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Soda May Age You as Much as Smoking

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Re: Soda May Age You as Much as Smoking

#171
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. Some of us aren't subscribers to APHA or aren't interested in spending $22 on the article. 2. Why so confrontational? If you know the answer to the question, why not summarize it? Is the answer to the question so complicated that it would take more time and energy than the two paragraphs you composed in derision?

1. Neither am I. I used Google to find a copy on the author's academic website which took all of 20 seconds. You can find full-text versions of most scientific papers by searching on the journal article title and appending 'filetype:pdf'. 2. Yes, the answer to the question is complicated. As I mentioned, it occupies a full page of the study. I could have summarized this in a few words, but the authors had already don…

You've made some really good points. I guess I read the parent post a bit differently. I was looking through for a summary of how the lifestyle difference between soda drinkers and fruit juice drinkers had been handled. When I saw that post, I thought woowee, here's the thread where the answer will come in. A brief synthesis of the page you mentioned would have really helped me determine the credibility of the article. I can, however, understand the frustration with the statement of "this is more likely [some other reason] than the experts' conclusion." More reasonable is "If you've read the full article, how did experts deal with [this other reason]?" If the answer is complicated and occupies a full page, I don't think it's unreasonable to ask for the cliff notes.

Re: Soda May Age You as Much as Smoking

#172
post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's more than one kind of sugar. Juices have both fructose and glucose; the former is more likely to be stored by the liver, the latter is deployed more widely around the body. Soda has much higher levels of fructose than glucose, thanks to all that high-fructose corn syrup that has become so popular with food manufacturers. There seems to be mounting evidence that high fructose intake is correlated with increase…

Oh this thread is going to pull out all the fun ones. Can they program anything to penalize any diet / food topics? Nothing smart is ever said and all the studies are always inconclusive and at best hint at new directions for additional research. Anyhow, to the above comment: http://nutritiondata.self.com/foods-000011000000000000000.ht... Nutritional studies are worse than physiological studies. It's impossible to co…

Apart from this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MARS-500

From : " "A reduction in salt intake led to a significant fall in blood pressure, even in the healthy volunteers," explains Jens Titze, from Erlangen-Nuremberg University." .. "Titze gradually reduced the daily salt intake of the 'cosmonauts' during the course of the world's longest metabolism study, while keeping all other nutrients unchanged."

But well, it's not something every study can do.

[] http://www.dlr.de/dlr/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-10525/873...

Re: Soda May Age You as Much as Smoking

#173
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually mass consumption of carrots can cause your skin to develop an orange tint (seriously, not joking here).

Same with yams. It happened to my brother when we were kids.

How much of which jam did he eat and what did he look like? (colour/intensity)

Re: Soda May Age You as Much as Smoking

#174
post #14

Not to mention it can cause diabetes and it's horrible for your teeth. For me, it also caused acne. Soda's really, really bad for you, and I think at this point it would be viewed the same way that smoking is viewed if it weren't for the fact that soda affects only the consumer whereas cigarettes produce second-hand smoke and a suffocating odor that fills the room. Maybe 2050's Mad Men will shock its viewers with how…

I had a serious dental incident about 20 years ago due to both massive soda/sugar intake and not taking care of my teeth. I bit into a candybar and almost passed out due to the pain. Trip to the dentist: 12 cavities which I got filled in three long and painful visits. Eating candy was actually pretty unusual for me already, but I never drank soda again... or those damn Lance crackers I ate all the time.

Re: Soda May Age You as Much as Smoking

#175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

America definitely drinks more soda than anyone else: http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/map_of_the_... . 3x as much as most central European countries.

Notwithstanding the golden "correlation != causation" adage, I found that only two things are truly consumed in much larger quantities in America than any other country I know: soda and high fructose corn syrup...at the same time being the only country with a 35% obesity rate...hmmmm

Not true. Saudi Arabia is the most obese country on earth, at 70%.

Britain, Australia, and New Zealand are also substantially obese. All of those are coming increasingly close to catching America in obesity, with their obesity levels exploding higher.

Re: Soda May Age You as Much as Smoking

#176
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of the "fruit juice" (in America, at least) contains just as much HFCS as soda. I don't know if this is the case in the rest of the world or in this study though.

Of the ~20 countries I've visited I think only the US had HFCS in the fruit juice. (It tastes funny/unfamiliar, so I notice.) Instead they contain sugar, natural or added, and about as much as cola (~10%). The cola also has sugar instead of HFCS.

The US Government's vast, and continued, subsidization of corn is what led to the creation of HFCS. Makes sense, unfortunately, that the US would be drowning in it.

Re: Soda May Age You as Much as Smoking

#177
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fruit juice may be good for your telomeres, but there are plenty of other reasons to be suspicious of it---"bro-science" it is not. For example, Google "fruit juice and obesity" or see http://blogs.plos.org/obesitypanacea/2012/03/09/shout-it-fro... And besides, who says a "bro" can't science? ;)

> And besides, who says a "bro" can't science? ;) Very fair point. I guess I've been exposed to too many paleo "all sugar is equally evil" bros lately. They can certainly science with the rest of them. Hell, Kary Mullis won a Nobel for inventing PCR which he practically did from his surf board. Although his later absurdity^ re: AIDS / Astrology / Climate Change might give some more credence to keeping the bros out of…

And how about sugar in honey? I just wonder.

Re: Soda May Age You as Much as Smoking

#178
post #174
post #14

Not to mention it can cause diabetes and it's horrible for your teeth. For me, it also caused acne. Soda's really, really bad for you, and I think at this point it would be viewed the same way that smoking is viewed if it weren't for the fact that soda affects only the consumer whereas cigarettes produce second-hand smoke and a suffocating odor that fills the room. Maybe 2050's Mad Men will shock its viewers with how…

I had a serious dental incident about 20 years ago due to both massive soda/sugar intake and not taking care of my teeth. I bit into a candybar and almost passed out due to the pain. Trip to the dentist: 12 cavities which I got filled in three long and painful visits. Eating candy was actually pretty unusual for me already, but I never drank soda again... or those damn Lance crackers I ate all the time.

I don't like anecdotes like this because it is so reliant on genetics alongside maintenance.

I'm in my 30s now, and I've never had a cavity despite awful habits from childhood to my mid-20s. While I drink much less soda pop now, I still have too much. My wife on the other hand, seems to get cavities the moment her teeth touch a Skittle, even though she had better parents and better habits in adulthood.

Some of us are lucky, some of us aren't. But taking care of your teeth can't hurt, and can only extend the time you have with them.

Re: Soda May Age You as Much as Smoking

#179
post #9

It's hard for me to understand the whole soda phenomenon in Canada and the US. Is it as addictive as cigarettes? Does it make you crave for more? Or it simply tastes so good that you can't get enough of it? Why not eat a bunch of apples instead (if you don't care about the amount of sugar you consume)? Wouldn't they taste better?

I drink (diet) soda because I need caffeine in the mornings. I am not a morning person and never have been. Without caffeine, I will not be mentally alert before 11am. I hate the taste of coffee, so soda it is.

Coffee is an acquired taste, not sure anyone likes it at first. Diet soda is just as bad for you as regular soda and has also been linked to diabetes and obesity.

Re: Soda May Age You as Much as Smoking

#180
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's the carbonation. When I realized that's the part I really enjoyed, I started drinking seltzer water (and a lot of it, because I didn't get the uncomfortable feeling that sugary soda gave me.)

the other weird thing is how hard it is to find carbonated seltzer in America... in Western Europe you basically trip over container loads of the stuff at every supermarket's entrance. Makes you wonder if carbonated seltzer is what might help change North American soda consumption habits

> in Western Europe you basically trip over container loads of the stuff at every supermarket's entrance

And restaurants in Europe can't seem to give you just plain water unless you specify. I spent my entire vacation being surprised by bubbles before getting what I wanted.

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