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How fizzy drinks impact your waistline

Despite the warnings to the contrary, many people still see sugary soft drinks as harmless to their health and weight.

Last month researchers in the US started pushing for a tax on sweetened drinks, which they say could save 26 000 lives per year.

The research found that each person in the US consumes an average of 45 gallons of sugary beverages each year and with 17 teaspoons of sugar in the normal 22 ounce fizzy drink, that leads to huge health problems.

That means that each year the average American will consume 70 000 calories from sugary beverages alone and currently over 8 per cent of the population has diabetes, costing $US174 billion in medical costs each year.

Now there are calls for mandatory warning labels on high-caffeine energy drinks sold in Australia, with a study published in the Medical Journal of Australia finding that the number of people reporting heart problems, tremors and chest pains from drinking the beverages has markedly increased.

Health writer Paula Goodyer has also weighed in on the debate today, writing that excluding sugary drinks from your diet if you’re trying to lose weight or get healthier is a “no-brainer.”

“If the world’s soft drink supply dried up overnight, would our waistlines shrink?

When it comes to shedding weight – or stopping it creeping on in the first place – deleting soft drink from the diet is a no-brainer.

Skipping meals in an effort to trim down brings hunger pangs and flagging concentration, but forgoing a 600ml coke – almost the kilojoule equivalent of a cheese and tomato sandwich – is painless.

Yet these liquid kilojoules from drinks slip quietly under our radar.

“There’s a common concept that kilojoules from fluids don’t count – and that goes for alcohol and skim milk lattes as well as soft drink,” says Associate Professor Katherine Samaras, senior staff specialist at St Vincent’s Hospital’s Department of Endocrinology.

And fruit juice? Not a healthier option either.”

The full article is available at The Sydney Morning Herald website.

How much fizzy drink to you consume?
 

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