When Fitness is a Lifestyle

How does drinking carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup and/or sugar, caramel color, phosphoric acid, caffeine, citric acid and natural flavors sound?  Or how about carbonated water, caramel color, aspartame, phosphoric acid, potassium benzoate (preserves freshness), caffeine, citric acid and natural flavors?

If you are like many Americans you enjoy the sweet taste of the above on average of almost six hundred 12-ounce cans per year!  That equates to 1.6 cans of soda pop for every man, woman, and child in the US every single day.  One fifth of one and two year old children consume soft drinks.  Almost half of all children ages 6 to 11 drink 15 ounces of soda pop daily.  The best consumers of soda pop are 12 to 29 year old males, who on average drink 28.5 ounces per day.

Why do so many people need a fix of sugar and caffeine every day? And by doing so can it be a healthy alternative to drinking good old fashion water? The National Soft Drink Association seems to think so. They state, "As refreshing sources of needed liquids and energy, soft drinks represent a positive addition to a well balanced diet.  These same three sugars also occur naturally, for example, in fruits. In your body it makes no difference whether the sugar is from a soft drink or a peach." 

Are you freaking kidding me!  That statement makes me want to puke.  I am sure the soda pop industry is having a tough time competing with the peach growers for market share.

In the 1950’s the average sized Coca Cola bottle was 6.5 ounces.  Now the average sized bottle is 20 ounces, packing a hefty 233 calories and 65 grams of sugar. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends that people eating 1600 calories a day not eat more than six teaspoons of refined sugar per day. Drinking one 20 ounce Coke packs over 16.5 teaspoons of refined sugar.  

If you are like most people who are trying to lose weight, you assume diet soda pop must be better for you.  One of the ingredients in diet soda is aspartame.  40% of aspartame is aspartic acid, 50% of aspartame is phenylalanine and 10% of aspartame is methanol.

Aspartic Acid is a non-essential amino acid.  Phenylalanine is an essential amino acid found in proteins.  Methanol (methyl alcohol) is produced from the distillation of wood.  Products that contain methanol include: windshield wiper fluids and de-icers, antifreeze, glass cleaner, canned heat, paints, varnishes, paint thinners, formaldehyde and removers.  As you know, I encourage people to eat as close to nature as possible.  I do not think that artificial sweeteners would classify as close to nature.

Another danger of soda pop is the amount of caffeine. Did you know that diet sodas have considerably more caffeine than its regular counter part?  A 12-ounce can of Diet Coke has 42 milligrams of caffeine, seven more than regular Coke.  A 12-ounce can of Pepsi One has 56 milligrams of caffeine.

Caffeine can cause nervousness, irritability, sleeplessness, and increases the excretion of calcium in urine.  Drinking 12-ounces of caffeine containing soft drinks causes the loss of about 20 milligrams of calcium.  Not to mention how addictive caffeine is.  It is pretty amusing that when I ask people to wait to have their morning coffee until after we measure metabolism.  You would think I asked them for a kidney transplant.  If you do not think caffeine and sugar are addictive, look at all the Starbucks coffee shops that have been built. On 80th and Wadsworth in Arvada they have two, one on the west side of Wadsworth and one on the east side.

I know from personal experience that I had to stop drinking Diet Pepsi, because it would give me a headache and make me dizzy.  I then switched to Pepsi Edge. After writing this newsletter, I am done drinking pop.  I have been a professional fitness trainer for about five years now.  My observation is that people who are hooked on soda pop, whether it’s regular or diet have a MUCH harder time losing weight.  If you want to improve your overall health, giving up the soda pop would be an excellent first step.  Water will be, and always will be the best choice.

Client of the Month

Father David Clarke is the Chancellor of Regis University.  Father Clarke has lost over 100 pounds!  He has done it by improving his diet and exercise.  Father Clarke also learned a great deal about emotional eating from Linda Spangles’ book “Life is Hard, Food is Easy”.  I enjoy working with Father Clarke on a weekly basis.  He has become very fit even at a young 77 years of age.  Keep up the great work!!