.. for those of you who don't feel you can give up pop...

I know there have been several people post on here about their addiction to pop and caffeine. I've read a fair amount of books on diet, exercise, cleanses, and food in general. So, here are two excerpts from a book I've read called "Cinch!", that I think you should all read...


First about regular pop:
"...Sweetened drinks are the number one source of sugar in the American diet, and the consumption of sugary drinks has jumped by 70% since 1970.
Americans today average fifty gallons of sode and other sweetened beverages each year. This is an enormous problem because, as research shows, liquids are less satisfying than solid food. Beverages simply don't appear to register with our appetite controls. In a four-week study at Purdue University, volunteers were provided 450 calories per day as either soda or jelly beans; beyond that, they were allowed to eat whatever they wanted. In the end, the soda group consumed 17% more total calories than the jelly-bean group and the only the soda group gained weight. The lesson, of course, is not that jelly beans are good for weight loss, but that liquid calories will only put you on the fast track to an expanded waistline. One can of sweetened soda a day can turn into 15 pounds of body fat a year!!!
Soda is not only bad for your waistline but also can sabotage your health. Statistically, people who consume more sugar tend to eat more calories and fewer nutrients because empty-calorie foods and drinks such as soda tend to squeeze our nutrient-rich choices whose calories are bundled with vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants (eg: sods instead of fresh fruit).
Plus, a higher intake of sugar is tied to nearly every chronic disease, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, certain cancers, and Alzheimers. A 20-ounce bottle of cola packs 250 calories from a whopping 68 grams of sugar-- that's 17 teaspoon's worth -- far exceeding the AHA's maximum daily recommended cap of 6 teaspoons of added sugar for woman, and 9 teaspoons for men..."


And for those who drink DIET soda:
"...When it comes to artificial sweeteners, the government has set an Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) -- the level of a substance that a person can safely consume every day over a lifetime without the risk of developing serious side effects. ADI is determined by toxicity studies, mostly in animals...
Over the decades in which fake sugars have been available, obesity rates have continued to skyrocket, and both animal and human studies tie these substances to weight gain rather than weight loss...
Statistically, the human risk of obesity actually increases with each daily serving of diet soda, even more so than it does for regular soda drinkers! One study found that for people who drank one to two cans of diet soda a day, the risk of becoming overweight or obese was 54.4%, compared with 32.8% for people drinking the same amount of sugar-sweetened soda."



I hope this will help you feel as though giving up pop is good for your body!!!