I'm a type 1 diabetic and after a long diabeetus bike ride or fun run sun dog scramble whatever I sure need one of those floats to get the blood sugar back up.

yummy

A high sugar intake does not cause diabetes. I SWEAR my mom told me it did once (she denies it) and for years had coffee with sweet and low or splenda. Gross. Luckily, someone finally told me it doesn't and now my coffee is full of natural sweetness.

Now, I've heard of A&W and Sunkist, but I've never seen Big Red before. I thought that was a brand of gum...

Do they just not sell that drink in California?

@TheKuudere:

They don't sell it in Massachusetts either.

@TheKuudere: Big Red gum float? now that's just gross.

@wrjohnston19283: Sugar doesn't, obesity does, and those shakes definitely promote obesity.

Eating sugar does not cause diabetes.
Eating junk food does not cause diabetes.
Being fat does not cause diabetes.
Gaining weight does not cause diabetes.

I'm always amazed at how many people I meet who firmly believe the first two. Eating a lot of carbs (whether sugar or potatoes or whatever) can trigger diabetes if you've already got glucose intolerance (insulin resistance) but in a healthy person eating a crapload of sugar, even every day, is not going to make you a diabetic. (just sick to your tummy.)

The Mass Media loves to tell people that being fat causes diabetes but that's completely untrue. The increase in the number of diabetes cases comes from a combination of more common screening and a more stringent guideline for what is diabetes (for example, people once called "pre-diabetic" are now diabetic; studies show that those people who were told to "wait and see" were the first to develop serious complications.

Worse, the most important message is often lost -- sudden, unexplained weight *gain* (not just loss!) is a warning sign of the onset of severe insulin resistance and/or diabetes, both of which need immediate treatment. People are quick to lay a sudden weight gain on "I need to visit the gym" when what they need to visit is the doctor's office.

@TheKuudere: They sell them in California though I don't see them often outside of liquor stores.

@mizmoose: Mass Media sure does lie about everything.

@TheKuudere: Big Red is a creme soda, actually not bad, though quality seems highly variable.

It mixes *very* well with cheap alcohol.

@yasth: Interesting.

I grew up in Hy-Vee territory and have never seen that stuff before.
Its bright color both frightens and allures me.

Kudos to Hy-Vee for supporting such a worthy cause! What's next? Criticize a school's bake sale or kids' lemonade stand? Sugar is perfectly fine in moderation.

@jst07: Soda and ice cream don't "promote" obesity. Rather, a lack of control, overeating, making habitually poor food choices, and lack of exercise promote obesity.

@wrjohnston19283: Artificial sweeteners scare me. I've had too many negative experiences with them.

As long as you don't down a half dozen of em it would be like going to the old drive in on Friday night. Now you got me waiting patiently for the dollar beer charity day.

@yasth: Are we thinking Dark Eyes Vodka as a mixer?

This is just irresponsible marketing. Not surprised, from a morally bankrupt company. When did companies stop taking ownership in their community and their neighbors?

Diabetes is reversible, without medication either. Medication is not the answer to every illness and disease.
[www.treeoflife.nu]

@fantomesq:

Your taste buds think sugar (sweet) is great. One would evolution (God, supreme being etc) would have reduced our desire for sugar if the stuff was indeed bad for us.

@mizmoose: Funny but multiple doctors have cited weight gain or obesity as triggers for diabetes. You probably have to have some pre-disposition for it but obesity is certainly a factor.

Or maybe those doctors all just work for mass media.

This charity event was for type 1 diabetes... not type 2.
Eating sugar, carbs, monkey brains, paper, etc does NOT cause type 1 diabetes (aka juvenile diabetes).

Type 1 is an auto immune disease. It is NOT reversible by eating better/less/whatever you read. There is no known way to prevent type 1 diabetes.

We (yes I'm a type 1!) will take shots (or use an insulin pump) for the rest of our lives unless we have a successful pancreas transplant. (and then we'll take drugs to suppress our immune systems for our lives)

There are a LOT of companies who do these type of events.

AS a type 1 I could technically have this (count the carbs and take my short acting insulin) but I hate the taste of regular soda now:)

Thanks to Hy-Vee for supporting the JDRF.

To those of you that complained... how about you research what juvenile diabetes/type 1 is. Eating 938473973 full of sugar and fat floats won't cause it.

I saw the irony when the ads originally came out. Maybe I just have less of a sweet tooth due to what I normally eat but root beer AND ice cream is enough to make me want to barf. Way too sweet.

@Patches O'Houlihan:
Type 1 is not reversible. And in my case medication keeps me livin. What are you a Scienctoligest?

@veg-o-matic: If you grew up in the 80s and remember being given "the pink medicine", I've found that Big Red has a similar flavor. Which isn't to say it's bad.

@techphets:

On days I have a large lunch I sometimes have Splenda in my afternoon coffee - the taste alone is disgusting - it's not "sweet" but indescribable.

@luvlyssa:

I get the joke- but like your post it's beneficial to note that Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are two completely different diseases.

I'm in the best shape of my like, bike 15 miles a day, gym 3x a week and I'm a diabetic forever. (not that I'd subject myself to a transplant anytime soon.)

And another myth: I eat plenty of sugar. I have pasta/carbs, and chocolate cake. I just have it sparingly and take a bump of short term insulin to counter it. (Or go for a long walk to burn it off.)

I'm with you on soda. I've been drinking diet for 15 years and when I'm served regular by mistake or just have a sip of someone's I can't believe how disgustingly syrupy is tastes.

The ole Guilt buy. "Hey fatty, you're going to die! Now feed the beast!"

You'd be surprised how much this works...that's why we keep seeing these promotions.

@jamesdenver:

make that "I'm a type 1 diabetic forever"

@dkev: No, I am not a scientologist.

Dr. Gabriel Cousens has reversed it. Just because conventional doctors say it cannot be done, does not make it gospel. Conventional doctors receive about 8 hours of education on nutrition. Compound this with the fact that their wellness counseling is often manipulated by pharmaceutical representatives that are catering lunch and diner for their office while peddling a new and improved drug they want you prescribed to for the rest of your life. Doctors practice medicine........

@TheKuudere: It's extremely common in central and south Texas (I was born and raised in San Antonio), but a bit less so the further north in the state you go; I don't think I've been in a Texan grocery store that didn't have at least a few twelve-packs.

When I moved to northern Illinois three years ago, I went looking for it at the grocery store, but, in all of the three years I've been here, I've only seen (and bought) one twelve-pack, and even then, the cashiers were confused because it they had never seen it before.

I've had my dad ship a six-pack of the little 8 oz. cans to me before. It's a pretty tasty drink. Some people say it tastes like bubblegum with vanilla, but I'd say it has more of a fruity, citrus-y/strawberry-type flavor to it.

To my knowledge, it's not related to the gum. :)

@bohemian:
You don't like root beer floats? Wow, that's the first time I've ever heard of someone not liking them!

@wrjohnston19283: It's called Formaldehyde.

@Zach, the Amateur Photographer: I moved to Kansas about 3 years ago from Texas, we went back recently and actually passed the Big Red bottling factory and my exact words were "I thought they went out of business!" Since I hadn't seen it in Houston in years except for a few specialty stores but the Walmart in Corsicana had it too!

@Patches O'Houlihan:

Dr. Cousens's method, widely tested at his world-famous Tree of Life Centers, is to reset the DNA through green juice fasting and a 100% organic, nutrient-dense, vegan, low-glycemic, low-insulin-scoring, and high-mineral diet of living foods in the first twenty-one days.

If you could "reset" DNA like that, this, by definition, would be an absolute and perfect cure for cancer. The fact this "Doctor" doesn't know that makes this an obvious scam. The only difference between him and Alex Chiu is his website is slicker, and this "cure" is deadlier than wearing some stupid looking jewelry.

This person is not only a quack, but an extremely dangerous one who is likely to leave people injured or dead from following his looney advice. I nominate him for an appearance Penn and Teller's Bullshit.

@Patches O'Houlihan:

For those that don't believe me, Gabriel Cousens has made it to quackwatch for claiming his "Rainbow Diet" cures ills. The basis behind it is the colour of the food you eat affects various chakras and therefore your health. Yeah, I can't say that with a straight face, either.

He has also settled a malpractice claim wherein he was accused of causing death by gas gangrene through bovine adrenal fluid injections.

@Patches O'Houlihan: How can you get the guts to call this a morally bankrupt company? They sell ice cream. They sell root beer. Everyday. People on their own take the ingredients home and make.....drumroll...Ice Cream Floats! At least they have the guts to give to charity what others are making a buck every day from. Ever been to an A&W? They will make them for you and not a dime goes to a charity, only YUM (the parent company of KFC, LJS, The Hut, Taco Bell, and A&W). Do you want to guess which company is morally bankrupt?

@Patches O'Houlihan: "
Just because conventional doctors say it cannot be done, does not make it gospel."
Nor is it gospel if a crackpot doctor says it can be done. Type 2 can go into remission with proper diet and exercise. Type 1, on the other hand, is a genetic autoimmune disorder. Diet and exercise can't fix that (it can help, but won't fix it).

Well at least no one can accuse Consumerist of being biased. They Praise Hy-Vee this morning for excellent customer service and goiung above and beyond [consumerist.com] and criticize them in the evening. :-)

@dkev: don't feed the troll... let's just OD the troll on some insulin. hehe.
i've only had it [type I] just under two years and i'm already sick of 'herbal healing/nutrition/faith/etc will take care of that for you, insulin is bad for you'
yep, and in a couple of hours who is going to take me to the ER?

@wrjohnston19283: And now they're thinking again that high intake of sugar and other carbs can, in certain individuals, promote insulin resistance which develops into Type II diabetes. Ain't science grand?

@StanTheManDean: Evolution doesn't care what kills you after you breed, though.

@tbax929: I think they're not all that well known anymore. More for us, I guess!

@bohemian: And there's a difference between Type one -- formerly juvenile -- and type two -- formerly adult-onset diabetes. Type one is largely genetic.

My father is a type one diabetic.

@Zach, the Amateur Photographer: Yes, Big Red is available at all the local stores where I live (Houston, TX area) but I had never seen it in California where I grew up. I find it to be very sweet, so I drink it only when I am in the mood for a liquid dessert. Yum

@supercereal: And foods excessively high in sugar, fat and/or salt are designed to promote a lack of control and poor food choices. So we're back to the same point: Promoting ice cream floats to prevent obesity is in extraordinarily poor taste.

@bobcatred: err, prevent diabetes, that is.

@catastrophegirl: With all due respect to you, I respect your opinion, and elect to not flame you. You can choose the lifestyle you wish. It is my opinion that most people are sheep and are lead to their health and wellness choices based on marketing and not educated decisions. Respecting others opinions are more important to me than flaming you, or others. Try it sometime, you may like it! ;)

@wrjohnston19283: "A high sugar intake does not cause diabetes."

Maybe not, but it sure as hell doesn't help fight it.

And if you're already diabetic (or even pre-diabetic) then lots of sugar definitely makes things worse.

@mizmoose: "Eating a lot of carbs (whether sugar or potatoes or whatever) can trigger diabetes if you've already got glucose intolerance (insulin resistance)"

You're right, there does have to be the pre-condition, but the thing is most people don't know if they have it or not. And polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) mimics pre-diabetes and it's estimated that about 10% of adult, non-menopausal women have some level of PCOS (at least, that's what I read several years ago, forgive me if the stat has changed). So that alone is a lot of people out there who maybe shouldn't be eating tons of sugar.

And of course if you are diabetic, sugary drinks are a major no-no, so it's still silly to link sugar to a diabetes prevention program.