The First Health Blog Service

Soda and Soft Drink: Weight Loss Killers

Soft Drinks, The regular stuff!

We all know sugar sweetened soft drinks are empty calories and help contribute to the overall obesity problem in the western world. What most of us don’t know is how much of an impact these have and how switching to diet drinks may be an even worse choice.

In 2000 Americans alone spent $60 billion on carbonated soft drinks and billions more on non-carbonated “fruit” beverages. During the same year the average American consumed more than 53 gallons of soft drinks. (Source: National Soft Drink Association). Those 53 gallons are equal to over 283 12 ounce cans each on average.

In 2004, soft drink companies produced enough non-diet soda to provide each U.S. resident with about 395 12 ounce cans, and enough diet soda for about 160 cans each, says the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

North American consumption represents more than 44% of worldwide consumption, Europe, with a per capita average of 12.7 gallons per year, represented 31%. The fastest growth in soft drink consumption is in Asia and South America. (Source Beverage Marketing Press Release June 15, 2001).

During the late 1950’s the typical soft drink order in a casual or fast food restaurant contained about 8 ounces of soda. Today a “child” order of Coke at McDonalds is 12 ounces. A “large” Coke is 32 ounces and about 310 calories.

The average 12 ounce can of soda contains about 40 grams of refined sugar. That’s about 8 Teaspoons! Did you ever consider you were eating 8 teaspoons of sugar with every can of soda pop? For comparison the USDA recommends that for a 2,000 calorie per day diet we should not consume more than 40 grams of refined sugars per day. In addition each can contains about 150 calories with zero nutritional value per 12 ounce can.

You can see how an extra 300 to 400 calories per day can contribute to weight gain.

Dr. Caroline Apovian, an associate professor at the Boston University School of Medicine and director of the Weight Management Center at Boston Medical Center, says one study found that the chance of becoming obese increased 1.6 times for each sugar sweetened drink consumed per day.

In addition to the calories, the sugar and the impact on weight gain and obesity, soda contains caffeine. Caffeine as we know is a mildly addictive stimulant drug that keeps us coming back for more. Research has shown that the caffeine delivered in a single 12 ounce can of soft drink is enough to produce mood and behavioral effects. (Source: Dr. Roland Griffiths in Eileen O’Conner’s “A sip into dangerous territory,” Monitor on Psychology, 32, June 2001.

Fruit Drinks:

Like I said repeatedly in my book “Living To BeYounger”we are literally being marketed to death. I go into great detail about how ad agencies and food companies are packaging products as a healthy alternative to junk foods.

There is no better example than the “healthy alternative” fruit drinks marketed by the soft drink companies. These companies market non-carbonated drinks that pretend to be rich in fruit juice and nutrients, but are basically sugar water. Coca-Cola Co.’s Fruitopia and Hi-C, for example contain only 5% to 10% fruit juice but they contain as much (or more) sugar as the carbonated soda pop. Don’t be fooled by the claims of added vitamins and minerals on these products packages, they are still junk food.

The sweetener commonly used in soft drinks and other foods may lead to more body fat than drinks sweetened with plain sugar. A new study shows that fructose may alter the body’s metabolism in a way that prompts it to store body fat.

Fructose is a sweetener found naturally in fruits and honey and is widely used as a sweetener in soft drinks, fructose is usually found in the form of high-fructose corn syrup which contains 55% fructose.

Researchers say the findings may help explain the recently established link between rising soft drink popularity and obesity rates in the United States and other parts of the world.

In the study, researchers led by Dr. Matthias Tschop of the University of Cincinnati compared the effects of feeding mice fructose-sweetened water, a soft drink flavored with table sugar, a diet soft drink or water. The mice were allowed to drink as much as they wanted of their assigned beverage.

The mice that drank the fructose-sweetened water gained significantly more body fat than the others, even thought they decreased the amount of calories they ate from solid food.

” We were surprised to see that mice actually ate less when exposed to fructose-sweetened beverages and therefore didn’t consume more overall calories,” says Tschop, “Nevertheless they gained significantly more body fat within a few weeks.”

Body fat increased 11% in the fructose group, 5% in the water group, 7% and 8% in the diet and sugar water groups.

Researchers say the findings suggest the body metabolizes fructose differently than other sweeteners or carbohydrates and in a way that favors fat storage.

Between 1970 and 1990 high-fructose corn syrup consumption increased by more than 1000% largely because the nations soft drink producers switched from sucrose (sugar) to high-fructose corn syrup.

Making syrup is the second largest use of corn in North America, feeding livestock is the largest. On average Americans consume 48 pounds of corn syrup a year. (Source Anan Duming, “Junk Food, Food Junk World Watch September / October 1991)

A 2004 report showed that Americans eat 132 calories each day of high-fructose corn syrup and that figure is closer to 300 for the top 20%of Americans.

Number who are obese goes from 12% to 17.9%.

The number of Americans who think about dieting and losing weight is probably at an all-time high. But surprisingly, so too are the number of Americans who are overweight (BMI >25) or obese (BMI >30): at least 30% of the population. The percentage of children and adolescents who are overweight has doubled since the early 1970s, raising concerns for long-term health effects. Excess weight is a health risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. By mid-1999, there were 7.1 million physician visits related to weight concerns.

Let’s see high-fructose corn syrup production up 1000% from 1970, obesity and overweight doubled since 1970? Tripled in England during the same period?

To my simple way of thinking, “It ain’t the whole answer, but it’s a big part of it”!

For then full FREE Special Report on Soft Drinks and Astounding information Diet Drinks visit this link.

I felt this information was important enough to provide a free excerpt of this chapter of my book, “Living To Be Younger”. People need to know the facts about what their consuming and the impact on their health.

We simply are not getting good information, and the result of that lack of knowledge is becoming more and more evident.

Add comment June 7th, 2006

Smoking and Weight Loss

Smoking and other substance-related habits when coupled with a sedentary daily routine may create health-related problems in the end. A fitness-oriented life can often counteract the unhealthy effects of such habits. One such technique is to do exercises that improve the health of our lungs.

Lungs are an important part of our body. We breathe in and out a massive amount of air each day, and the lungs process it to supply oxygen to our blood. Poor breathing habits and lack of exercise may result in poor oxygen supply to the blood, which in turn means less energy to our body tissues.

The various lung exercises expel the air in the lungs, including the bad air that remains languishing due to poor breathing. Aerobic exercises, including just a morning jog - are a good way to keep fit. Breathing exercises done regularly exercise lungs which provide a steady stream of oxygen-rich blood to our brain and muscles.

Being in good health is the first step in living a good life. Getting fresh air everyday, with proper breathing that goes deep down in the lungs is what the author has found rejuvenating and de-stressing. The lung exercises expel the bad air, and fills up the lungs with good, fresh air. The effects can be felt immediately - lightness, refreshed mood, and loads of energy.

The various drug-related habits are sometimes just a byproduct of other problems and issues that are left unsolved. These could be personal, family related, or social. A resolution of these issues may allow the user to come out of such habits. Recreational use is of course a different issue.

By Tima

Add comment May 18th, 2006

Foods that Burn Fat

Are there any foods that burn body fat? If yes, how is it possible? It should be possible to lose weight by simply eating such foods. What are these foods?

The fat burning foods are foods that burn more calories than the calorie content of the foods itself. There are certain foods which actually burn more fat than the calorie content of the food itself. These fat burning foods or so called negative calorie foods are natural plant foods.

Fruits rich in vitamin C like limes, lemons, oranges, grapefruit and tangerines have fat burning properties. Some of the other fat burning foods are asparagus, beet root, broccoli, cabbage, carrot, apple, blueberries, and watermelon. It you eat these fat burning foods and do some exercise, it will boost your metabolism and burn calories at a faster rate for several hours even after exercise.

A recent research reports that calcium in dairy products can boost weight loss by increasing fat breakdown in fat cells. If you compare a dairy-rich versus a dairy-poor diet you can nearly double the rate of weight and fat loss with the same level of calorie restriction.

Not eating enough will slow your metabolism and deteriorating your health. Note that in order to lose weight you have to burn more calories than you consume. This can be done by eating negative calorie foods. This will help your body burning up the excessive stored fat.

By P. Mehta

Add comment May 17th, 2006

Weight Management in a Busy World

In this busy and fast lifestyle that we have adopted, we have forgotten to give ourselves the time to relax and to remain fit. In our list of priorities we often forget that one of the most important priorities is “how to keep ourselves fit and healthy”.

There are many, many recommended diets, exercises and so on and so forth but I believe that if we begin with a disciplined life and a correct diet and attitude to life we will be able to lose excess weight and remain healthy.

For instance, to get up early in the morning and to sleep well at night, we must make it a habit to get 6-8 hours of sleep. This, in turn, will help us to feel fresh and have the energy to cope with ‘any-kind-of-day’ i.e. stress will reduce and the body that is storing the unnecessary load of stress and fatigue will now be ready to cope with any diet and exercise regime and most importantly this takes away the one major cause of being overweight.

Now, we are ready to go for an early morning walk or do a few exercises of our own choice i.e. jogging, cycling or 15-30 minute yoga, calisthenics and aerobics, or whatever your doctor recommends is good for you. This will help you to move those muscles and those parts of the body that are slowing down with being overweight.

The most important part of any day is to drink up at least 10-12 glasses of water/liquids as this is vital to keep you healthy and helps to reduce extra food intake. We now come to the “compulsory” breakfast which should include some fruit, cereal and sprouts, if possible. This is a meal one must not miss but you must visit a Doctor or Dietician to start the right dietary plan according to your specific health requirements.

The Lunch can now be a little more elaborate but again in close proximity with what the Doctor/Dietician has recommended. However, as per the normal rules, lunch is allowed to be a little heavier than Dinner which should be “light and easy to digest”. Tea can be light again with a small snack i.e. a light digestive biscuit.

The basic thing that remains is to avoid fatty foods i.e. fried, oily foodstuff, pizzas, chips, white bread, butter in excess etc., things that are difficult for the body to digest and make it overweight. Last, but not least, I must add that while I am not an authority on all the above information, I am part of the crowd reading up various articles for the health of my family and myself. I have, as a result, made available the gist of all that many Doctors, Fitness Instructors and that various articles have recommended. These are the basic guidelines which I feel would help us all to lose weight and gain our health back again.

By Petr Thomas

Add comment April 27th, 2006