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Why Soft Drinks Contribute to Obesity in America

naturalnews.com — Is it a coincidence that the introduction of high fructose corn syrup in the 1970's coincided with a marked rise in obesity in the United States? Thus, leading to speculations that there might be a causal connection between High Fructose Corn Syrup consumption and weight gain.

Who dugg this? Made popular Sep 3, 2008

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  • BrettFromTibet, on 09/03/2008, -4/+104I think of soft drinks as "liquid candy" rather than a beverage.
  • gfxlonghorn, on 09/03/2008, -8/+79I drink soda and I am in good shape. Due to my sample size of 1, with a standard deviation of infinity, I conclude with 95% confidence that soda gives me muscles,
  • Haoie, on 09/02/2008, -3/+42Corn syrup is cheaper than sugar to produce. And it's also more intensely sweet, in relative amounts.

    Not that changing it to sugar will make a huge difference, though. Drink plain water if you want to not gain weight.
  • Akairenn, on 09/03/2008, -2/+34Corn syrup is cheaper largely through tariffs and government *****.

    But you're absolutely right. Fat people will continue to be fat, corn syrup or no corn syrup. Drinking a 64 Oz. soft drink after a super/king/biggie/whatever-sized value meal kind of does that. There's only one real solution: exercise more. Even reducing calorie intake alone won't get the job done.

    Look at a certain olympic swimmer who eats OVER NINE THOUSAND calories per day, yet isn't a blimp. :p
  • orlyfactor, on 09/03/2008, -1/+29I like your take on statistics and math. Want to do my taxes next year?
  • ShooterMcGavin, on 09/03/2008, -2/+30Can you provide a link to your source, or are you just talking?
  • gfxlonghorn, on 09/03/2008, -1/+26Or you could just use tap water and pay less than a cent per gallon?
  • KenSPT, on 09/03/2008, -1/+25::: throws out can of Mountain Dew, sloops lower into chair :::
  • jlowe64, on 09/03/2008, -2/+22I really hate that every loaf of bread in the store has HFCS in it. I try to avoid HFCS as much as possible, but it's nearly impossible unless you have time to brew your own cane soda (Jone's Soda is amazing), or have time to bake your own breads.
  • ShooterMcGavin, on 09/03/2008, -0/+20It's easy folks. Here is my rule of thumb I try to live by.

    Don't drink your calories.

    It's that simple. You can eat more, feel better, and lose weight all at the same time.
  • WoollyMittens, on 09/03/2008, -0/+19You, sir, are a shining example of the collapse of the US education system.

    Even if by your magic, the fat would solidify from cooling the contents of your stomach down, it'd return right back to 37 degrees C a minute later.
  • Lionhart, on 09/03/2008, -1/+19Corn syrup is only cheaper because the government subsidizes the hell out of corn production.
  • WoollyMittens, on 09/03/2008, -3/+20Please stop destroying our planet with your plastic bottles of factory tap water.
  • pintomp3, on 09/03/2008, -0/+16and puts huge tariffs on sugar.
  • inactive, on 09/03/2008, -2/+17When I first moved to my apartment (I'm 20 btw). I bought nothing but 2 liter bottles of sprite. I definitely gained weight from that, and also from sitting in front of a computer all day (IT). Not to mention that it felt like I was rotting on the inside from so much soda. Now I just buy bottles water and I can say I don't miss soda at all. Plus, water is cheaper. I can buy 72 bottles for $10 at Krogers.
  • AyaJulia, on 09/03/2008, -0/+14Things you can't digest are passed through your system raw. It doesn't sit around in there for years. You probably believe the myth that every piece of chewing gum you've swallowed sticks around in there for 7 years too?
  • Spuy767, on 09/03/2008, -3/+17I'll sum up the reson for you in two sentences. Soft drinks have anywhere from 100-200 calories per can for full calorie sodas. Soft drinks also contain caffeine which can dehydrate the body and lead to slower digestion of food which means more calories can be absorbed into your body rather than pooped out.

    A large sized drink at a fast food restaurant can contain 1000 calories, tack that onto the 800 that you just ate with your meal and you've eaten a days worth of calories on lunch break. Let's not forget that your body is also racing to store fat because it thinks that you're starving because you didn't eat breakfast. Then you go home and have a huge dinner. And we wonder why we're the fattest nation.
  • c010rb1indusa, on 09/03/2008, -1/+14Might as well be, i stopped drinking snapple last summer, went form about 3 bottles a day to none and i lost THIRTY pounds. High Fructose corn syrup is definitely not good for you.

    Anyway in Europe I notices that Coca-Cola uses sugar and not HFCS, and not only did it taste much better (no bad coke aftertaste) but i was drinking it and didn't gain any weight, but when I came back to the states, 10 pounds just like that.
  • RedHeadedFreak, on 09/03/2008, -1/+14I doubt it's purely soft drinks since the introduction of high fructose corn syrup followed legislation which allowed Iowa corn farmers to start growing as much as they can. Thus enter the grain fed animal, which introduced cheap meat, which spurred the creation of more meat eating and more fast food chains. Soda is just a small part.

    Go watch the documentary "King Corn." It does a great job describing the corn industry and how corn is in everything we consume. It also doesn't come off as preachy which is refreshing. One one hand, we are getting fatter, sure. But on the other, the corn legislation allows Americans to spend less income on food than at any point in human history thus allowing us to enjoy our high dollar coffees, iPods and other various luxury devices.
  • thespiff, on 09/02/2008, -5/+17While not enough has been done to make a conclusive statement, it is an interesting observation that we tend to react to liquid calories differently than solid calories. One wonders how much is physical and how much is psychological.
  • Topher06, on 09/03/2008, -0/+12Video games were also introduced in the 70's, go figure.
  • blah247, on 09/03/2008, -0/+12no it doesn't.
  • paraforce, on 09/03/2008, -1/+12Still living with your parents?
  • FreeTalkLIve, on 09/03/2008, -1/+12Mexican Coka Cola has a nice cotton candyish aftertaste because it's made with real cane sugar. One of those keeps me satisfied way longer than American corn syrup Coke.
  • SpinozaQ, on 09/03/2008, -1/+11He's just talking. Think about it more. It doesn't take very long for anything you eat or drink to warm up, or cool off, to your body temperature. That fat is at 98.6 within minutes...... on a side note.... drinking cold water burns calories to heat it. You can calculate exactly how many calories with simple math. It works out to about 17 Calories for a big ice cold glass. http://health.howstuffworks.com/question447.htm
  • sadhesati, on 09/03/2008, -0/+10Ditto. I would like to see a reputable source as well. I can spit out a lot of stuff that sounds good - doesn't necessarily make it true.
  • CedEx, on 09/03/2008, -0/+10Of course you don't eat disco... you LIVE IT!
  • Wamzlee, on 09/03/2008, -0/+10From my own experience, I cut pop/soda out of my diet and that reeeaaally helped me lose weight. (I also changed other parts of my diet/excerscise) But I feel better these days, that's the important thing.
  • stealthboy, on 09/03/2008, -0/+10You switched to diet soda? So instead of dying from obesity, it'll be the brain damage and cancer from the sugar substitute. I stopped drinking all soda a few years ago and don't miss it at all.

    I agree, water is the only good way to go.

  • Thorlord, on 09/03/2008, -6/+15i just finished my report on HFCS so none of this is new for me.
    ive stopped drinking/eating the stuff for 5 months now.
  • southeastbeast, on 09/03/2008, -0/+9@Thorlord - I try to avoid it too, but it's soooo hard
    @jlowe - Jone's soda ftw!

    I heard in Europe Coca-Cola doesn't use HFCS! whaaaa I would be willing to pay more for real cane sugar.
  • miriv365, on 09/03/2008, -0/+9Cokes made & sold in Mexico use sugar too. You can find them all over Texas, albeit, in the barrios. Coca Cola tries to put a stop to the importation, but they have failed so far...
  • SkippyDoorknob, on 09/03/2008, -0/+8I would have to think that the contents of your stomach reach body temperature pretty quickly. So even if a splash of cold liquid hardened up some fat in your stomach it would return to body temp quickly.
  • ghostfaceDX, on 09/03/2008, -1/+9I know what you are saying. However, there ARE breads that don't have it... I try to avoid it as much as possible. Nature's Own 100% natural wheat bread does not have it.... Not those long loafs but the shorter fatter ones. Thomas whole grain english muffins stopped using HFCS. Snyder pretzels does not use any bad ingredients, compared to rolled gold.

    god i spend too much time analyzing the ingredients of everything i eat
  • AndrewJC, on 09/03/2008, -2/+10A large diet soda has 0 calories. :)

    Then again, I'll have cancer by the time I'm 40 due to all of the aspartame... But that's, like, ten years from now. Who cares about the future?
  • xeic, on 09/03/2008, -2/+10US is the number one in a lot of things, nobody is going to discuss that. But you aren't the number one in fatness.

    The world's fattest countries are (only the first three):
    1- Nauru: 94.5 % overweight
    2- Federated States of Micronesia: 91.1 % overweight
    3- Cook Islands: 90.9 % overweight

    Data from: http://www.forbes.com/2007/02/07/worlds-fattest-co ...
  • jstem1994, on 09/03/2008, -0/+8The wife had to stop drinking Coke when she started Topomax (migraine headache preventer, but she said it made carbonated beverages taste terrible). She was probably a 12pack every 4 days or so, we used to joke she had a “Coke habit”.

    After dropping the Coke, and drinking mostly bottled water, she dropped from a size 16-18 to about a size 6-8, in about 3 months, with no other dietary changes. No exercise, no healthy habits at all really (me either I admit, both in our early 40s). I have no doubt the sugar/HFCS did it for her. Your mileage my vary.
  • OTRtwist, on 09/03/2008, -0/+8At the age of 16 I weighed 210 pounds. After 3 years with NO soda I weigh 155 and I look like a different person. Did I do more then stop drinking soda to lose weight? Yes, but not much. True story.

    P.S.

    Seltzer is a good substitute to help kill the addiction off.
  • miriv365, on 09/03/2008, -1/+9That is why I only drink Mexican Cokes..... only pure cane sugar goodness....
  • WoollyMittens, on 09/03/2008, -3/+11Why do you guys add sugar to bread?!? *O.o* This kinda explains why bread in the US is the worst I've had anywhere.
  • locke2002, on 09/03/2008, -0/+7Problem is that you practically need a degree in nutrition in order to eat properly in the US. Unless you eat nothing but produce and fresh meat.
  • kent1146, on 09/03/2008, -3/+10Oil is used to operate machines that chop down trees, which is used to create sign posts and cardboard, which is used to create anti-war protest signs. Part of the reason we are trashing Iraq is so we can have signs that protest the trashing of Iraq.

  • jmpeagle, on 09/03/2008, -5/+12a lot of things came out in the 1970s, such as disco. This is the worst correlation construed as a causation that I have seen in awhile. You need scientific controlled experiments to jump to this conclusion.
  • ascent, on 09/03/2008, -0/+7Yep, and they're getting easier and easier to find in the states. Look for a 12 oz green glass bottle, usually with a white label (with nutritional info) stuck on it at a gas station or Fresh Market near you. I've found them at both.

    Pure sugar instead of HFCS and all the loveliness of a cold coke in 12oz glass bottle to boot!

  • pintomp3, on 09/03/2008, -0/+7you are either a brilliant writer for the onion or mccain's new VP.
  • inactive, on 09/03/2008, -0/+7really? taking in all the nasty ***** they put in diet soda didnt make you healthier? wierd...
  • o0joshua0o, on 09/03/2008, -2/+9I live by the same motto! I just drink water and beer, and THAT'S IT!
    Ok, maybe not the water so much...but I do drink a lot of beer, and it makes me feel better.
  • Ankhorahil, on 09/03/2008, -0/+7Reading Comprehension Much?

    He said he lost 55 pounds over the course of three years, not anywhere near extraordinary.

    Cutting 200-600 calories a day from your diet will definitely impact your body, and will take most people from a caloric surplus to a deficit, hence weight loss.
  • GvnMcCld, on 09/03/2008, -0/+6I saw a 12 or 24 pack of sugar coke at Coscto as well, it's more expensive of course, but it does come in cool glass bottles! I also came across some for sale at Walmart in a checkstand cooler.
  • bwhite, on 09/03/2008, -0/+6There is little difference between washing hands in hot or cold water. The water temperature of a normal water faucet is not hot enough to kill bacteria.

    Washing hands and dishes in hot water is just a waste of energy.
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