Sugary Drinks (August 26, 2014)
Researching this topic will subject you to an avalanche of statistics, measurements, studies and the like, not one of them with anything good to say on the subject. That's because there are so many problems linked to the considerable increase in sugar consumption in our diet in recent years -- problems that include high blood pressure, hypoglycemia, depression, acne, headaches, hardening of the arteries, fatigue, violent behavior, hyperactivity, aching muscles, and tooth decay. I’m going to focus here mostly on obesity and weight gain.
The increase in consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks in particular is the greatest single change in the American diet since the obesity epidemic is considered to have begun and the average person drinks 42 gallons of this stuff a year, more than twice as much as back then (the late 1970s). Soft drinks (which category includes carbonated and non-carbonated sweetened drinks and energy and sports drinks as well) account for about 40% of the increase in calories in the diet that has occurred during that time.
The average American diet includes 500 calories a DAY of added sugars. But sugary drinks are in a special category of Bad, because sugar in a drink doesn’t quite register with your body as food. If you eat 150 calories, your body knows you've eaten something and responds accordingly; if you drink 150 calories (the amount in a can of soda), your body sort of blows that off and thinks it hasn’t eaten yet, so you still feel hungry.
You hear a lot of discussion about how “controversial” the factors behind the obesity epidemic are. Hah. Here's an example: “Although obesity results from an imbalance of energy homeostasis, the true mechanisms underlying this process and effective strategies for prevention and treatment remain unknown. In general, obesity reflects complex interactions of genetic, metabolic, cultural, environmental, socioeconomic, and behavioral factors”. Well yeah, but here’s a point that’s sometimes missed. It doesn’t take MUCH of a change in “energy homeostasis” to increase your weight a LOT. Suppose you’re eating 2000 calories a day and maintaining your weight. Now if you add a daily can of soda to that without any compensation for it (which is very likely when the calories are in the form of a sugary drink, for the reason I mentioned above) you’ll gain 15 pounds in a year. How this could not be a HUGE factor in the obesity epidemic is beyond me.
Sugary drinks of all sorts may LOOK like a food item, but they aren’t. Not only do they have no nutritive value, but your body doesn't even fully recognize them as calories! I have to say that I have mixed feelings about sugary drinks, since many people switch from them to zero-calorie sodas in an effort to break the sugar soda habit. Those are a little better for you weight-wise, but artificial sweeteners and heaven only knows what other chemicals are in them -- ugh. What about putting your OWN sugar in a drink if you really want one? You put two teaspoons of sugar in a glass of iced tea, that’s 32 calories (about a fifth as much as a can of soda) and it’s plenty sweet, plus you’ve avoided that whole high-fructose corn syrup controversy. Anyway, now you know.
--dr. diane holmes
Copyright © 2014
Researching this topic will subject you to an avalanche of statistics, measurements, studies and the like, not one of them with anything good to say on the subject. That's because there are so many problems linked to the considerable increase in sugar consumption in our diet in recent years -- problems that include high blood pressure, hypoglycemia, depression, acne, headaches, hardening of the arteries, fatigue, violent behavior, hyperactivity, aching muscles, and tooth decay. I’m going to focus here mostly on obesity and weight gain.
The increase in consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks in particular is the greatest single change in the American diet since the obesity epidemic is considered to have begun and the average person drinks 42 gallons of this stuff a year, more than twice as much as back then (the late 1970s). Soft drinks (which category includes carbonated and non-carbonated sweetened drinks and energy and sports drinks as well) account for about 40% of the increase in calories in the diet that has occurred during that time.
The average American diet includes 500 calories a DAY of added sugars. But sugary drinks are in a special category of Bad, because sugar in a drink doesn’t quite register with your body as food. If you eat 150 calories, your body knows you've eaten something and responds accordingly; if you drink 150 calories (the amount in a can of soda), your body sort of blows that off and thinks it hasn’t eaten yet, so you still feel hungry.
You hear a lot of discussion about how “controversial” the factors behind the obesity epidemic are. Hah. Here's an example: “Although obesity results from an imbalance of energy homeostasis, the true mechanisms underlying this process and effective strategies for prevention and treatment remain unknown. In general, obesity reflects complex interactions of genetic, metabolic, cultural, environmental, socioeconomic, and behavioral factors”. Well yeah, but here’s a point that’s sometimes missed. It doesn’t take MUCH of a change in “energy homeostasis” to increase your weight a LOT. Suppose you’re eating 2000 calories a day and maintaining your weight. Now if you add a daily can of soda to that without any compensation for it (which is very likely when the calories are in the form of a sugary drink, for the reason I mentioned above) you’ll gain 15 pounds in a year. How this could not be a HUGE factor in the obesity epidemic is beyond me.
Sugary drinks of all sorts may LOOK like a food item, but they aren’t. Not only do they have no nutritive value, but your body doesn't even fully recognize them as calories! I have to say that I have mixed feelings about sugary drinks, since many people switch from them to zero-calorie sodas in an effort to break the sugar soda habit. Those are a little better for you weight-wise, but artificial sweeteners and heaven only knows what other chemicals are in them -- ugh. What about putting your OWN sugar in a drink if you really want one? You put two teaspoons of sugar in a glass of iced tea, that’s 32 calories (about a fifth as much as a can of soda) and it’s plenty sweet, plus you’ve avoided that whole high-fructose corn syrup controversy. Anyway, now you know.
--dr. diane holmes
Copyright © 2014