"In a new study, researchers at Harvard followed more than 40,000 men over 22 years and found those consuming just one 12-ounce sugar-sweetened drink a day increased their chance of having a heart attack by 20 percent. Two sugary drinks: a 42 percent increase. Three a day: 69 percent." (Robert Bazell, NBC News)
Not only do the constant insulin spikes in order to battle those sugar highs do apparent long-term harm, but think about the calories you could easily cut by making better choices in the short-term.
A 12 oz. can of regular soda (or pop, for you wonderful western weirdos) has an average of about 150 calories. Given that a pound of fat is 3,500 calories, you could lose at least a pound a month simply by skipping one can of soda a day. If you're used to a Big Gulp (32 oz.), you could lose a pound in just over a week. Drinking a soda or lemonade at a restaurant could quite easily cost you 400-700 calories in one sitting with zero nutritional value. That's an entire meal's worth of calories just in your drink, not even counting the normally high-calorie restaurant meal!
I, like most people, enjoy the occasional sugar-laden beverage, but the operative word should be OCCASIONAL. There are diet drinks, which are, calorically speaking, an improvement when you need something sweet. Diet sodas and juices like Crystal Light contain aspartame (or occasionally Splenda), which is somewhat controversial but generally considered safe by the medical community. They are both man-made chemicals, though, and wisdom might favor their moderate use. I enjoy Crystal Light (or the generic of it), but I also like to water it down quite a bit and don't drink it all the time.
Real fruit juices, though calorie dense, at least offer some nutritional value. Again, moderation is the key here. Even better, try ice water! You're tastes adjust in a short period of time to it's sugarlessness, and it's actually quite refreshing when it's ice cold. Add fresh lemon or lime for flavor. If that's a little tart for you, add a teaspoon or two of sugar (15 calories per tsp.) or sugar substitute to that for a slightly sweet low-calorie option.
It's the little things that help us make real improvements in our current and long-term health. Switching out soda is slimming, saves much needed cash, and is super heart-healthy!
I whined to my Dr. once that drinking soda gave me an instant headache. He told me I was lucky. Any sugar drink (including juice) tends to cause my blood sugar to spike enough that I feel weird and so I avoid them -- but I have a hard time feeling lucky over it! Still, I do like ice water a lot and that is a blessing.
ReplyDeletei rarely drink pop(like one every 6 months), but some of my family drinks it like water. i am conviced that my dads stroke was helped along by the excessive amount of diet pop he drinks. i read soewhere that they linked the artificial sweetener in diet pop, to strokes. many years ago, when i drank a lot of pop, i decided i needed to let go of it, and it was not really healthy for me. i went through about 2 weeks of cravings before i stopped wanting it. I dont ,miss it at all, and it saves me a couple of bucks when i go out to dinner. besisdes, restraunts make a lot of profit off of their pop. i know, i used to run one and i know how much a case of syrup for a soda fountain costs, and how much profit we made. it makes me feel better to not order pop.
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