This statstic from a recent article posted on CNN.com really jumped out at me:
“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.”
Let’s get milk back in our diets and stop drinking so much soda!
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.
“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.”
Jacobson said the CSPI is pushing to require obesity warning labels on the sides of soda cans, like the surgeon general’s warning on cigarettes. The sugar in soda pop not only provides a massive dose of calories, but triggers a vicious appetite cycle, said Ludwig, who wrote “Ending the Food Fight,” about healthy eating for children.
Soft drink companies, under fire, are taking steps including a pledge last year to phase out nondiet soft drinks from America’s schools. A progress report issued Monday by the American Beverage Association said that shipments to schools of sweetened soda are down 45 percent since 2004, while shipments of bottled water are up 23 percent.
3 Comments on “Soda is "Liquid Candy"”
Good thing I only drink soda in 25% of parties and rosay rallies attended and at Epcot! I drink water and beverages containing fiber (pureed fruits) and protein (as in milk)!
Good thing I only drink soda in 25% of parties and rosay rallies attended and at Epcot! I drink water and beverages containing fiber (pureed fruits) and protein (as in milk)!
Good thing I only drink soda in 25% of parties and rosay rallies attended and at Epcot! I drink water and beverages containing fiber (pureed fruits) and protein (as in milk)!