Last Thursday, I received a message from a gentleman named Dorsol Plants about a public health campaign here in King County called Soda Free Sunday. They're asking people to visit www.sodafreesundays.com and make a pledge to go soda-free for one day per week.
Drinking sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), including soda, is one of the worst things you can do for your health. SSB consumption is probably one of the major contributors to the modern epidemics of obesity and metabolic dysfunction.
I imagine that most WHS readers don't drink SSBs very often if at all, but I'm sure some do. Whether you want to try drinking fewer SSBs, or just re-affirm an ongoing commitment to avoid them, I encourage you to visit www.sodafreesundays.com and make the pledge. You can do so even if you're not a resident of King county.
24 comments:
I don't consume them myself, but I do have some curiosity, as others do too, I'm sure: Where do diet sodas fall in to this? Certainly, they contribute to a sweet "addiction" - insofar as such a thing exists - and perpetuate a food culture of extreme food reward. Also, there are concerns (some legitimate, some not) about the sweeteners used in said drinks. And of course, they offer nothing actively good, which is enough reason for me to avoid them. (That, and tap water is free.)
Wow. I'm French, and this sounds almost incredible to me. Here, even the least health-conscious people rarely drink soda more than a few times per week, so I first thought: "There must be a mistake; he must have meant: make a pledge to drink soda only one day per week!" But no. Scary...
Recently at a client dinner, a very overweight (obese) customer told me they drink 6-8 diet cokes a day. It made me sad and furious at the same time. Are people really that brainwashed??
I will send her the link.
Marc
Diet soda consumption is more strongly linked to obesity than regular soda consumption. No doubt its not good to get a large part of your daily food intake from empty calories, but I still doubt the association of SSBs with obesity has much to do with intake of sugar. It probably has more to do with the fact that SSB consumption is linked with other risk factors like eating at fast food restaurants, TV-watching and low income/education.
I assume you've seen the two studies from last year that found candy consumption was positively associated with leanness and health markers in both children and adults.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21691462
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21419316
I gave up Diet Coke for Lent, as I was drinking 6-8 a day, easy. Upon getting to the office, I'd have three of them down within 20 minutes.
It's been five days. I miss it. But it was a bad habit, and I'm going to try to never go back.
For fun discussion:
Do artificial sweetened drinks have inherently much lower reward value than SSBs? I've heard of weight gain from diet drinks so clearly the sweet taste has some (if not quite significant) reward value. But they are significantly lower in calories and lack fructose.
As an anecdote, Tim Ferriss found that after 16 oz of diet soda his fat loss would stop.
Would nose clipping with diet drinks be an effective way to dramatically reduce their reward value? (taste limiting).
Would nose clipping be effective enough to limit reward with even SSBs?
In the Shangri-la diet Seth Roberts actually uses pure fructose for weight loss. It would be interesting to find that most of reward is dependent on taste.
Possibly the most effective diet pills would block the sense of taste and smell temporarily.
Colldén said...
"Diet soda consumption is more strongly linked to obesity than regular soda consumption."
It's probably due to the dieter's paradox. See The Dieter’s Paradox – Research Review
RobR said...
"As an anecdote, Tim Ferriss found that after 16 oz of diet soda his fat loss would stop."
Stomach distension can raise serum insulin. 16 oz of water would also do it. See Common sense sometimes is lacking.
I'm annoyed by all the "Meatless Monday" bs propogated by upper-middle class vegetarian-friendly mothers of school-age kids. As if that's making a difference in people's lives (especially growing children!). I've been advocating a "Wheatless Wednesdays" be adopted at our local school, but alas, it's falling on deaf ears.
Zoloft is an exceptionally popular drug for helping to control anxiety, panic attacks, stress, and depression. However, that being said, there are many side effects and undesirable aspects that come with taking the drug, leading many people to seek a natural alternative.
In line with all this sugar consumption talk, I find it fascinating that even though roughly 70 years have passed since the initial rationing of sugar began within the us for ww2 ( circa 1942), we are still trying to compensate for being deprived(or at least some of us). A bit of useless info.: I remember my grandpa, who was a soldier in the war, made sure to consume at least 2-3 spoons of sugar with every meal, savoring it with a look that can only be appreciated when you saw the polar opposite upon the occasional notification that we were out of sugar. Talk about indelible psychological effects...
Nigel
That people who drink diet soda are more obese and unhealthy because they are overcompensating by eating more of other unhealthy foods is as far as I know pure speculation and not substantiated by any study. In fact there are several studies that link diet soda consumption to lower total calorie intake and also "healthier" food choices in general.
When, how much and what foods are eaten are related to total daily food intake.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19650955
Comparison of grocery purchase patterns of diet soda buyers to those of regular soda buyers.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17490785
Colldén said...
"Nigel
That people who drink diet soda are more obese and unhealthy because they are overcompensating by eating more of other unhealthy foods is as far as I know pure speculation and not substantiated by any study."
Did you click on The Dieter's Paradox link that I posted?
Yes, what of it? Its about how health foods cause people to underestimate calorie contents, doesn't provide any evidence that diet soda drinkers eat more high-calorie foods or more total calories.
If people believe that diet drinks effectively contain negative calories, they eat more to compensate. This isn't rocket science.
Except studies have found that diet soda drinkers eat LESS calories than regular soda drinkers, and buy less high-calorie foods in general.
As Dr. Steven Nissen points out, soda is terrible for health , as well as heart health.
I like it myself, but I keep it VERY minimal. It is an effort.
Colldén said...
"Except studies have found that diet soda drinkers eat LESS calories than regular soda drinkers, and buy less high-calorie foods in general."
Links, please!
I linked to two studies in a previous comment.
So you did.
From the first study:-
"...while fruit, soup, breakfast cereal, pasta, pizza, water, coffee/tea and diet soda were either not associated or were associated with lower overall intake."
Which one applies to diet soda?
From the second study:-
"We found a large number of significant differences, virtually all showing that more diet soda prone consumers make better nutrition choices, particularly regarding energy content. The study suggests that use of diet soft drinks does not lead to compensation by increased use of high-energy foods."
This is a study about purchasing choices. The dieter's paradox is a study about eating choices. It's possible that the two do not track.
What's your take on a couple ounces of grapefruit juice topped off with carbonated water in a pint glass?
nice info
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Everything in moderation comes to mind here. A soda once or twice a week isn't going to do any more harm than your daily cup of coffee or the occasional McDonalds hamburger. Yeah, if you drink a 6 pack o Mt. Dew every day, you'll probably end up with some weight and help problems in the long run, but if we don't binge on these items, there's no reason they can't be enjoyed in moderation with little negative side effects.
Christian
SnorePros.com
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