5 ms·

Try drinking water and eating fruit when you feel the urge to have a soft drink. Maybe you do already. It worked really well for me.

dasil003 12y ago
Seriously I think outright rejection of all sweetened drinks is probably the best ROI for a dietary change one can make. The whole truth about what soda pop and other heavily engineered processed foods do to one's metabolism and general health is going to be shocking to people when it is finally revealed, and I think tooth enamel is the least of your worries.
- a8da6b0c91d 12y ago
  Sodas are sugar water. We already know what sugar does: provide clean, metabolically efficient, allergen free calories. If you're on the road or out and about and hungry, a coke is often the healthiest choice you can make. The quality of options such as fruits and meat and baked goods are typically atrocious at convenience stores and fast food restaurants. Just get a coke and some milk. Available at McDonald's and gas stations nationwide.
  - guyzero 12y ago
    This is borderline insane. Pure sugar results in huge swings of actual blood sugar levels. Coke has zero fat, protein or complex carbohydrates all of which are much better macronutrients than pure sugar. If Coke is your only option, sure, but I've never seen a doughnut so terrible that I'd take a coke instead.
    - a8da6b0c91d 12y ago
      Let me get this straight: you're advocating commercial dough deep fried in corn or soy oil over some sugar? You have no idea what you're talking about. Sugar does not produce major swings in blood sugar levels unless you're diabetic. Have a working pancreas? Good, then sugars are a perfectly healthy source of calories which your system will merrily mop up into glycogen. Anyway, starch produces a larger insulin response than sugar, so the sugar phobes are laughably ignorant on this count. As for your concern with nutrients, the fact is an adult male needs 2400+ calories a day. Protein and other nutrient needs are very easily met with some servings of foods such as eggs and milk and potatoes, still leaving a large calorie deficit. Sugar is a perfectly viable way to add four hundred or so calories to your daily diet. Sugary fruit is best, but high quality perfectly ripe fruit is surprisingly difficult to find. Low quality, unripe fruit has many allergens and toxins. In this context sugar is a very good choice. Personally I daily have about 12 tsp of sugar (in coffee) and a coke. I'm shredded, btw.
      - to3m 12y ago
        How on earth is it hard to eat 2500 calories?! What do you eat? Paper and cardboard? If you find yourself 400 calories short, try a pork pie. If you're 800 calories short, eat two. If you're 1200 calories short, stop skipping lunch.
        k__ 12y ago
        I thought it was known by now that carbs are the Problem and not the solution.
        aianus 12y ago
        Who eats 1200 calories for lunch? A whole Chipotle burrito and a drink is only 900 and you'd have to eat that much for breakfast, dinner, and lunch to get past 2500 calories.
        bluedino 12y ago
        >> Who eats 1200 calories for lunch? 1 big mac 540 calories, 1 large fry, 500 calories 1 large Coke 32 oz 310 calories total
        to3m 12y ago
        Well, perhaps my post was mildly facetious. Just that going by my recollection of the period I was monitoring my food intake, 2500 calories per day didn't seem that hard. Though having consulted the spreadsheet I kept in order to double check, I have to admit that it looks like it isn't that hard to eat less either :) Snacks can add up surprisingly quickly so if you do have a shortfall I'm not sure it's necessary to resort to eating sugar. For example, 2 bananas and a tin of salmon will be something like 500 calories. That's 20% of your budget right there.
      - skj 12y ago
        > Personally I daily have about 12 tsp of sugar (in coffee) and a coke. I'm shredded, btw. That's what I was like too, before I turned 25. That's just how it goes, independent of your diet (within reason).
      - 12y ago
  - hollerith 12y ago
    >If you're on the road or out and about and hungry, a coke is often the healthiest choice you can make. Most people, particularly most biologists and health-care practitioners, would disagree with that.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - jotm 12y ago
    Uh, just do yourself a huge favor - grab the milk and forget the coke.
- mattcrox 12y ago
  I did a test one year where for a full 365 days, I completely removed all sodas from my diet and changed nothing else, kept my regular doses of exercise the same. Only drank water or tea/lemonade at meals. Easiest 15 pounds I ever lost
- Hermel 12y ago
  Drinking sweetened drinks is exactly what makes the difference for me between losing and gaining weight.
tinco 12y ago
Not that it's terrible advice, but note that many fruits are just as bad as coke when looking at acidity.
kstenerud 12y ago
Try plain old soda water. It takes awhile to get used to it, but it's the most refreshing drink ever! It helps to start by adding a little lime juice to the soda water, but after a few months you won't need it. I started out bringing my own bottles from Safeway to the office, but other people started drinking it and now we go through about 40 liters a week.
- ashmud 12y ago
  I used to drink 1 liter or more club soda most days for several years. At some point I cut back considerably (at most .25 liter in a day), and just drank plain water most of the time. Anecdotally, I felt much more refreshed throughout the day. Comparing how I feel now to then, the soda would have a temporary feeling of being very refreshing, but I would feel thirsty much sooner than drinking plain water.
- judk 12y ago
  Time for a home carbonator like SodaStream

dasil003 12y ago

Seriously I think outright rejection of all sweetened drinks is probably the best ROI for a dietary change one can make. The whole truth about what soda pop and other heavily engineered processed foods do to one's metabolism and general health is going to be shocking to people when it is finally revealed, and I think tooth enamel is the least of your worries.

a8da6b0c91d 12y ago
Sodas are sugar water. We already know what sugar does: provide clean, metabolically efficient, allergen free calories. If you're on the road or out and about and hungry, a coke is often the healthiest choice you can make. The quality of options such as fruits and meat and baked goods are typically atrocious at convenience stores and fast food restaurants. Just get a coke and some milk. Available at McDonald's and gas stations nationwide.
- guyzero 12y ago
  This is borderline insane. Pure sugar results in huge swings of actual blood sugar levels. Coke has zero fat, protein or complex carbohydrates all of which are much better macronutrients than pure sugar. If Coke is your only option, sure, but I've never seen a doughnut so terrible that I'd take a coke instead.
  - a8da6b0c91d 12y ago
    Let me get this straight: you're advocating commercial dough deep fried in corn or soy oil over some sugar? You have no idea what you're talking about. Sugar does not produce major swings in blood sugar levels unless you're diabetic. Have a working pancreas? Good, then sugars are a perfectly healthy source of calories which your system will merrily mop up into glycogen. Anyway, starch produces a larger insulin response than sugar, so the sugar phobes are laughably ignorant on this count. As for your concern with nutrients, the fact is an adult male needs 2400+ calories a day. Protein and other nutrient needs are very easily met with some servings of foods such as eggs and milk and potatoes, still leaving a large calorie deficit. Sugar is a perfectly viable way to add four hundred or so calories to your daily diet. Sugary fruit is best, but high quality perfectly ripe fruit is surprisingly difficult to find. Low quality, unripe fruit has many allergens and toxins. In this context sugar is a very good choice. Personally I daily have about 12 tsp of sugar (in coffee) and a coke. I'm shredded, btw.
    - to3m 12y ago
      How on earth is it hard to eat 2500 calories?! What do you eat? Paper and cardboard? If you find yourself 400 calories short, try a pork pie. If you're 800 calories short, eat two. If you're 1200 calories short, stop skipping lunch.
      - k__ 12y ago
        I thought it was known by now that carbs are the Problem and not the solution.
      - aianus 12y ago
        Who eats 1200 calories for lunch? A whole Chipotle burrito and a drink is only 900 and you'd have to eat that much for breakfast, dinner, and lunch to get past 2500 calories.
        bluedino 12y ago
        >> Who eats 1200 calories for lunch? 1 big mac 540 calories, 1 large fry, 500 calories 1 large Coke 32 oz 310 calories total
        to3m 12y ago
        Well, perhaps my post was mildly facetious. Just that going by my recollection of the period I was monitoring my food intake, 2500 calories per day didn't seem that hard. Though having consulted the spreadsheet I kept in order to double check, I have to admit that it looks like it isn't that hard to eat less either :) Snacks can add up surprisingly quickly so if you do have a shortfall I'm not sure it's necessary to resort to eating sugar. For example, 2 bananas and a tin of salmon will be something like 500 calories. That's 20% of your budget right there.
    - skj 12y ago
      > Personally I daily have about 12 tsp of sugar (in coffee) and a coke. I'm shredded, btw. That's what I was like too, before I turned 25. That's just how it goes, independent of your diet (within reason).
    - 12y ago
- hollerith 12y ago
  >If you're on the road or out and about and hungry, a coke is often the healthiest choice you can make. Most people, particularly most biologists and health-care practitioners, would disagree with that.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- jotm 12y ago
  Uh, just do yourself a huge favor - grab the milk and forget the coke.
mattcrox 12y ago
I did a test one year where for a full 365 days, I completely removed all sodas from my diet and changed nothing else, kept my regular doses of exercise the same. Only drank water or tea/lemonade at meals. Easiest 15 pounds I ever lost
Hermel 12y ago
Drinking sweetened drinks is exactly what makes the difference for me between losing and gaining weight.

tinco 12y ago

Not that it's terrible advice, but note that many fruits are just as bad as coke when looking at acidity.

kstenerud 12y ago

Try plain old soda water. It takes awhile to get used to it, but it's the most refreshing drink ever! It helps to start by adding a little lime juice to the soda water, but after a few months you won't need it. I started out bringing my own bottles from Safeway to the office, but other people started drinking it and now we go through about 40 liters a week.

ashmud 12y ago
I used to drink 1 liter or more club soda most days for several years. At some point I cut back considerably (at most .25 liter in a day), and just drank plain water most of the time. Anecdotally, I felt much more refreshed throughout the day. Comparing how I feel now to then, the soda would have a temporary feeling of being very refreshing, but I would feel thirsty much sooner than drinking plain water.
judk 12y ago
Time for a home carbonator like SodaStream