Soda makes you fat!

[giza]

I've been saying this for a few years now. If you drink an 12 ounce can of coke, that's roughly a cup full of simple sugar. Since processed sugars break down very quickly, your blood sugar spikes, which in turn tells your body to stop burning fat for energy. And since there's no nutrition in a can of coke, all you get are these "empty calories".

Finally, there's an article on CNN which addresses this:

Nutritionists: Soda making Americans drink themselves fat

By Caleb Hellerman

(CNN) -- If you're searching for a villain in America's obesity epidemic, most nutritionists tell you to put one picture on the wanted poster: a cold, bubbly glass of soda pop.

Full of sugar, soda adds calories without making a person feel full, nutritionists say.

"Liquid candy" to detractors, sweetened soft drinks are so ubiquitous that they contribute about 10 percent of the calories in the American diet, according to government data.

In fact, said Dr. David Ludwig, a Harvard endocrinologist whose 2001 paper in the Lancet is widely cited by obesity researchers, sweetened drinks are the only specific food that clinical research has directly linked to weight gain.

"Highly concentrated starches and sugars promote overeating, and the granddaddy of them all is sugar-sweetened beverages," said Ludwig, who runs the Optimal Weight for Life Program at Children's Hospital in Boston.

The rise in soft drink consumption mirrors the national march toward obesity. At the midpoint of the 20th century, Americans drank four times as much milk as soda pop. Today, the ratio is almost completely reversed, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Meanwhile, in the past 30 years the national obesity rate has more than doubled, and among teenagers, more than tripled, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Soda pop is a quintessential junk food," said Michael Jacobson, who heads the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which lobbies for government restrictions on foods it considers unhealthy. "It's just pure calories, and no nutrients. It's like a bomb in our diet."

(Read the rest of the article.)

There's a lot more details in the article about the (lack of) effect of soda on appetite, how blood sugar levels plunge after they spike which makes you even hungrier, etc. It's a very interesting read.

If you're a caffeine addict like I am, at least drink black coffee or diet soda. Neither of those have significant amounts of calories in them.

And yes, Coke Zero mixes with Captain Morgan quite nicely. :-)

Comments

[baconcoyote.livejournal.com]

Ugh.. stupid Soda! I had quit drinking it for almost 3 years.. until I started drinking Dr. Pepper. Now I'm helplessly addicted to the stuff..

Its so bad for you... but to be honest, a lot of fake juice that sells in stores is nearly\just as bad.

Gotta get back on my 100% juice addiction, and not soda\fake juice :P

[simbab.livejournal.com]

It's interesting, there have been some studies that indicate diet soda has some of the same effects of regular soda, because it tastes sweet and activates some of the same reactions in your body.

But, if you're trying to control your weight or lose weight, it's better than actual calories.

[sirfox.livejournal.com]

yup. Your body expects the extra calories from the taste, but doesn't see them, and the brain then sends signals to eat more, to "make up the difference."

I just drink seltzer. Less boring than water, no calories, and none of those awful, horrid, BLEH! artificial sweeteners. we hates them, precious... I think that i must be hypersensitive to them.

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

I gave up carbonated drinks about 2 years back. Don't miss them at all.

[giza.livejournal.com]

Diet Coke has a taste? I think not!

[puctiger.livejournal.com]

Actually I mix with diet sodas all the time, but there is always this nasty chemical reaction/side effect I'm not fond of. It produces this very untasty foam at the top which you have to skim off :)

[giza.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I haven't had that to me.

Either that, or I was too drunk to notice.

Oh, for Pete's sake

[unclekage.livejournal.com]

Did someone actually fund that research?

"News flash! Scientists discover that sky is actually blue!"

"Research confirms that women are different from men!"

"Academic world stunned by revelation that rock smashes scissors."

Re: Oh, for Pete's sake

[giza.livejournal.com]

Isn't repeatability a part of science? :-)

[omnibahumut.livejournal.com]

Jones Soda uses real sugar, and its super tasty!

[baccala-30.livejournal.com]

That is why I don't drink much soda anymore, mostly water or tea.

[atpaw.livejournal.com]

Heh. Ever since I learned to tolerate the taste of coke, and sometimes have it instead of a milkshake or water, I've become quite a tubby-tabby. :P

Cheetah must lose weight!

But now that I have a place to live, my mountainbike is coming out of storage... *pawsteeples evilly*

Re: Oh, for Pete's sake

[furahi.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I was about to say the same thing!
Must've been a slow science day...

[cuprohastes.livejournal.com]

It also causes insulin release which tells your liver to processs the blood sugar ASAP to bring it down, and store it. This causes stress to your pancreas, and over time, cause it to fail.It also hammers on your liver.... and three guesses how all that excess sugar is stored?

Re: Oh, for Pete's sake

[paxmalum.livejournal.com]

I've been noticing that as a general trend at CNN.com recently...soda is bad for you, American junk food is a bad diet for foreigners, men wanna date hot chicks, beer lovers celebrate beer... it's getting kinda silly.

[wildw0lf.livejournal.com]

Drinking less soda is probably a good thing too.