| If
you’re having a problem battling the bulge, it could be what you’re
drinking. In carbonated sugary soda’s hay-day, it was the beverage
of choice. One manufacturer, The Coca Cola® Company touted their
sugary sweet bubbly drink “as the real thing.” Other soda manufacturers
jumped on the marketing bandwagon to encourage Americans to drink
up. It did not take consumers of all ethnicities to become addicted
to ‘soda pop’. Merely,
forty years later, Americans are drinking carbonated soda by
the gallons. The calories from ‘pop’ can add up fast. Recently,
the subject of carbonated beverages has gained significant debate.
For the soda addicted, the calories from soda can account for
up to 25 percent of daily caloric intake.
The
unhealthiness of excessive soda consumption has been related
to obesity. Studies released by the top echelon of nutritional
experts have found soda to one of the causes of the obesity
epidemic in America.
Due
to the findings a national panel of nutritionists recommends
more water consumption. The panel urges only an eight ounce
of sugary soda should be consumed once a day with an increase
of water intake (50 ounces daily). Also, the nutritionists encourage
up to 40 ounces per day of herbal, green and black unsweetened
tea. Coffee can be substituted for the tea but it’s a second
option. As a result, up to 16 ounces of fat-free milk, skim
milk or soy beverages are good beverage choices.
The
8-ounce limit is particularly eye-opening, in these days of
the Big Gulp, the "Super-size," and the endless refills
offered at movie theaters. Whereas vending machines once offered
only 10-12 ounce drinks, these days it's hard to find soda machines
that offer anything other than 20-ounce bottles.
In
an effort to endorse healthy beverage consumption, both elementary
and high schools are removing sodas from vending machines. Other
schools are limiting the purchase of carbonated beverages to
after school hours and events. Regardless of anyone’s age, carbonated
sweetened sodas should be ingested in limited supplies. |
