Why Sugary Tax Will Be Good For Filipinos' Health

Okay, this may be a dumb analysis made since the prices of Coca Cola here may have been more subject to supply vs. demand cycle. The proposal for tax reform where certain items will be taxed higher than usual can be good or bad. Giving more VAT for taxes and gasoline would be good or bad depending on how it's used. Now it's time to talk about what I'd dub as the "sugary tax" or sugar tax as some may call it.

Why am I happy about sugary tax? It's a problem that many Filipinos are obese. I was growing up with some of my Filipino friends who tend to eat too much sugar. I suggested to them eating Italian spaghetti but they complained it wasn't sweet. When I hang out with them for milk tea most of them want to put more sugar than usual. I even had a College teacher who went diabetic for drinking too much softdrinks.

How will the sugary tax help Filipinos? If the prices of soft drinks will increase then think more Filipinos will start drinking more clean water instead. You would want some mineral water to quench your thirst vs. soft drinks which only makes you thirsty faster for later. There's a lot of disease associated with drinking too much soft drinks. While drinking soft drinks on occasion isn't always harmful but too much of it will rot teeth, corrode bones, increase uric acid and make one diabetic to name a few harmful complications as a result. This will get more Filipinos to greatly lessen their soft drinks consumption as a result. 

You should know this. Too much sugar can make you stupid. It reminds me of why parents should stop giving their children too much candy aside from withholding junk food. I guess one of the many reasons why there's a brain drain in the Philippines is because too many Filipinos keep eating too many sweets and keep adding unnecessary sugar for more than 30 years. It's time to change all that. One should start getting one's taste buds accustomed to the taste of coffee, milk and tea without sugar. Another is to consider eating more healthy fruit for dessert and limit the intake of Filipino sweet delicacies. They can continue to exist but make sure people are discouraging from consuming too much. 

Should I mention that the Philippines is now a diabetes hot spot? That's not something to yell, "Pinoy pride!" about because it isn't. This can be attributed to drinking too much soft drinks and eating too many sweets. When the body absorbs more sugar than it does then it overworks the pancreas. The pancreas releases the islets of Langherans in order to break down the sugar. In this case, there's too much sugar in the body that the pancreas gets overworked to produce more insulin than usual. That's what would also contribute to a higher risk in diabetes. 

Hmmm... I wonder are the Dilawans and now #TindigPilipinas drinking too much soft drinks and eating too much sugar? What do you think?