7/30/2007

Bad numbers of soda drinking

In my typical day, a cup of green tea in the morning, a cup of coffee in the afternoon. I don't give soda to my kids because side effects of drinking soda - sweetened drinks make people fat, damage teeth and bone due to the acidity, and interfere with the body's ability to process sugar, causing diabetes.

It is sad knowing (from the report ) that average American "drinks 18 ounces, or two full glasses, of soft drinks a day. In fact, according to a study last year, soda and other sugar-sweetened drinks have become the largest source of calories in the American diet, replacing white bread. The proliferation of soda tells the story: 450 different varieties are sold in the United States. While soft drinks are still king, with sales reaching $68.1 billion in 2005, sports drinks sales have increased 19.3% over the past year to $1.5 billion".

3 comments:

Bilbo said...

Good point. I drank soft drinks for many years, and didn't stop until they were blamed for a severe allergic reaction I had one time. Nowadays my wife and I drink water, coffee or tea, and wine, and feel much better.

Mike said...

"In fact, according to a study last year, soda and other sugar-sweetened drinks have become the largest source of calories in the American diet, replacing white bread."

If soft drinks still had sugar in them then hey might not be so bad. The problem is that they are sweetened with high fructose corn syrup. The body handles hfc differently than sugar.

As far as other drinks go, tea makes me jittery (caffine content to high), coffee is tastes disgusting, you can't drink wine all day, and water can be bitter depending on the source.

If you want to find out why peoples tastes are different, do a google search on "super taster".

Unknown said...

Yeah, about a year ago, I discovered that just in morning coffee, coffee breaks, and evening tea that I was ingesting 26 teaspoons of sugar per day! It took a week of "OMG This is Awful" to change my taste to black coffee...no sugar. Only a week though! Tea now tastes like tea instead of watery syrup, and coffee...well, I had to switch to good coffee instead of the South American dishwater which passed my lips for so many years.