Warren Buffett’s Opinion of Sugar & Whole Foods...
I really haven’t written a blog about anything other than food yet. I knew that I would one day, but I didn’t think it would be so soon. This morning, my husband told me about an article that talked about how Warren Buffett (who we really do like and look up to for business and entrepreneurship) spoke at a shareholders' meeting and said that sugar isn’t something that people should worry about, and that happiness is the key to living a long life. He explained that there are so many people who smile when they drink Coca Cola but that he never sees smiles on the faces of people at Whole Foods!
WHAT?! That is when I got angry and had to write this blog. I LOVE Whole Foods and similar grocery stores (Mother’s Market, Sprouts, etc.) because those are the stores that cater to how I eat. I cannot have sugar because of what it does to my body. My body overreacts to sugar (even natural sugars from some fruits) and so, therefore, I eliminated white sugar, brown sugar and processed fake chemical sugars from my diet 6 years ago and I AM THANKFUL that we live in a world now where more and more people have food brands that cater to people like me.
Where would people like me (who avoid, sugar, dairy, corn, wheat, soy, processed foods etc) be without places like Whole Foods? I have no idea! I think I would live on kale or something. I have learned about so many products over the last few years from Whole Foods (most of them you will see on my website including: Good Karma Flax Milk, Namaste Foods, Enjoy Life Foods, BasilTops etc) that have helped me so much.
Now, I do not drink soda (unless it’s from Zevia because it’s all natural and has no added crap ingredients in it) and I definitely will not touch a coca cola for so many reasons but do you know how much sugar is in a coca cola? There are 39 grams of sugar in a can of coke. I think that is outrageous! I don’t even have that many grams in a day unless I am eating fruit. According to the American Heart Association (AHA) the maximum amount of added sugars your should have in a day are 37.5g for men and 25g for women. I am no mathematician but I do know that a can of soda has more than what the AHA says you should have in a single day.
On average, Americans consume 100lbs of sugar and sweeteners each year (almost 30 teaspoons a day) and nearly half of that came from SODA and FRUIT DRINKS!
According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention), almost 10% of Americans have diabetes (over 29 million people). For Mr. Buffett to state that people are more happy drinking soda than they are eating food from Whole Foods is very misleading. I just wonder if those who have eaten fast food and soda for their entire lives and are now dealing with blood sugar levels and having limbs amputated from diabetes would agree with Mr. Buffett.
Glenn Beck has severe health issues related to the consumption of sugar, and many people attribute how much Diet Coke he was drinking to part of his health issues. He has completely changed his diet to fix his health issues and has completely cut out all forms of sugars.
I don’t want to bash Warren Buffett BUT I do want to take a stand and share my support for a store that I love and a store that I actually get excited about when I am there shopping. I love looking at new food products and trying new food products that are out there that cater to how I eat and so many other people eat.
Buffett said that he see’s people smiling when they drink a Coca Cola (a sugary soda), but I am sure they won’t be smiling that way when they have health issues due to poor diet (fast foods, sugars, too much soda) and have to be on tons of medication.
I strongly believe that people who want to be successful should follow successful people and that is a reason why my husband and I do like Warren Buffett - clearly he knows that he is doing when it comes to business and entrepreneurship … however I will not buy into or believe anything he says that pertains to food because he clearly has no idea what he is talking about! He owns companies like Dairy Queen, See’s Candy, Coca Cola, Kraft, etc... I think he’s trying to keep his shareholders happy by what he said today but what is he is also doing is harming the American people.
Please do me a huge favor! Next time you are at Whole Foods, take a picture or selfie inside the store with a huge smile on your face and use the hashtag #ISmileAtWholeFoods! Let’s make this thing go viral all over Instagram and social media. Please feel free to tag me on Instagram @KrystensKitchen and ask your friends to do the same!
