I just came across an excellent poster detailing the effects of soft drinks on the body. From exacerbating asthma, to causing blood sugar spikes, to dissolving tooth enamel, to its links to metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and osteoporosis–there’s not much good involved.  These aren’t the effects of the occasional soda, but frequent consumption is clearly not safe.  It would be great if this chart could be posted beside every soda machine and store cooler.

Here’s another thing you may not realize about all sugary drinks, not just soda: they make you fatter because the body is bad at registering liquid calories.  Thus, if you eat too much food, your body creates signs of satiety that work to balance overall caloric intake, making you less hungry later and likely to consume fewer calories. This mechanism doesn’t apply to liquids. If you guzzle a 12 oz. Coke, that’s a surplus 140 calories in your body. If you don’t burn them, they end up on your stomach or butt.  [Read more…]