5 Reasons Why You Should Cut down on Pop….and 6 Easy Delicious Replacements
The day I wrote this I was in the grocery store and saw this person checking out with the biggest load of pop I have ever seen in my life. What you see was just part of his load. His shopping cart was literally overflowing JUST with pop. I couldn’t stop myself and had to take a quick picture.
Earlier this year New York State Governor David Paterson proposed an 18% so-called ‘fat tax’ on non-diet soft drinks. The government hoped that the tax would reduce the enormous consumption of these sugar-laden liquids, and the income from the tax would assist in helping a growing population of obese individuals.
My first reaction to reading this was “Great – I wonder when they will start taxing the diet sodas too. They can be just as bad. And while they are at it – they could tax the whole junk food industry.”
The state didn’t ask my opinion though and it turns out this tax met too much industry opposition to get passed. To me though, this is a good sign when governments are even thinking of this. These people are not necessarily health advocates but do study the research and see the growing health awareness. The tax parallels cigarette and liquor taxes in its thinking – that these products are consumed by individuals but the whole society ends up paying for the negative influences and therefore deserves to be compensated.
In this case the annual cost of health care for obesity-related diseases is estimated at $79 Billion in the US. You can usually estimate that Canada will be about 10% of that figure. Half of this is met by Medicare in the US, 100% in Canada. – All taxpayers, whether or not they choose to eat a healthy diet, are paying for this.
Are people really being affected by coke and soft drinks? Well…..yes.
Here are Five ways they Rob you of Your Health
- Americans drink such LARGE quantities of soft drinks that they represent a significant % of our daily calorie intake. By large I mean the average person drinks 150 quarts per year, or about three quarts per week. A significant part of our diet therefore contains no needed nutrients (such as vitamins, minerals, fibre, protein, or essential fatty acids). Pop is just water, chemical flavours, additives plus usually sugar.
- The sugar makes you fat and contributes to diabetes and other degenerative diseases. This was the government’s position)
- Even diet colas have been shown in studies to cause weight gain.You would think that taking in all these liquids would reduce your consumption of other junk foods but studies have shown to actually INCREASE it.
- Cola intake has also been associated with increased risk of bone fracture in children, and bone demineralization in adolescent girls.
- Colas have been shown to reduce calcification and increase osteoporosis in adults.
If these negative are not enough maybe it has to be spelled out in the context of cancer. Both the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research looked at huge amounts of research and advises clearly: “Limit the Consumption of Energy-Dense Foods and Avoid Sugary Drinks.”
The basic problem with these products are that they are NOT REAL FOOD. They are not live food and they are not whole food. The body was never designed to ingest these kinds of products and only gets unbalanced and depleted in the long run.
The solution to this situation couldn’t be simpler because there are so many alternatives. The most obvious drink is WATER which happens to be the most thirst quenching. If you are wanted something with something extra these are all great replacements which happen to be good for you.
Six Easy Replacements for Pop:
- Sparkling mineral water with fresh juice added to it which will have the zing of pop.
- Sparkling mineral water with slices of lemon or lime and a few drops of Stevia.
- Lemon or Lime or Orange Water: Put three slices in a pitcher full of water and leave for an hour and it will be gently flavoured water. One of the benefits is that it will ALKALIZE the water
- Water flavoured with pure fruit juice.
- Lemonade made with fresh lemon juice and Stevia to taste.
- Herbal teas sweetened with stevia. My favorite is Fortune Delight tea from Sunrider. It tastes great and lemon, raspberry, peach, plain and cinnamon.
7 Tips to Reduce Sugar Cravings
The Deadly Consequences of Our Eating Habits
Learn How to Cook Super Health Means Without Sugar
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My, how things change! When I was growing up in the 1950’s, Coca-cola only had one product, the 6.5 oz, in the returnable bottle! I remember my mom buying two, six-packs each grocery day. These were supposed to last the coming week! (family of three) After looking at that photo, I think over-indulgence could be a factor in obesity, also.