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An interesting article I came across about soda.

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/drmao/20270/what-soft-drinks-are-doing-to-your-body/

Hmmm, I think the last time I had a soda was my junior year in high school.

jmals23 saidAn interesting article I came across about soda.

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/drmao/20270/what-soft-drinks-are-doing-to-your-body/

Hmmm, I think the last time I had a soda was my junior year in high school.

I was just going to post this link and then I see you beat me to it. There is some good information here. Schools have known this for a long time and so none of our schools here have any soda machines in them any more. They sell water, milk, juice, and fitness drinks only in machines. They also have no snack or candy machines either. They have all been taken out of the schools. However, they do allow soda and snacks to be sold at dances and athletic competitions only. They are not sold during the regular school day.

I've always believed clean water is still the best and healthiest drink and I drink only water to keep myself hydrated at work and mostly at home too. However, I will have a beer occassionally and wine, too.

My dentist some 10 years ago asked if I drank a lot of pop. Wasn't that much (2-4 cans a day), but I'd drink each slowly during my commute, putting a fresh coat of sugar on my teeth every few minutes for about 45 minutes. So I switched to diet, but then decided: what's the point? Now once in a while I'll treat myself to an IBC Root Beer or some Dr. Pepper.

Dad put a stop to artificial color usage in our house in the 1960s, a few years ahead of the FDA banning many of the colors then in use, and still frowns on them. So I avoid most things with that. It's sometimes amazing what has it. The non-lite varieties of Kroger yogurt, for example (were the blueberries used not blue enough?. And what's with adding color to farm-raised salmon?

I used to drink the clear Poweraid, but can't get that anymore. So for the most part I'll get the bottles of Trader Joe's water enhanced with electrolytes. When I do get Gatoraid, I try to get those that have artificial color last on the list of ingredients.

Still do drink a lot of juice, and other than pomegranate or cherry I don't dilute it. Mostly carrot, orange and grapefruit. Of course, when you dilute these you're not just watering down the sugar, but also the vitamins.


Um, does Coke still advertise that it "adds life"?
Will Pepsi be the choice of a new, health-conscience generation?
(Heck, is the new generation health-conscience?)

Not really big into sodas. If I do drink a soda it's usually something clear like Sprite, 7up or sierra mist (Notice they are lemon/lime) and that's usually if I go out to eat.

Other then that I stick to my water and juices. Yes, I'm aware that fruit and vegetable juices contain sugar but in the long they are way better for you then a soda.

this thread should be topic of the week. i told many of my friends not to drink any sodas. they even drink it early in the morning before work. that is not cool. 10 years ago was my last time I drank soda. i forgot how it taste like lol

Great! I should have been dead years ago.

Admittedly, I guzzle diet soda and it is horribly addicitve. I have tried unsuccessfully 3 times to cut the habit. I usually last a few months and fall off the wagon.

I'm trying again now very gradually and should be done by the end of the year.

I have a soda once or twice a year if that!

water water water water!!!! and pure fruit and veggie juice!!

I deeply question the qualifications of this so called expert 'Dr' Mao PhD...

Fruit juice can have more sugar than soda.... Calories are calories no matter

It has been shown that artifical sweeatners can degrade into carcinogens.....in a lab if you heat them up to a hundred of degrees Celsius and put them under enormous pressure

Any kind of acid will alter the pH of your body and natural foods are full of acids....plus in the western world diets are more than abundant in calcium how many people do you hear off suffering from ricketts

Artifical colors.... I trust the FDA and EEC to screen for safety and long term health damage and know that artificial simply means made in a lab and often it's the exact same chemical compound that could be derived naturally but at twice the cost, plus i tend to avoid cheap ultra bright colored foods


they add color to atrifical salmon because instead of a diet of small shrimp which naturally adds pink color to salmon flesh they are fed cheaper substitutes, often nutrient rich waste from other food industries.... and people expect pink salmon

they do they same to flamingos at the zoo...people expect pink famingos but the color is acquired not inherited

Meh... I can't go 4 days without a coke before the headaches kick in and I become a really really moody shit head. I have tried in the past to give up coke and yeah.. that shit just ain't happening. I try to moderate how much and how many I have because I know at least what my body can tolerate and yeah.. like someone else said "What's the point of diet?"

Good thing I quit all kind of Cola and Soda long time back. Now I usually I just have one coffee or Ice tea in a day. But have seen people who just love to start day with Cola and that too a jumbo size.

Interesting topic.. I learned a few things from MsclDrew and Dr Mao.

The information about causing osteoporosis interested me so I looked it up. There was a study done by Tufts University involving 2500 subjects.
The researchers found that the more cola drinks women consumed the more bone loss they suffered regardless of other factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption and calcium intake. Other fizzy drinks that were not cola-based did not appear to affect bone density.
Men drank more colas than women yet had no bone loss

Off the topic: ricketts was mentioned earlier. Ricketts is the term used to describe Vitamin D deficiency in children. Osteomalacia is the term used in adults. Osteomalacia and ricketts are the same disease. Osteomalacia is common in the western world but only in a small segment of the population. This is in elderly woman. It was thought that osteoporosis was solely the cause of frequent fractures in the elderly. We we now know that osteomalacia is also a culprit. We routinely check our elderly patient's vitamin D level when they have suffered hip and vertebral compression fractures. Since many are deficient in vitamin D, we begin them on repacement Vitamin D and Ca..
Elderly woman become vitamin D deficient because they don't get enough sun and have poor diets. Unfortunately many sustain themselves on tea and toast.

Inspite of all the bad press carbonated drinks get, I still drink diet soda multiple times during the day

MsclDrew saidI deeply question the qualifications of this so called expert 'Dr' Mao PhD...

Me too. He's partially mistaken when he writes "Beverages with bubbles contain phosphoric acid, which can severely deplete the blood calcium levels; calcium is a key component of the bone matrix. With less concentration of calcium over a long time, it can lower deposition rates so that bone mass and density suffer. This means that drinking sodas and carbonated water increases your risk of osteoporosis."

Phosphoric acid is added to some flavored carbonated beverages to give them a tangy taste, but not all flavored carbonated beverages contain it. The natural soft drinks sold in health food stores typically do not contain phosphoric acid. And, plain carbonated water is just water with CO2 dissolved in it. This is basic information that a health professional writing that particular article should have known.

Caesarea4 saidMy dentist some 10 years ago asked if I drank a lot of pop. Wasn't that much (2-4 cans a day), but I'd drink each slowly during my commute, putting a fresh coat of sugar on my teeth every few minutes for about 45 minutes. So I switched to diet, but then decided: what's the point? Now once in a while I'll treat myself to an IBC Root Beer or some Dr. Pepper.

Dad put a stop to artificial color usage in our house in the 1960s, a few years ahead of the FDA banning many of the colors then in use, and still frowns on them. So I avoid most things with that. It's sometimes amazing what has it. The non-lite varieties of Kroger yogurt, for example (were the blueberries used not blue enough?. And what's with adding color to farm-raised salmon?

I used to drink the clear Poweraid, but can't get that anymore. So for the most part I'll get the bottles of Trader Joe's water enhanced with electrolytes. When I do get Gatoraid, I try to get those that have artificial color last on the list of ingredients.

Still do drink a lot of juice, and other than pomegranate or cherry I don't dilute it. Mostly carrot, orange and grapefruit. Of course, when you dilute these you're not just watering down the sugar, but also the vitamins.


Um, does Coke still advertise that it "adds life"?
Will Pepsi be the choice of a new, health-conscience generation?
(Heck, is the new generation health-conscience?)

WASNT THAT MUCH 2 TO 4 CANS A DAY!!!! I THANK GOD MY MOM WAS A HUGE HEALTH FREAK AND ALL WHILE I WAS GROWING UP I GOT 1 A WEEK. OTHER WISE I WAS DRINKING MILK, WATER, OR V8 BUT 2 TO FOUR A DAY!!!! WOW!

Water is always the best, But Green tea is even better.

Effects of Green Tea and EGCG on Cardiovascular and Metabolic Health

Swen Wolfram, PhD
DSM Nutritional Products Ltd, Department of Human Nutrition and Health, CH-4002 Basel, SWITZERLAND

Address reprint requests to: Dr. Swen Wolfram, DSM Nutritional Products Ltd, Department of Human Nutrition and Health, P.O. Box 3255, Bldg. 241/425, CH-4002 Basel, SWITZERLAND

Since ancient times green tea has been considered a health-promoting beverage. In recent years, scientists throughout the world have investigated the potential benefits of green tea and its most abundant catechin, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). The anti-cancer effects of green tea and EGCG were the focus of early research, and encouraging data from in vitro, animal model, and human studies have emerged. Due to the dominant role of cardiovascular disease and the dramatic rise of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus as major and interlinked health care problems, green tea and EGCG are increasingly being investigated in these areas. Dose-response relationships observed in several epidemiological studies have indicated that pronounced cardiovascular and metabolic health benefits can be obtained by regular consumption of 5–6 or more cups of green tea per day. Furthermore, intervention studies using similar amounts of green tea, containing 200–300 mg of EGCG, have demonstrated its usefulness for maintaining cardiovascular and metabolic health. Additionally, there are numerous in vivo studies demonstrating that green tea and EGCG exert cardiovascular and metabolic benefits in these model systems. Therefore, green tea and EGCG can be regarded as food components useful for the maintenance of cardiovascular and metabolic health. To prove the effectiveness for disease prevention or treatment, several multi-center, long-term clinical studies investigating the effects of one precisely-defined green tea product on cardiovascular and metabolic endpoints would be necessary. The aim of this manuscript is to provide an overview of the research investigating the effects of green tea and green tea catechins on cardiovascular and metabolic health.

The only thing I have been drinking for several years now is Green Tea HP.
Lots of flavors are available for those that don't like the taste of tea. It comes in little "pixies" that you can just add to water. Very convenient.

Check it out at http://www.mygrenx.com/perfectfitwc The is a lot more info available there too under the "Knowledge" link,

fitdude62 saidWater is always the best, But Green tea is even better.

There are many health benefits attributed to green tea, and I recommend it's use. I was surprised when the FDA rejected green tea's healthy heart claims.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12718769/

Inspite of what the FDA says about green tea, I still drink it daily.

There is nothing wrong with consuming soda, pop, whatever you want to call it, in moderation.

I drink a 20 oz. bottle of Pepsi every morning, it's like my cup of coffee.

Is there supposed to be sumthin' wrong with soda pop? I drink it all day long and I ain't no different than I ever wuz. I better get goin' = = = there's a sale on soda pop at my local Walmart!

I greatly enjoy drinking diet soda, green tea, iced tea, ice cold water, and vitamin water. There are newer no-calorie sodas that use xylitol, stevia(an herb), and/or erythritol. These are healthy alternatives to artificial sweeteners. I like the brand ZEVIA.

I don't think nutrasweet is at all as dangerous as phosphoric acid, found in colas, Dr Pepper, and other dark colored soft drinks. Phosphoric acid depletes your body and bones of calcium, causes kidney problems(calcium deposit stones), and is hard on the teeth.

I am a diet coke addict. (Despite the many articles on the evils of aspertame).

http://www.lightparty.com/Health/DietCokeAspartame.html

Diet coke and peanut M& M's,the best!

Oh no, yet another thing out there that's going to kill me! I think I'm just going to stay inside.

Crap! Nearly %40 of all accidents occur inside the home! >_>

I'm just going to go back to bed now, without sheets (don't want to get tangled up in them in my sleep and choke to death!)

I love diet coke, but with in the last month have basically given them up, except when I am in a really bad mood. I tend to drink natural juice with carbonated water. I know, I know, carbonated= bad, but I am not ready to give it up. For now, Tea (cold and hot) and coffee fulfill my caffeine addiction needs.

Caffeine is my Anti....oh wait.

and that's why I only drink the blood of virgins

Bound4Muscle saidI am a diet coke addict. (Despite the many articles on the evils of aspertame).

http://www.lightparty.com/Health/DietCokeAspartame.html

Diet coke and peanut M& M's,the best!

Coke and peanuts ? You from the south, big L. ?

I'm a Coffee & mineral water kinda guy.

The only sweet drink I like is chocolate milk or Bombay Sapphire gin

I have some diet soda as a treat occasionally. Now it's mostly water and green or herbal teas, sometimes diluted fruit juice.

EasilyDistracted saidI'm a Coffee & mineral water kinda guy.

The only sweet drink I like is chocolate milk or Bombay Sapphire gin

oh man.....my favorite alcoholic beverage is Bombay Sapphire gin. It effects me like no other beverage. Everyone else I know hates gin.

Celticmusl said

EasilyDistracted saidI'm a Coffee & mineral water kinda guy.

The only sweet drink I like is chocolate milk or Bombay Sapphire gin

oh man.....my favorite alcoholic beverage is Bombay Sapphire gin. It effects me like no other beverage. Everyone else I know hates gin.

Got to admit it, save my soda calories for.....BEER !!! Nothing like a few good beer buzzes throughout the week to keep me sane (relatively). Gin has a curiously odd effect on me...one minute I'm enjoying a nice G & T with extra lime, next thing I know, I'm waking up with my pants around my ankles...

Soda tastes good IMO, I drink some diet maybe a couple times a week and have the real thing about once a month. Its good to treat yourself every now and then and like everything else its ok once in a while

Rujock saidSoda tastes good IMO, I drink some diet maybe a couple times a week and have the real thing about once a month. Its good to treat yourself every now and then and like everything else its ok once in a while

Agreed, which is why I've learned to curb my heroin and crack usage.

j/k

Sodas are the ultimate evil! The body is replenished by drinking water and/or pure juices - it's so much better for you than caffeine and sugar.

Celticmusl saidoh man.....my favorite alcoholic beverage is Bombay Sapphire gin. It effects me like no other beverage. Everyone else I know hates gin.

bigmusclepete saidGot to admit it, save my soda calories for.....BEER !!! Nothing like a few good beer buzzes throughout the week to keep me sane (relatively). Gin has a curiously odd effect on me...one minute I'm enjoying a nice G & T with extra lime, next thing I know, I'm waking up with my pants around my ankles...

I LOVE gin... but not well gin, it gives me a raging headache. I can only drink two gin drinks because they wipe me out... and my memory if I have more than three. Then I end up like Pete.

MagickBoy saidSodas are the ultimate evil! The body is replenished by drinking water and/or pure juices - it's so much better for you than caffeine and sugar.

I've enjoyed prunes... 4 to be exact. I think I'd have an involuntary reaction to juice in anything more than a sip.

Meh! You get no moral high ground from me for giving up soft drinks. Give up alcohol if you really want to do your body a favor.

There is nothing new or enlightening in this article. Sugar makes you fat; really! Reduce your caloric consumption; reduce your weight. Fruit juices are just marginally better than sodas and most people think they have carte blanche to consume mass quantities (of sugar).

I feel pretty good drinking one Diet Coke per day. They don't contain saccharine and aspartame is one of the most researched substances known to earth. If there were damages to be awarded, a class action suit would have been filed years ago.

I think any crusade to ban sodas is misguided. Cut your total sugar consumption if you want to reduce your weight. Some people must lay awake at night trying think of new causes and ways to save everyone; just chill.

USMmmm saidMeh! You get no moral high ground from me for giving up soft drinks. Give up alcohol if you really want to do your body a favor.

Nobody likes a quitter!

Thanks for posting this. I started drinking sodas again last Spring, and it definitely helped me pack on pounds extremely quickly. Now I have the winter to lose the weight back, and I think not having sodas in my diet will definitely help. I've found that it takes my sugar cravings through the roof, and I tend to get impulsive about grabbing candy when I walk into a gas station or whatever. When I'm not drinking sodas, the sugar cravings just aren't as pronounced.

I drink no more than two gallons of diet soda per day in the summers. I can't drink near as much in the cooler weather, because it gives me the chills. It's funny that this article claims diet sodas are linked to weight gain. How I WISH I could gain weight. It also claims fake sweeteners lead to sugar cravings and carb loading. They have never effected me that way.

In the end, I am just a caffeine addict and love the effects of it.

MsclDrew> Artifical colors.... I trust the FDA and EEC to screen for safety and long term health damage

Many which were approved previously by the FDA were then shown to cause cancer and were banned. I'm not saying that the FDA should never be trusted, just saying that they can't know everything all the time (let's not forget that prior to 1968 cigarettes were not unhealthy and even at times billed as healthy).


MsclDrew> and know that artificial simply means made in a lab and often it's the exact same chemical compound that could be derived naturally but at twice the cost

Nope, and that's the problem. Most artificial colors have nothing to do with their natural counterparts. Try this test: eat a red tomato or red pepper. Now look at your tongue (or spit). How much red to you see? Almost none and in minutes even that is gone. Now eat some red candy. For how many hours does your tongue remain red?


MsclDrew> they add color to atrifical salmon because instead of a diet of small shrimp which naturally adds pink color to salmon flesh they are fed cheaper substitutes, often nutrient rich waste from other food industries.... and people expect pink salmon

And due to the added color (and other contaminants), it is recommended that this fish not be eaten more than once a month.


MsclDrew> they do they same to flamingos at the zoo...people expect pink famingos but the color is acquired not inherited

You eat zoo flamingos?
I heard of flaming flamingos, but that takes the cake!
(:

Celticmusl saidoh man.....my favorite alcoholic beverage is Bombay Sapphire gin. It effects me like no other beverage. Everyone else I know hates gin.

Hates gin? Dude, Bombay Sapphire rocks... and the bottle mesmerizes me. Next time I'm in town let's open a bottle... my treat!

Caesarea4 saidMsclDrew> Artifical colors.... I trust the FDA and EEC to screen for safety and long term health damage

Many which were approved previously by the FDA were then shown to cause cancer and were banned. I'm not saying that the FDA should never be trusted, just saying that they can't know everything all the time (let's not forget that prior to 1968 cigarettes were not unhealthy and even at times billed as healthy).


MsclDrew> and know that artificial simply means made in a lab and often it's the exact same chemical compound that could be derived naturally but at twice the cost

Nope, and that's the problem. Most artificial colors have nothing to do with their natural counterparts. Try this test: eat a red tomato or red pepper. Now look at your tongue (or spit). How much red to you see? Almost none and in minutes even that is gone. Now eat some red candy. For how many hours does your tongue remain red?


MsclDrew> they add color to atrifical salmon because instead of a diet of small shrimp which naturally adds pink color to salmon flesh they are fed cheaper substitutes, often nutrient rich waste from other food industries.... and people expect pink salmon

And due to the added color (and other contaminants), it is recommended that this fish not be eaten more than once a month.


MsclDrew> they do they same to flamingos at the zoo...people expect pink famingos but the color is acquired not inherited



You eat zoo flamingos?
I heard of flaming flamingos, but that takes the cake!
(:

I don't eat flamingos but the same chemical color is used in both, and I know for a fact that it's exactly the same chemical compound as the animals would absorb naturally from their diet. In flamingos the color is deposited in their feathers. I believe that the reason that eating too much fish is counter indicated in certain studies is from Mercury which can accumulate and from what I've heard it's not once a month, it's BBers who are eating two or three cans of tuna a day

The same applies to the red in tomatoes and peppers it's a chemical called Lycopene or E160d and it can be made either in a lab or naturally extracted from sources. Either way it's actually a very potent antioxidant and reduces the likley hood of cancer. Colors in red wine can stain your tongue for hours and it's 100% natural so that argument isn't really valid

the fact that additives that have found to be dangerous just reinforces my resolve. they are the exceptions that prove the rule

Our high school swimming coach would raid out hotel rooms on away trips, Any soft drinks were poured down the drain. He was fanatical. Rarely drank it since. That was 1980;

I can't believe some people still eating at McDonalds and other junk foods.

MsclDrew> I believe that the reason that eating too much fish is counter indicated in certain studies is from Mercury which can accumulate and from what I've heard it's not once a month, it's BBers who are eating two or three cans of tuna a day

Not just the mercury (especially for pregnant women), but other contaminants lead health experts to recommend limiting consumption of farm raised fish to once a month.


MsclDrew> The same applies to the red in tomatoes and peppers it's a chemical called Lycopene or E160d and it can be made either in a lab or naturally extracted from sources. Either way it's actually a very potent antioxidant and reduces the likley hood of cancer.

Which is why you should eat tomatoes and peppers, but I'm not aware that these substances are used to artificially color common foods (sure, perhaps if you buy the Whole Foods licorice for $25/lb... but it's not found in, sticking with this topic, red pop).

You can read more here:
http://www.foodconsultant.biz/food-colors.htm