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Why you should NOT reach for a sugary drink.

6/30/2015

7 Comments

 
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It's natural to crave a drink to cool you down on a hot day. Your body is screaming for fluid. But medical experts have warned that sugary drinks are killing 184,000 adults around the world every year.

A new publication in the American Heart Association’s Circulation journal reveals that sugar-laden drinks, ranging from soft drinks to fruit smoothies should be eliminated from people’s diets.

The human global death toll arises from the diseases of diabetes, (133,000 a year), heart disease, (45,000 a year), and cancer, (6,450 a year). The study is the first comprehensive assessment of the world-wide deaths attributable to sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs).

Researchers defined SSBs as any sugar-sweetened fizzy drinks, fruit drinks, sweetened iced teas, sports/energy drinks, or homemade sugary drinks. Pure fruit juice was excluded.

An international team of researchers from Harvard, Tufts and Washington universities in the US, and Imperial College London in the UK conducted the extensive study of 62 dietary surveys taken from more than 611,000 people between 1980 and 2010 across 51 countries—almost two thirds of the world’s adult population.

The dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy at Tufts University in Boston said it should be a global priority to substantially reduce or eliminate sugar-sweetened beverages from the diet. 
Source: The Independent. 

Of course, the director general of the British Soft Drinks Association said the evidence was inconclusive.

Back in 2013, Coke launched an “anti-obesity” advertisement accepting that sweetened soda and many other foods and drinks have added to the obesity epidemic. Coke offered its wide array of calorie-free beverages and encouraged individuals to take responsibility for their own drink choices and weight. Responses were mixed, with many experts calling it misleading and inaccurate in stating the health dangers of soda.

The calorie facts: The average can of sugar-sweetened soda or fruit punch provides about 150 calories, almost all of them from sugar, usually high-fructose corn syrup. That’s the equivalent of 10 teaspoons of table sugar. If you were to drink just one can of a sugar-sweetened soft drink every day, and not cut back on calories elsewhere, you could gain up to 5 pounds in a year.

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A recent study found that consumption of calorie-sweetened beverages has continued to increase and may play a role in the obesity epidemic, metabolic syndrome and fatty liver disease.

Reducing your intake of soft drinks is associated with less weight gain and metabolic improvement. Why not drink water or pure fruit juices instead?

As a teenager, I drank Coca Cola with ice as a substitute for cocktails in the evening with my parents. The drink was a luxury. Back in the 50s, Coke contained much more harmful substances. Of course, I didn't know about the original ingredients.

I've never liked sweet or bubbly drinks and have not indulged myself since. As well as water, I drink a variety of unsweetened teas, and one glass of pure apple juice a day.

However, I feel very sorry for the children who have been raised on sweet drinks. It will be very hard for them to adapt to a different way of getting through the day if they have to give it up. I think sugar is one of the most addictive foods.

My husband adds raw cane sugar to his coffee. It's a habit. At the age of 76, I don't think he'd consider drinking his coffee without sugar. I'm not going to bother him with the facts. I preach to him too much as it is.

How about you? Now you've seen the shocking evidence, will you drink sugary drinks?


7 Comments
Ajay Pai link
6/30/2015 12:01:40 am

From the time immemorial, @ my home, we do not use any aerated drinks nor the sugary syrups. My mum is damn against those drinks. To top is one of my cousin passed away due to heavy intake of such drinks. Hence, we are more cautious about it.

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Jeanne Melanson link
6/30/2015 01:30:58 am

It always amazes me, and makes me feel sad, when I was past the sugar aisle in the grocery stores. You know the one. That long aisle that's nothing but sugary products. The potato chip aisle is equally bad. So much sugar! So many chemicals? What are we doing to ourselves? I think this is a great post, very informative. Thank you.

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Shantala link
6/30/2015 06:19:53 am

I have been guilty of drinking a lot of soda in the past. And while I have cut it down to a great extent, a reminder every now and then helps. Such a great, informative post. Thanks for sharing. :)

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Jason link
6/30/2015 07:40:51 am

I've eliminated most sugary drinks from my diet and now mostly drink water. I do miss them at times, but posts like this one is why I made that decision.

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Alana link
6/30/2015 08:37:54 am

I rarely had soda as a child, but the other sugary drinks I was given - don't know if all these names are world wide, but Kool-Aid, Hawaiian Punch, even a sugary orange flavored drink - probably have doomed me. As a person in her young 20's, I made up for lost time and drank an awful lot of soda. I know better now.

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Amy Bovaird link
6/30/2015 09:23:31 am

Francene,
n our family, we nearly always drink cold water for everything. My brother still drinks sugary drinks (coke, ice tea, ginger ale) but has cut down. He has diabetes, type II.
So glad that i enjoy water!
THanks,
Amy

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Robyn link
7/3/2015 10:39:50 pm

Sugar!! My nemesis to be sure. While I have cut way back on the sugar and sugary drinks, I've yet to successfully give it up completely!

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    Francene Stanley
    From England, I use news items in my novels which you can see below, all linked to an Amazon near you.

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