You Are What You … Drink?
May 24th, 2008 | By Hiram | Category: Featured, Fitness, Nutrition & Diet
We’ve all heard the expression, “You are what you eat.” However, I recently read a statement in the 2007 book “Microtrends – the small forces behind tomorrow’s big changes” by Mark J. Penn that made me rethink that statement.
In a section titled “Food, Drink, and Diet,” Penn describes a number of changes in what Americans have been drinking over the past few years. Sure, he mentions the significant increase in demand for bottled water (we all seem to believe it’s better than tap water although bottled water, even most of the expensive brands, are still… tap water – filtered to be sure, but still tap water) as well as the rise in popularity of coffee and caffeine-laced “energy” drinks.
But the statistic that made my jaw drop, the number that I believe may have the biggest impact on a person’s weight and overall health, is the one concerning soft drinks…
I’ve already written previous posts describing my resolution to cut out carbonated soft drinks from my diet altogether due to a suspected like to heart disease. My success has been spotty (read about it here) but overall, I’ve cut down significantly. I’m even more determined to cut it down even further. Here’s why.
In “Microtrends,” author Mark Penn states that the average American drinks 52 gallons of soft drinks per year. That’s more than twice the average 23 gallons of bottled water we drink per year on average. That’s shocking in itself but here’s what really blew me away. Penn states that “according to a 2005 study, soft drinks are now the leading source of calories in the average American diet, accounting for almost 1 in every 10 calories consumed.”
I added the italics and bold font for emphasis, as if that statement needed emphasis, but I wanted to make absolutely sure that you didn’t miss it.
Soft drinks, Coke, Pepsi, Sprite, Dr. Pepper, and all the others out there, are now the leading source of calories in the American diet.
In other words, the typical American gets more calories from soft drinks than from any of the other food item they eat. Note that it doesn’t say that we get the majority of our daily calories from soft drinks, just that soft drinks are the single food item that contributes the most calories in an average diet.
That’s huge! Can you wrap your mind around the implications of this? If you weigh 250 pounds and you want to lose an easy 25 pounds (about 10% of your total body weight) right off the bat, want to know how? Just cut out soft drinks! Instantly, you’ve reduced your total caloric intake by “almost 1 in every 10 calories consumed (roughly 10%).” Of course, I’m assuming that you’re not going to make up the difference by having dessert!
Seriously, imagine what having a 12 oz can of Coke (at 160 calories) 3 or 4 times a day (480 – 640 calories) is doing to your body. Four Cokes (around 640 calories) is a whopping 25% of your average daily intake of 2500 calories.
Let me ask again: can you imagine what this is doing to your body?
Now, here’s the clincher. What are you going to do with this information? I’ve already told you what I’m doing. I’m resolved to having water with every meal. What are you going to do?
Hiram
The Balanced Health Guy
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That’s an amazing statistic. I had no idea that a coke contributes so many calories. My family and I are making some immediate changes!
Thanks for the info – Sue
Doesn’t surprise me. My neighbor downs around 2 sixpacks of coke per day. He’s huge! Of course, he’s also got health problems and is diabetic. Go figure!
OK, I finally get it. No more cokes for me either. — jj
One article I came across said we get 14% of calories from soft drinks. It’s a little higher than your figure but still in the same ballpark. Either way, it’s a significant amount of empty calories that provide little nutritional value.
I also think that the substitution of “high fructose corn syrup” for the traditional cane sugar has helped create the weight problem most Americans have. In fact if you look, you’ll find corn syrup in just about everything. It’s become a standard sweetener pretty much putting the cane sugar companies out of business.
I really don’t understand why food producers feel the need to “doctor” Mother Nature’s products. I just know that it usually translates into increasing weight and health problems.
I’m surprised that so many calories in our diet comes from cokes. But then, every time we eat out, they just keep filling the glass (which is quart sized to begin with). I guess recoginizing a problem exists is the first step towards fixing it.
Randy
OK, no more cokes for my family!
Bev
Not surprise me! In my post about “Things you must reduce in your meal” one of in my top list is sugar. As we know, soft drink contains high volume of sugar especially coke. Coke is one of soft drinks that contains high volume of sugar. And even though sugar does not cause diabetics but sugar bed for diabetes. However not all soft drink can affects your health. 100 plus for example can give you additional energy when Malaria is attacking you.
For anyone that wants to lose weight, one of the best things you can do is to cut out soft drinks — even if you only drink “diet” soda. First of all, non-diet soft drinks contain huge amounts of sugar (or high-fructose corn syrup) — a source of “empty” calories.
Second, if you usually have a soft drink (or two) with your meal, then ALL soft drinks, even the diet ones, tend to make you eat more because of their flavor and fizz (the carbonation).
Third, the diet soft drinks add artificial sweeteners and other chemicals that doesn’t support a healthy lifestyle.
Last, ALL carbonated soft drinks get their “fizz” from carbon dioxide (CO2). The CO2 in a soft drink also forms carbonic acid – something else that doesn’t support a healthy lifestyle.
So in summary, it’s pretty plain — no matter how you slice it, drinking soft drinks is just not part of a healthy lifestyle.
Hiram