What to drink instead of soft drinks….

Today's Post: Friday, 6-26-2009

A. Soft drinks ARE really bad for you.:

1. We’ve posted about how regular soft drinks add calories but do virtually nothing to turn down your hunger. Small wonder people who drink them daily, or drink lots of them, daily tend to be much fatter than they easily could be. In fact, many people today get over 10 % of their daily calories from soft drinks. So if they drank water instead and are 15 to 25 pounds overfat, most of it would leave. And, studies show that much fatloss produces massive improvements in health and increases in disease prevention.

Secondly, virtually all regular soft drinks use high fructose corn syrup as a sweetener. There is a much more dangerous version of high fructose corn syrup used in some baked goods while the kind of high fructose corn syrup used in soft drinks may not be that much worse than sugar as its makers say. Unfortunately, about 30% of high fructose corn syrup was recently found to contain mercury, a serious nerve poison. So no children who are building their brains or any adults who want to avoid senility should ever drink soft drinks that contain high fructose corn syrup until that is corrected.

2. People who drink diet soft drinks tend to be as fat and sick as people who drink regular soft drinks. It seems that when your body tastes sugar and gets none, it makes you MUCH hungrier for things that DO have sugar. So, since 95% of the time, people who drink diet soft drinks eat that much extra sugar in some fashion, people who switch from diet soft drinks to water, also can get substantial fat loss!

And the artificial sweeteners are not safe for many. Some trigger migraines in some people. There is evidence one of them may cause MS, multiple sclerosis, the progressive paralysis disease in some people. Artificial sweeteners apparently don’t cause a lot of cancer or allergies. But, given the money involved, I’m not convinced they cause none at all.

B. But people drink soft drinks for a reason.

Cola drinks and some others have caffeine. Caffeine does wake people up and makes them mentally sharper and sometimes makes people feel better.

The combination of cold water, sweetness, other likable flavors, and carbonation does make soft drinks enjoyable to drink.

C. So, if you have been drinking soft drinks and now know better, what can you drink instead?

1. Coffee, tea, and green tea all have caffeine. Do does unsweetened cocoa. And except for adding sweeteners or nondairy creamers or too much cream to coffee – or similar things to cocoa, they all have health benefits, particularly green tea which benefits your heart and may help prevent or slow some cancers. (Unsweetened cocoa, tea, and green tea all deliver the most health benefits when drunk with no milk added.)

So, black coffee, coffee with 1% lowfat milk and tea or green tea with no milk all get can get you caffeine without the health harm of soft drinks. So can mixing up hot cocoa using only unsweetened cocoa and no milk.

2. Club soda, carbonated water only, can provide the bubbly if you want that.

And, you can mix chilled carbonated water with chilled juices.

You’ll get more fat loss and protection from fat gain by using vegetable juice – as we posted about recently.

But real juices such as concord grape juice, orange juice, cherry juice, and blueberry juice are all available and have significant health benefits. Just drink them a few times a week instead of once a day or more every week.

And, whether you drink vegetable or fruit juice, people who drink a glass of juice each day get less Alzheimer’s disease than people who don’t.

So you can have carbonated water, coffee, tea, green tea, unsweetened cocoa, vegetable juice, fruit juice, club soda, or club soda with your favorite juice.

3. Water works too! You can get safer, good tasting water by installing a reverse osmosis system for turning your tap water into drinking water. Or you can use Brita filters on bottled water or tap water.

Tap water or bottled water filtered in these ways is MUCH cheaper per ounce than soft drinks. And if you use one of the filtered tap water options, you don’t need to make a trip to the store and carry it home!

4. And for one or two drinks a day alcoholic drinks work. Above level of consumption they cause health and other problems. But at that level or a bit less they have some health benefits and can be as enjoyable as soft drinks and much more relaxing. Red wine and dark beer have extra health benefits.

If you want carbonation, dark beer or light beer works. So do wine spritzers -- half wine and half club soda.

So, you have many ways to go if you want good taste, to quench your thirst, get caffeine, relax, or enjoy carbonation. You CAN get all these things without soft drinks!

5. Now suppose you could have yet another drink that tastes good and is as good for fat loss or avoiding fat gain as vegetable juice.

Wouldn’t that be great?

I turns out, I found out today in my Total Health Breakthroughs email, there IS one!

Here’s that article:

“"This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise's Total Health Breakthroughs, offering alternative solutions for mind, body and soul. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.totalhealthbreakthroughs.com ."

"Weight Loss: Coconut Water -- A Great Way to Diet and Hydrate

By Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS

If you've ever vacationed in the tropics, you've probably seen people drinking from what looks like peeled coconuts with straws inserted. Now I’m finding more and more skinned coconuts in the fruit and vegetable section of grocery stores. Chop off the top, insert a straw and drink up. Coconut water is becoming so popular that there is now a whole bunch of canned coconut water drinks on the market.

So what's the deal with coconut water?

Well, I can't speak to the dozens of pre-packaged products that are showing up (usually sold in cans), but I can tell you what's found inside the actual coconut. And it's a nutritional bonanza that could easily be a boon to people trying to control their weight.

One cup of real coconut water contains a measly 46 calories. (Remember, I'm talking about the liquid that occurs naturally inside the coconut, not some "coconut milk" sweetened product that's a whole different animal.) It also contains a surprisingly high 3 grams of dietary fiber and 2 grams of protein. Best of all, it's a fabulous source of potassium -- way better than a banana.

Two companies that are marketing excellent commercial products are O.N.E. and Zico, both of which make convenient one-serving containers that are perfect for travel and for the gym. While neither has any fiber, they both contain a whopping 670 mg of potassium as well as four other essential electrolytes.

Both taste great, they’re surprisingly filling and refreshing, and best of all, each contains only 60 calories per serving, way less than the typical sports drink.

Lots of nutrients for a very small number of calories. That profile definitely makes it a great drink for a weight management program.

[Ed. note: Dr. Bowden is a nationally known expert on weight loss, nutrition and health. He's a board certified nutrition specialist with a Master's degree in psychology and the author of five books including The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth. His latest book is The Most Effective Cures on Earth.....]"

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Good taste, few calories, potassium to help you keep your blood sugar low – even protein & fiber to help you be less hungry despite the few calories in the version right from the coconut!