 gallons in the year 2000. Currently, the average American drinks more than 60 gallons of soft drinks each year.

During this time, obesity rates have skyrocketed. An epidemic of children are coming down with “adult” diabetes. And kids are being diagnosed with behavioral problems like ADHD at alarming rates.

How could there NOT be a connection?

One can of Coke contains 10 teaspoons of sugar. This is 100 percent of your recommended daily intake (which is way too high in my opinion anyway). The only reason you don’t vomit as a result of the overwhelming sweetness is because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor.

Soon after downing even one of these sickeningly sweet beverages, your blood sugar spikes, and your liver responds to the resulting insulin burst by turning massive amounts of sugar into fat.

So for people in Africa to see Coke as a good thing is a very sad reality. If it becomes as popular there as it has in much of the rest of the world, they are in for the same consequences that are right now occurring in the United States.

Drinking soda is one American tradition that definitely should not be shared with the rest of the world. But I doubt Coca-Cola will ever see it that way.
Previous Article
Current Newsletter
Next Article
Did you find this article interesting?  Interesting Not Useful
Community Comments ( 30 )
 		Comment on this Article
  
  
Swami Barmi
 [ Joined on 10/06 ] [ Posted on July 8, 2008 ]
15 Points        
   
 
Savvy User
So "The Gods Must Be Crazy" was a true story?
 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
DizzyIzzy1
 [ Joined on 06/07 ]  [ Posted on July 8, 2008]
4 Points        
   
Savvy User
  Mercola
Oh gosh, those films were hilarious!!

If the coke was true, then does holding a plank over your head really stop a hyena chasing you too? ;)
 

[/tangent]
Mercola
  
Islander
 [ Joined on 03/07 ]  [ Posted on July 26, 2008]
2 Points        
   
Moderator User
  Mercola

Ah, Swami, one of my favorite films. Thanks for the Nostalgia Moment!
Mercola
  
SpartyOn
 [ Joined on 06/06 ]  [ Posted on July 26, 2008]
1 Points        
   
Apprentice User
  Mercola

Once again I am reminded of the movie Idiocracy...they watered crops with a gatorade type product and couldn't figure out why nothing would grow.
Mercola
  
mrsmooner
 [ Joined on 07/08 ]  [ Posted on July 26, 2008]
       
   
Novice User
  Mercola

That was the BEST movie!!!! It's the first thing I thought of when reading the above article....  It's in my top 50 movies ever...

but seriously, it is up to us "the citizens of the planet" to make our own decisions  about what we eat and drink...

It's a RESPONSIBILITY that impacts not only our temporary physical body, but also the health care industry and the economy in general.

When I grew up (not THAT long ago), in our house, Cola was a TREAT and meat and potatoes were staples... we had fresh veggies because we GREW them and a dunkin donut was had twice a year because you made a morning trip somewhere near "the highway"....  No one in my family was overweight or sick EVER...

Things are different now for all of us... but these are still the rules in my life...  

I eat 3 out of 5 meals in restaurants...I order responsibly and sensibly.  I owe it to my body and to the world.

BUT!!! I want to have the RIGHT to decide for  myself what I eat and don't eat... and I want companies to have the RIGHT to do business where ever they find it favorable.... This is the American way..... Those of us who don't want sugary drinks don't have to buy them!!!!!!!!!!!  

I spent 5 weeks traveling in England and France recently (for business) and I would have KILLED for a Dunkin Decaf coffee (which I buy and brew at home every day)... and also trying to find a pharmacy that had Q-tips was IMPOSSIBLE!!!!  The selection and variety was unbelievably low or totally unavailable!!!  The "supermarket" had a security gate and a cart the size of my bathroom sink..

It was like life HERE in 1910...

I am personally THRILLED to be an American and have all that is available here... I vote with my MONEY... and lead a balanced life (no rice cakes for me) I would like, for all people to have the CHOICES that I do...

Mercola
  
TexDawn
 [ Joined on 10/07 ]  [ Posted on July 26, 2008]
       
   
Novice User
  Mercola

SpartyOn, "Idiocracy" was an amazingly stupid movie and I laughed all the way through it. I was actually helping make a fan film in the next hanger to where a lot of it was made, pretty neat summer if you don't mind an old aircraft hanger in July that was about 115 degrees.

I drink a lot of water but am still finding it hard to say NO to soda's some of the time. Argh. Sometimes I think quitting smoking was orders of magnitude easier than quitting sugars.
  
  
seg
 [ Joined on 11/06 ] [ Posted on July 8, 2008 ]
12 Points        
   
 
Savvy User
There is no safe place on earth anymore. The Typical North American Lifestlye (TNAL) is exported to all four corners of the earth, and unless something drastically happens, will continue to wreak havoc and devastation throughout . Even places like Japan & Greece who have enjoyed better health are feeling the onslaught.......Stray away from your native diet and lifestlye and you surely will fall prematurely.....

All the more reason to stay informed AND HEALTHY......
 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
All Under Heaven
 [ Joined on 02/08 ]  [ Posted on July 8, 2008]
6 Points        
   
Apprentice User
  Mercola
It's globalization and diffusion.
Mercola
  
Aaltrude
 [ Joined on 04/07 ]  [ Posted on July 8, 2008]
3 Points        
   
Savvy User
  Mercola
Here's on example of TNAL seq. Before the advent of TV and programs from the US, we used to call them "Railway Stations" in New Zealand. Now more and more as younger people are influenced by US TV programs and movies, we are hearing them being called "Train Stations".
  
  
myia
 [ Joined on 12/07 ] [ Posted on July 26, 2008 ]
5 Points        
   
 
Novice User

Why do we (Americans) always worry about, and stick our nose into, other countries business. Is it because we cant even solve our own problems? Is it easier to ignore the millions of American who are overweight and have diabetes due to the poor nutritional regulations in OUR OWN country that we give up and focus on other countries concerns? Lets work on cleaning up our own food supply, additives, chemicals and GOD only knows what other toxins and then we can police the rest of the world.

 [ Reply ]
  
  
hoopoe
 [ Joined on 10/07 ] [ Posted on July 26, 2008 ]
4 Points        
   
 
Novice User

This is truly sad and ironic since the kola nut, a main ingredient of the original Coca Cola formula, used to be used as currency in Africa. My, how things have come around.

 [ Reply ]
  
  
OnlyTruth
 [ Joined on 06/06 ] [ Posted on August 1, 2008 ]
2 Points        
   
 
Novice User

Sounds like Coke has "taught the world to sing" afterall. Unfortunately, it's a funeral dirge.

 [ Reply ]
  
  
Orion
 [ Joined on 06/06 ] [ Posted on July 26, 2008 ]
2 Points        
   
 
Novice User

You forgot to mention that carbonated water paralyzes the immune system.

"There is no such thing as a “healthy” carbonated beverage! All are harmful, and those with caffeine are even worse. Carbonation neutralizes digestive enzymes and stomach acid—enzymes are responsible for over 300 complex reactions in the body. Nutritional absorption is seriously compromised by a lack of enzymes, plus, minerals are better absorbed in a strong acidic base. In addition, nitrates and phosphoric acid are in most carbonated drinks, and they inhibit the absorption of nutrients, as well as cause calcium to be leached from the bones. Don’t drink them at all!"

 [ Reply ]
  
  
mswink
 [ Joined on 07/08 ] [ Posted on July 26, 2008 ]
2 Points        
   
 
Novice User

People DO find pleasure in drinking Coke here and that's the problem.  I live in Uganda and sometimes people will buy their guests a Coke instead of buying food for their own family!  We have a friend here who just found out she has diabetes - wonder where it came from?  No, I'm sure that mother who lost her children is not wondering if Coke will lead to diabetes - she does have other things to think about.  But what about the millions who are suffering from health problems?  Those FAR exceed the ones who have aids, been raped, or been taken by the rebels.  And they have NO IDEA where their health problems come from!  So maybe it's not so wise to let them take pleasure in drinking a Coke... And by the way, this is not a God-forsaken continent.  These people forsook GOD and He wants them back!  

 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
gus
 [ Joined on 12/06 ]  [ Posted on July 26, 2008]
1 Points        
   
Novice User
  Mercola

So nice to hear from someone IN Africa....

Mercola
  
swb
 [ Joined on 04/07 ]  [ Posted on July 26, 2008]
-1 Points        
   
Novice User
  Mercola

Amen to that! And your reply could not have been better!
Mercola
  
kkrizs
 [ Joined on 07/08 ]  [ Posted on July 27, 2008]
-3 Points        
   
This user is BELOW novice level and all their comments need to be reviewed with great caution.
  Mercola

Must you demean the so called *africa* to feel better? how many cases of rape did you witness in your so called *africa*? What god are u talking about? the *whiteman* god that sent evil to kill more than 650 millions bravest natives of that land that you call today *africa*? I am wondering the god. I am watching all online sites for evils like you.
  
  
natural harmonies
 [ Joined on 05/08 ] [ Posted on July 26, 2008 ]
1 Points