Soda, sweet drinks main source of calories in U.S.

Science Blog ^ | 2005-05-27 15:37.

[Nov3]

Tufts researchers recently reported that while the leading source of calories in the average American diet used to be from white bread, that may have changed. Now, according to preliminary research conducted by scientists at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Americans are drinking these calories instead. The research was presented in abstract form at the Experimental Biology Conference in April of this year and a more comprehensive paper is being developed.

Odilia Bermudez, PhD, MPH, studied the reported diets of a large nationwide sample of American adults. Among respondents to the 1999-2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), more than two thirds reported drinking enough soda and/or sweet drinks to provide them with a greater proportion of daily calories than any other food. In addition, obesity rates were higher among these sweet drink consumers. Consumers of 100% orange juice and low fat milk, on the other hand, tended to be less overweight, on average.

Bermudez, who is also an assistant professor at Tufts University's Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, is hopeful that, "by helping to identify the main sources of excess energy in the American diet, this work may contribute to the development of much-needed strategies to combat obesity in the American public."

"These results are startling," she continued, "and indicate that we need a much better understanding of how the American diet has changed. Our paper will look more closely at the issue of sweet drink consumption and its relation to obesity factors among three of the main ethnic groups included in the national surveys: African Americans, Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites."

[Aquinasfan]

3 parts unleaded Dr Pepper and 1 part of the lime diet coke (and a drop of vanilla extract.)

Hmmm... I'll have to try that. But what do you do with the other 2/3 of the lime diet Coke can?

[kevkrom]

Coke is coming out with a new product "Coca Cola Zero" by the end of the month.

Tastes like regualr Diet Coke to me. I prefer the Diet Coke w/ Splenda, tastes more like original Coke, though it can sometimes have a sweet aftertaste.

[ryan71]

I don't drink that crap.

[Ditto]

I don't think Americans drink as much soda as they'd like us to think.

I don't know how much of it Americans drink, but it is sure as hell a lot more than we consumed 30 or 40 years ago.

I know as a kid, we didn't get it every day, and when we did get it, it was a 6 oz. bottle and considered a treat, not part of a meal. The didn't even sell it in the school cafeteria. Now you see kids sucking this crap down by the gallons, and then bouncing off the walls.

I'm not a neutrition zealot by any means, but a rule of thumb it that too much of anything is bad, and we (especially kids) drink way too much soda.

[okkev68]

That is a great chart. When I stick to it, my PVC's, palpitations, and anxieties, are greatly reduced. My wife's grogginess and mood swings diminish, and as I stated earlier, my 11 year old son lost 6 lbs in 2 weeks.

[Nov3]

Go there, order Coke and Dr. Pepper made with good old fashioned cane sugar, in Mexico and Europe.

I have heard they sell them in the Mexican marts around here. I am going to grab a couple.

[Nov3]

I don't think Americans drink as much soda as they'd like us to think.

In the age of the big gulp and the supersize you would be very wrong.

[SALChamps03]

They also make big bottles of water, which have a sizeable shelf space.

[IamConservative]

I cut out white bread, pasta, white rice, sugary drinks, and junk food, and the few excess pounds came flying right off.

The old adage "avoid sugars and white food" was true 25-30 years ago when I first heard and it is true today.

[Nov3]

OK you are right. The article is wrong. I am wrong. Soft drinks are not larger. I didn't use to drink one or two (if Iwas lucky) 6 1/2 oz Cokes made with cane sugar when I was young. The convenience stores had soda fountains and 40+ ounce cups. The bottles of soda were 20 oz. We didn't eat more fat and less carbs. And of course we had a bunch of beached whales rolling around everywhere.

Now of course this was sarcasm but, just because some people consider it trendy to drink water out of a bottle instead of a water fountain does not mean that water consumption is up and soft drink consumption is down.

It is a fact that sugar consumption had risen dramatically in the past 30 years. Soft drink consumption has risen darmatically and fructose consumption has skyrocketed in the same period.

It is undeniable just as the obesity in young people is. I have no clue how old you are but I was young in the 60's and early 70's and there was ONE fat kid in my classes during that period. ONE. Kids that are considered good looking now would have been considered fat then. Type II diabetes was called Adult Onset Diabetes. You know why? There weren't a bunch of fat diabetic kids rolling around with 40 ounce soft drinks and candy bars.

It used to be a joke that you couldn't get a teenage boy fat. To be sure physical activity has something to do with it but the legions of FAT teenage boys you see has a lot more to do with diet composition than activity. Hormones trump activity in the long run.

[Miss Marple]

I agree. I lost 25 pounds on Weightwatchers anad one of the things I learned was how to read labels. Foods I assumed were healthy were LOADED with sugar and fat!

I now cook mostly from scratch, no white flour, little pasta, lean meats, fruits and vegetables. It is very different from how I cooked 10 years ago.

[soundandvision]

I FORCED myself to stop drinking my 5 to 6 Coke's a day a few years ago. I started drinking 5 to 6 Diet Coke's a day. To the best of my understanding -- there is no Calorie content in Diet Coke (no High Fructose, Corn Syrup nor Sugar). I know it's still high in Sodium but.. at least it's still "Coke".

[bmwcyle]

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