Liquid Sugar

Over the past 40 years our nation's soda consumption has almost doubled. Here are just a few of the many shocking statistics:

"Americans drank 52 gallons of carbonated soft drinks in 1996, compared to 35 gallons in 1980, and 24.3 gallons in 1970...."

Do the math. That averages out to at least one 12-ounce can of soda per day for every man, woman and child in America!

"This trend is particularly troubling, since there are few things worse for your body than soda."

"One 8-ounce serving of non-diet pop contains the FDA's recommended daily allowance for sugar."

"A 'Super-size' Coke (44-ounce bottle, which is now the norm) has around 400 calories; about the same as two Krispy Kreme glazed donuts."

"Carbonated soda pop provides more added sugar in a typical 2-year-old toddler's diet than cookies, candies and ice cream combined."

"56% of 8-year-olds down soft drinks daily."

"Not only are soft drinks widely available everywhere, from fast food restaurants to video games, they're now sold in 60% of all public and private middle schools and high schools nationwide according to the National Soft Drink Association."

"The average soda consumption among teenage males between ages 13 and 18 who drink soda is three or more cans a day, and 10% drink seven or more cans a day!"

Of 13 to 18-year-old girls who drink the beverages, the average intake is more than two cans a day, and 10% of those teenagers drink more than 5 cans a day."

And this was one of the most shocking statistics to me by far:

"One-fifth of all infants one or two are now soda drinkers."

I would urge you to read the following alarming 46-page report called, "Liquid Candy, How Soft Drinks are Harming Americans' Health."

Consider these chapter headings: Soaring Consumption of Soft Drinks, Nutritional Impact of Soft Drinks,Health Impact of Soft Drinks (which includes: Obesity, Bones and Osteoporosis, Tooth Decay and Erosion, Heart Disease, Kidney Stones, Additives: Psychoactive Drug, Allergens, and More), Aggressive Marketing of Soft Drinks, Citizens Fight Back, and Recommendations for Action.

One of the most troubling concerns in all of this, though, is that many of the adult onset diseases are impacting our children at earlier and earlier ages. The following is just a short exerpt. Please read the whole article by clicking on it.

"THE DIAGNOSES: Type 2 diabetes, gallstones, liver failure ...THE PATIENTS: Children at risk.

Ten years ago, doctors saw these diseases in adults. Now, as the number of overweight kids rises, so does the danger....

Dr. Mark Wulkan, a pediatric surgeon at Emory Medical School and Children's Healthcare, sees the consequence of obesity in children's gallbladders, the pear-shaped organs that store bile.

Surgeons, he said, used to talk about the 'three F's of gallbladder disease —- fat, forty and fertile,' meaning most patients were middle-aged women.

Now, Wulkan said, it's showing up in adolescents, and "occasionally even in younger kids."
Eight years ago when Wulkan started work at Egleston, the seven pediatric surgeons removed a child's gallbladder because of gallstones every couple of months. Now, he said, the rate is more like every couple of weeks."

Does the fact that soda has now become the "drink of choice" morning, noon, and night as well as how many times in between have anything to do with this?

Isn't it time for us to begin to make some drastic changes in our food and drink choices? Our children's health and well-being depends on it!

So how much sugar are we consuming in just one can of soda?

Here's an easy little exercise that was recommended in "Liquid Candy" to do with our children:

Spoon out 10 level teaspoons of sugar to see about how much sugar (actually high fructose corn syrup--I feel another "post" coming over me!) is in a 12-ounce can of regular soda. Or how about spooning out 17 teaspoons of sugar for a 20-ounce bottle of soda?

Can you imagine consuming that much sugar all at one time?

Then multiply that times three, four, five, six and even seven cans of soda per day which is what our teenagers, in particular, are drinking.

That's 51, 68, 85, 102, and 119 teaspoons of sugar just from drinking soda! Or with the analogy of the doughnuts that would equal 6, 8, 10, 12, or 14 Krispy Kreme glazed doughnuts! These are, mind you, just one day's worth of sugar! Multiply that by a week, a month, a year!

By the way, don't be fooled by all the hype surrounding the sugar-free drinks. The sugar may be absent, but did you think about what has been substituted in its place? (Darn, that urge for another "post" is hitting me again!)

Initially, it wasn't easy to give up the soda, and we weren't even soda junkies by any stretch of the imagination, but we realized that it was a choice that clearly would have an impact on our health now and in the days and years to come. Giving up soda became a no-brainer!

It was incredibly rewarding to see our then teenagers follow our lead in the area of soda consumption as well. Even last week when we weren't eating the greatest, soda was not even an option, or even a temptation for that matter!

Soda consumption has risen dramatically! Chronic diseases have become epidemic!

Is this just coincidental, or is there some correlation between the two?