More Dangerous Than Smoking? Death by Soda

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

"Death by Soda" is a bit overdramatic, don't ya think?

[Cassie 8]

For the last month and a half, i have been doing Weight Watchers online, and I have become very very label-aware. My goal is to lose weight safely and smartly. My problem is, if I want to eat foods on the WW charts that are considered "less points", most of them are manufactured "lite" foods, with aspartame and other chemical substitutes. If I look at regular food, they're stuffed full of junk like HFCS, trans-fats, etc etc. You're between a rock and a hard place sometimes.

And since I have been home in Canada, I've been able to drink Cran-Grape juice and eat yoghurt without those HFCS's--- heaven!

[mrc 0]

And since I have been home in Canada, I've been able to drink Cran-Grape juice and eat yoghurt without those HFCS's--- heaven!

Yep, now they have just plain sugar instead of HFCS. Which still raises insulin levels and can lead to overreating and less energy.

[Marilyn. 340]

And HFCS is NOT in the UK Heinz Ketchup. Makes you think...WHY? Why put it in the USA one?

To make it taste better?

it tastes worse with HFCS in it

Well I don't know what it is but Heinz in the US tastes a lot better. It's less vinegary.

I think the US Heinz tastes more vinegary

[one...two...tree 2,762]

"Death by Soda" is a bit overdramatic, don't ya think?

Perhaps not...

Carbonated soft drinks are the single biggest source of calories in the American diet, providing about 7 percent of calories; adding in noncarbonated drinks brings the figure to 9 percent. Teenagers get 13 percent of their calories from carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks.

Consumption of carbonated soft drinks peaked in 1998, when consumption was 56.1 gallons per person. In a historic turnaround, consumption was 7 percent lower in 2004. And because some people have switched to diet sodas, the consumption of caloric soft drinks declined by 12 percent.

http://www.cspinet.org/liquidcandy/

[one...two...tree 2,762]

And since I have been home in Canada, I've been able to drink Cran-Grape juice and eat yoghurt without those HFCS's--- heaven!

Yep, now they have just plain sugar instead of HFCS. Which still raises insulin levels and can lead to overreating and less energy.

Although consuming sugar in large amounts is not healthy either, it's not the same...

The body processes the fructose in high fructose corn syrup differently than it does old-fashioned cane or beet sugar, which in turn alters the way metabolic-regulating hormones function. It also forces the liver to kick more fat out into the bloodstream.

The end result is that our bodies are essentially tricked into wanting to eat more and at the same time, we are storing more fat.

"One of the issues is the ease with which you can consume this stuff," says Carol Porter, director of nutrition and food services at UC San Francisco. "It's not that fructose itself is so bad, but they put it in so much food that you consume so much of it without knowing it."

A single 12-ounce can of soda has as much as 13 teaspoons of sugar in the form of high fructose corn syrup. And because the amount of soda we drink has more than doubled since 1970 to about 56 gallons per person a year, so has the amount of high fructose corn syrup we take in. In 2001, we consumed almost 63 pounds of it, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...FDGS24VKMH1.DTL

[mawilson 2,133]

And HFCS is NOT in the UK Heinz Ketchup. Makes you think...WHY? Why put it in the USA one?

To make it taste better?

it tastes worse with HFCS in it

Well I don't know what it is but Heinz in the US tastes a lot better. It's less vinegary.

I think the US Heinz tastes more vinegary

How would you know that? Have you tried UK Heinz?

[Marilyn. 340]

And HFCS is NOT in the UK Heinz Ketchup. Makes you think...WHY? Why put it in the USA one?

To make it taste better?

it tastes worse with HFCS in it

Well I don't know what it is but Heinz in the US tastes a lot better. It's less vinegary.

I think the US Heinz tastes more vinegary

How would you know that? Have you tried UK Heinz?

no, but Canadian Heinz is made in a similar way.... no HFCS in Canadian Heinz either

[Cassie 8]

And since I have been home in Canada, I've been able to drink Cran-Grape juice and eat yoghurt without those HFCS's--- heaven!

Yep, now they have just plain sugar instead of HFCS. Which still raises insulin levels and can lead to overreating and less energy.

i'd rather have sugar and butter in small quantities than HFCS, aspartame, margarine and their ilk (I mean uck) any day.