You Got The Right One Baby, Uh-NO!

Beverages were let off easy in this whole obesity epidemic for a long time but now they seem to have been brought to the forefront. A few years back I heard that if someone gives up 1 soda per day for a whole year they will lose something like 10 pounds. That seemed like a relatively large change for what seemed like a simple challenge. The reason for this large weight loss by eliminating regular soda from the diet is primarily high fructose corn syrup. We have pounded (pun slightly intended) the point home about the metabolic derangements from consuming high fructose corn syrup in previous posts so I will leave that alone. However, I had previously turned my head to the calories in juices, punches, sports drink, teas, etc. that I believe also make a tremendous difference as far as calorie consumption. I remember coming home from a long day of school and chugging a huge glass of Gatorade fruit punch even though I had not worked out which in the long run probably didn't do me much good. I certainly didn't need to replete my electrolytes from sitting in class all day. A study published in Obesity Research in November 2007 concluded that over the last 37 years our calories from beverage consumption have increased by 94% which amounts to 222 additional calories from beverages daily. This adds up to about 1 full day of eating per week. This begs the question, what about diet drinks (low to no calories)?

I always loved how people, myself included, go to McDonald's or some other fast food restaurant and order a huge greasy meal but order a diet soda. How does that work psychologically? Maybe we feel that it is OK to eat that triple Angus burger (or whatever the latest menu option) if we order a diet drink. I guess it is similar to drinking a regular soda or eating some sweets after working out. It is natural to always rationalize our intake. There is definitely psychological implications for choosing a diet/low calorie beverage but are there metabolic ramifications?

A study from Purdue University was published in the journal Behavioural Neuroscience that investigated the role of sweeteners versus real sugar in calorie consumption. The researchers determined that sucrose (real sugar) trained rats that were given a high-calorie chocolate pudding treat made them eat less afterwards whereas the saccharine (artificial sweetener) trained rats showed less restraint in what they ate next. The rational behind this difference is that our body uses the combination of calories and sweetness to regulate intake and when the two do not match up we tend to look for extra calories. Basically, diet beverages are sweet but don't match up in calories so our body sends us on a search to match up the calories with the sweetness until we feel full. Therefore, it seems that drinking a diet beverage by itself will tempt us to eat a high caloric food in conjunction.

Despite all these great new options to hydrate our bodies it seems that the good old fashioned H2O is the best. In addition to being the best way to remain hydrated it also is useful in maintaining calorie consumption within normal range. Many times when we feel hungry it is actually thirst. A natural response to dehydration is for our body to crave salty foods since excess salt causes the body to retain fluid. Therefore, when I have felt hungry on these long 12 hour shifts in the mid afternoon I have been drinking a bottle of water (thinking I am most likely dehydrated) and this has been satisfying.

To conclude I will quote from an email comparing water and coke that I received last week.

Water:
75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated/even mild dehydration will slow metabolism by 3%/lack of water is the number one trigger for daytime fatigue.

Coke: highway patrol carries 2 gallons of coke in the trunk to remove blood from the highway after a car accident/put a T bone steak in a bowl of coke and it will be gone in 2 days/to loosen a rusted bolt apply a cloth of coke for several minutes/the active ingredient in coke is phosphoric acid which can dissolve a nail in 4 days and is one of the leading contributors to osteoporosis.

I have basically eliminated soda from my daily routine for the last 6 months. Not sure if that has made me feel better but when I take a sip of a soda now it doesn't taste as good as it use to. Give it a shot.