The amount of sugar consumed each year in the form of soda and other liquids is simply astounding.

It has been reported that as many as 13 billion gallons of sweetened liquid are consumed each year and that fact is thought to have a major impact on the number of diabetes cases reported each year.

It also has researchers considering the impact of a price hike on the less-than-healthy drink options.

Could cost make a difference?

Researchers from the Columbia University Medical Center are saying yes.

They expect that there would be, at least, a 15% reduction in sweet liquid consumed if the government considered the possibility of imposing a penny-per-ounce tax.

It is thought that the penny-per-ounce tax could cut new diabetes cases by more than 2% in just ten years.

It could also make drastic impact on the number of cases of coronary heart complications, strokes, and premature deaths.

In fact, the new tax could save twenty-six thousand lives in that same ten year period. In addition to saving lives, the tax could add up to 13 billion dollars in tax revenue over a decade.

There is no guarantee that people would choose a safe alternative to the sugary drinks, but fifteen percent, researchers say, is a conservative estimate.

If people turned to water and diet drinks as researchers hypothesize, then each sugary drink not consumed could represent sixty calories not consumed.

Considering that the United States pays out a whopping $174 billion each year on diabetes treatments alone and nearly that much on obesity-related complications, the penny-per-ounce tax would appear very little, but some worry that the tax would negatively impact lower income households where the most sugary drinks are consumed.

Still others defend that the savings in medical expenses would more than cover the difference in price, when families are forced to refrain from drinking so much ‘liquid candy’.

To continuing reading about this study and the proposed change, visit the full article.