Thread: Why You Should Cut Down on Soda

I read a latest news article in science daily posted today about a study that regular consumption of soda and other sugar sweetened beverages is linked to a clear and consistently greater risk of type 2 diabetes and and metabolic syndrome. For those who are a fan of soda, you should start to limit your intake to reduce risk of these medical conditions.

The findings on the study by Harvard School of Public Health, it showed that drinking one to two sugary drinks per day increased the risk of type 2 diabetes by 26% and the risk of metabolic syndrome by 20% compared with those who consumed less than one sugary drink per month. Drinking one 12-ounce serving per day increased the risk of type 2 diabetes by about 15%.

While a number of factors are at work in the development of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome, sugar-sweetened beverages represent one easily modifiable risk factor that if reduced will likely make an important impact according to the researchers.

This is alarming as the consumption of soda and sugary drinks has increased. It is best just totally stay away from it as these drinks are very high in sugar and could cause not only these earlier mentioned conditions but also weight gain. I hope this helps our members and if you want to read more about the article, you can check out science daily.

actualy they are saying that any kind of soda isnt that good for u. even the diet soda's. pretty soon just bread and water, o wait water may be tainted also. so cant make the bread either. starvation here we come. lol

Haha you have a point there wildman. Yeah diet sodas aren't good to the health either as it contains aspartame which is not good for the health. It has been linked to early cases of Alzheimer's Disease.

But of course. It almost seems that eating and drinking, no matter what it is, can be hazardous to a person's health.

I have heard the same thing about sodas generally not being a good thing to drink. I have also read that some, but not all, research indicates that aspartame may impair memory. Also, that aspartame can actually lead to weight gain rather than loss.

Yeah I agree with you fhp that anything is hazardous to our health if we are not careful about it. Any food that is not washed or cooked well can be dangerous. I say if aspartame is that much of a threat to our health, it's best to just avoid it. Like they say, a poison is a poison no matter how little it is.

I don't really like diet soda because of the artificial sweetener after taste. I just like the regular soda but I have been cutting it down too because I know it contains a lot of sugar. Just a can of soda contains about 39g of sugar which is way too much!

That is way too much as the daily recommended serving of sugar based on a 2000 calorie diet is 8 teaspoons or 32 grams per day. If you drink a can of soda, you over load your body with sugar already and you shouldn't eat or drink anything with sugar anymore. Diabetes is widespread now because of our diet. If we are not careful, we too can get that. So always check the label and make it a habit.

You are both right! Most of us have weight problems because we eat foods and not know how our body reacts to it. I too didn't care what I was eating until I gained weight and got sickly. That's when I realized how the labels are important. I know soda can be very delicious sometimes and it's difficult to resist but if we don't, we allow our body to gain dead weight that isn't good for our health.

There are good sugars and bad sugars too. Sugars in low-fat milk (skim milk, soymilk, 1% low-fat milk), Fresh and frozen fruits (apple, blueberries, orange, pineapple, strawberries, banana, cantaloupe, etc.), and Most Vegetables (carrots, tomato, zucchini, broccoli, spinach, cucumber, etc.) are the ones we shouldn't worry about because they occur naturally and supply key nutrients.

That's right. It's also best to be aware how many calories and sugars are in our drinks that we think are okay to consume because it could contain more sugars than we think it has like a 6 oz. low fat fruit-flavored yogurt which has 7 teaspoons of sugar, 16 oz Snapple Lemon Iced Tea which has 11.5 teaspoons, and 21 oz McDonald's Vanilla Shake which has 24 teaspoons of sugar. That's really a lot and we don't know it.