Soda Pop

Americans spent $68.1 billion on carbonated soft drinks last year, which totals 828 eight-ounce servings per capita (per Beverage Digest). In return for our money we received the biggest source of calories in our diet.

Our taste for a sweet drink is natural, but enough already.

“We are born with a taste for sweet because breast milk is sweet,” explains Samantha Heller, senior clinical nutritionist at New York University Medical Center. “When we start feeding sweets and soda to infants and toddlers, we’re taking the natural instinct for a sweet taste and intensifying that desire. Soon, even the sweet taste of fruit is not enough for the little ones—they want extreme sweets, like soda.”

The love of sugary soda lives long past childhood, too. According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, carbonated soft drinks are the single biggest source of refined sugars in the American diet.

Soda consumption is high among teens, an age group with a rising obesity rate.

Soda pop represents 24 percent of the drink intake for kids ages 11 to 14. According to Liquid Candy, a report published by the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington, D.C., teenage boys who drink soda average 32 ounces per day, which translates to 379 calories and the equivalent of 26 teaspoons of sugar. Girls in the same 13 to 18 age group average 23 ounces.

The direct link between soda consumption and obesity has yet to be proven, but there’s logic to the relationship.

In soda, sugar is delivered in the form of high-fructose corn syrup (table sugar is sucrose). HFCS is an easy and cheap sweetener to manufacture, and it’s been linked to obesity since the consumption of HFCS and the obesity rate have risen in parallel. The cause-and-effect relationship between the two is difficult to quantify since increased intake of other junk food and decreased activity are also factors in obesity.

Try to find a nutritionist who will tell you otherwise.

Says nutritionist Heller, “It’s not just that the ingredients in soda are increasing the rate of obesity, it’s the large portions of it that we are drinking. We tend to eat or drink whatever is in front of us.” When Coca-Cola came in a little glass bottle back in the ’50s, the single-serving size was 6.5 ounces. Today, soda commonly sells in 20-ounce bottles. At the movies, they’ll pour you 44 ounces—the same size as the Super Big Gulp at 7-Eleven—for a quarter more than a 32-ounce “medium.” Want Goobers with that?

Soda pop is a super-sugary bath for the teeth. The American Dental Association explains the detrimental effects: “When bacteria (plaque) come into contact with sugar or starch in the mouth, acid is produced, which attacks the teeth for 20 minutes or more. This can eventually result in tooth decay.” The ADA also points to evidence that the acids present in soft drinks—including sugar-free diet drinks—contribute to the erosion of tooth enamel.

Soda Pop has been reviewed for accuracy by Samantha Heller, MS, RD (Registered Dietician).

Confused by health myths and misinformation? Each week, Rich Maloof talks to leading health experts to bring you the latest word on a wide range of health topics.

Find more on MSN Health & Fitness:

• 10 Tips for Balancing a Sweet Tooth
• Vitamins and Water for Weight Loss
• Sickeningly Sweet: The Effects of High-Fructose Corn Syrup
• Dehydration