Say goodbye to Soda

[Smokey]

Today is the day that Soda will be officially omitted from my diet and hopefully won't be missed

So as we say goodbye to my old nemesis, it might be worth looking back at this sugery drink in a different way to enforce the omission.

Here is the suger content of sodas visually:

12 oz soda=39g of suger
20 oz=65g
1 liter=108g


20 oz (590 ml) Bottle=77g
1 Liter (34 oz) Bottle=124g


7-Eleven 32 oz Big Gulp =91g
7-Eleven 44 oz Super Gulp=128g


7-Eleven 52 oz Xtreme Gulp=146g


How Much Sugar in Sodas and Beverages?

[JohnMichael]

Most carbonated beverages are sweetened with high fructose corn syrup. People seek out beverages sweetened with real sugar. Sadly neither are good for you but if you have to have one occasionally you would want one with sugar and not HFCS.

[Feanor]

I don't drink all that much soda, maybe 4-5 cans a week, but I only drink diet sodas with artificial sweeteners. This has been my practice for 20 years.

The reason has little to do with calories but with the fact that I suffer from gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Drinking soda with sugar or HFCS gives me severe heartburn. Some say that the artificial sweeteners aren't good for you either but I'm not concerned given my limited consumption.

[Smokey]

Most carbonated beverages are sweetened with high fructose corn syrup. People seek out beverages sweetened with real sugar.

I am assuming with real suger, still the amount of suger per oz stay the same.

I like to drink hot tea, and one teaspoon of suger is more than plenty to make it sweet. Now can't imagine if tea was soda, I be drinking it with 12 tea spoons of suger. Even thinking about it make me nausea.

Drinking soda with sugar or HFCS gives me severe heartburn.

Acid in the soda is probably also a contributer to your hearthburn. If I drink soda on empty stomach, it always give me tommy ache.

[Feanor]

...
Acid in the soda is probably also a contributer to your hearthburn. If I drink soda on empty stomach, it always give me tommy ache.

It's the acid + sugar combo, I think. Artificially sweetened soda also has acid but doesn't bother me.

[Smokey]

Can't believe how easy it was/is not to drink sodas anymore. Its been almost two weeks quit drinking soda and really don't miss it much. Hot tea seem to be working as a substitute

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

I have basically thrown sugar(or as much of it as I can) out of my diet altogether. I am even watching my carb intake because carbs turn to sugar in the body. No soda, no(sadly)juices, and yes to lemon water, and unsweetened tea(cold). I have even cut back on the amount of milk I drink because of the sugar in milk. I have never liked cake or sweets, so not eating those is no big loss.

I have never worried about my weight, but now even less because of the reduced sugar in my diet.

[JohnMichael]

I am assuming with real suger, still the amount of suger per oz stay the same.

Studies have shown that rats that consume sugar compared to rats that consume high fructose corn syrup do not gain weight. The rats the consume the corn syrup became obese.

Of course they are finding out that refined sugar is toxic to humans. Some studies say it is the number 1 cause of heart attacks. Sugar causes inflammation that causes a number of health problems.

[Smokey]

I have even cut back on the amount of milk I drink because of the sugar in milk.

I am guessing that natural suger in milk is not as bad because I do drink alot of milk. Its a great energy booster in the morning without having breakfast (I skip breakfast).

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

I am guessing that natural suger in milk is not as bad because I do drink alot of milk. Its a great energy booster in the morning without having breakfast (I skip breakfast).

Milk has 12g of sugar/carbo per cup. That is an awful lot of sugar for just one glass of milk.

[Feanor]

I have basically thrown sugar(or as much of it as I can) out of my diet altogether. I am even watching my carb intake because carbs turn to sugar in the body. No soda, no(sadly)juices, and yes to lemon water, and unsweetened tea(cold). I have even cut back on the amount of milk I drink because of the sugar in milk. I have never liked cake or sweets, so not eating those is no big loss.

I have never worried about my weight, but now even less because of the reduced sugar in my diet.

If you were not gaining weight, what was you concern about sugar?

To this point I haven't worried about lactose in milk. I always drink skimmed (no-fat) milk, and my doctor has recommended 3 glasses a day plus a vitamin D supplement in order to get enough calcium. I agree it would be possible to drink too much clarified, i.e. fibre-removed, fruit juice.

[dean_martin]

I just discovered Retro Grape Soda from Dublin, TX. Mmm, mmm.

Smokey, I stopped drinking sodas for a over a year many moons ago so when I started back it was much easier to drink it every now and then. I almost always have water within arm's reach, but I treat myself on the weekends.

[JohnMichael]

If you were not gaining weight, what was you concern about sugar?

To this point I haven't worried about lactose in milk. I always drink skimmed (no-fat) milk, and my doctor has recommended 3 glasses a day plus a vitamin D supplement in order to get enough calcium. I agree it would be possible to drink too much clarified, i.e. fibre-removed, fruit juice.

Skim milk just has the fat removed and not the milk sugars. We have found out that for people having hypoglycemic reactions a glass of milk raises their blood sugars quicker than orange juice and keeps the blood sugars up longer. They are also discovering that sugars cause inflammation and are a greater cause of heart attack than fat. They are starting to state that sugars are toxic to humans.

[Feanor]

Skim milk just has the fat removed and not the milk sugars. We have found out that for people having hypoglycemic reactions a glass of milk raises their blood sugars quicker than orange juice and keeps the blood sugars up longer. They are also discovering that sugars cause inflammation and are a greater cause of heart attack than fat. They are starting to state that sugars are toxic to humans.

Thanks for the update. I'll need to keep a close eye on the developing state of knowledge. I think it's important to establish what the limits are for the most vulnerable people. The man-on-the-street like me hears a lot of health trends that don't pan out -- I'm get tired of all the noise about gluten for instance.

I don't have diabetes , (thank goodness), or hypoglycemic reactions but I do have cardiac artery disease so I have to watch what I eat in general pretty closely.

As for sugar, I consume than the average North American I'd guess. I ingest absolutely no sugar-sweetened soda (as I mentioned), virtually no candy, chocolate, ice cream, or sweet deserts; very little in the way of sweetened breads of pastries. I drink only unsweetened, black coffee & tea (2-3 cups/day). My main sugar consumption is 2-3 glasses of milk, 1 glass of orange juice, and 1 no-fat, but usually sweetened, yoghurt.

[Just another college kid]

Hmmm... Not sure if I agree with the "sugars are toxic to humans" statement considering sugars are just simple carbohydrates, which are the basis of energy in all organic life.

Speaking as a runner (800m, 1 mile, 5k, 10k, half marathon) sugars in general are good and in fact necessary for pre-race top offs after heavy carbs the night/day before. At least, that's the general concensus and it's worked for me.

If you limit that to processed/refined/artificial sugars like HFCS or sweet and low I'd agree. Especially aspartame, because that crap kills your brain cells (and coincidentally is in virtually every single gum flavor and brand)

I do (try to) avoid soda as well, though. Mostly because the carbonation (I've been told) messes with your body when you do a lot of strenuous activity like long distance running. Green tea was my fix until I got to college, where apparently it can give you a false positives on drug tests so for 3 years it has been earl gray for the most part

[JohnMichael]

In my comments I mentioned refined sugars from sugar cane or beets. Natural sugars such as in fruit is not a problem. It is better for me as a diabetic to eat whole fruit than to drink fruit juice.

[Just another college kid]

My mistake, with your comments on milk it seemed more of a broad, overreaching statement. But so you're saying milk has refined/processed sugar added? Man, even the things you thought were safe... Maybe I shouldn't give my mom such a hard time with all the organic stuff she buys