Could This be Causing the Obesity Epidemic?

“I feel like I don’t eat that much,” one friend commented to me. This friend had struggled with their weight pretty much since puberty, even though they skipped meals on a regular basis and rarely over-ate. I pondered how she could have gotten to the verge of obesity. Over time, I observed that her daily routine consisted of having a large, sweetened latte in the morning, a 20 oz soda in the afternoon, and often another soda with dinner.  

In 2009, The American Heart Association published a scientific statement saying, “High intakes of dietary sugars in the setting of a worldwide pandemic of obesity and cardiovascular disease have heightened concerns about the adverse effects of excessive consumption of sugars… Soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages are the primary source of added sugars in Americans' diets.”

In my post, My 3 Eating Guidelines, I state that I have cut out sugary and diet drinks from my regular diet for 2 reasons: 1) they contain enough calories to count as a small meal yet they don’t make you feel full, and 2) they are chemically detrimental to your health. 

Let me make this real for you: a Grande (16 oz) Starbucks Frappuccino can have anywhere from 390-510 calories. That’s how much I would eat a meal. For my husband, that would be a hearty snack. But do Starbucks drinks keep us from snacking or eating 3 meals a day? Not usually. Chewing and seeing the food we eat has a lot to do with how satisfied we feel. Drinking is a mindless way to intake calories. It would be hard to eat a 510 calorie snack while we are driving or working, but in a drink, we don’t think anything about it and end up intaking way more calories than we need. 

The second danger of sugary drinks is the sugar itself. A medium Coke (21 oz for most restaurants) or a plastic Coke bottle has 65 grams of sugar. That’s the equivalent of one hundred twenty Skittles! The American Heart Association recommends that men should consume no more than 37.5 grams of added sugar a day, and should women consume no more than 25 grams. So one can of Coke and you’re out. Yikes…

High sugar intake is directly linked to obesity and cardiovascular disease. Sugar, especially white cane sugar or high-fructose corn syrup, is a chemical that wreaks havoc on our bodies. I am convinced, and so is The American Heart Association, that our large, sugar-loaded drinks are what is causing America’s obesity pandemic. If you want to read more about the negative, chemical effects of sugar, read this article by The Conversation.

Now, what about diet drinks? They have no sugar or calories so why do I have a problem with them? Artificial sweeteners are just as chemically dangerous as sugar, and just as fattening. In the Harvard Health Blog, Dr. David Ludwig explained that zero-calorie sweeteners can make us crave sweeter foods, and make healthy, fat-fighting foods like fruits and vegetables seem unappealing (this also makes artificial sweeteners highly addictive). So even though you’re not getting sugar through your drinks, you’re more likely to reach for the cookies or chocolates or other sweets for your snacks. Dr. Osborne echos this conclusion and adds that artificial sweeteners have been linked to weakened gut health, cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, autism, and systemic lupus. All that aside, do diet drinks really taste good? (Like seriously...they are awful.) If you’re only drinking diet drinks because you think they are healthier than the original thing, just go for the original, but just have a small amount. I would risk the fructose before I would risk getting addicted to artificial sweeteners.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love a coffee or soda every now and again. It’s so nice to have something to sip on while you’re working or socializing. But instead of buying coffee or soda, I can make my own at home with honey or stevia! I have had soooo much fun doing this. My latest coffee creation was a Honey Lavender Latte, my favorite right now! Another craving-curbing drink that I love is Trim Health Mama’s Good Girl Moonshine. It makes a great soda replacement and is great for your gut health. A similarly gut-fortifying soda replacement is kombucha. I fell in love with kombucha so hard that I started making it myself and even selling it! Shout out to my good friend, Debbie for giving me my first SCOBY and introducing me to the Good Girl Moonshine, too! 

I know I might have rained on your Starbucks parade a little bit but I didn’t leave you without hope. Even if you’re not into making beverages yourself, there are lots of things you can swap out for your typical sugar-laden drinks. Check out this list of healthy drinks you can order at Starbucks! Maybe instead of soda try soda water with lemon and Stevia in the Raw or Energy Fizz Sticks from Arbonne! If you’re looking for ways to take the next step in your weight-loss journey and sugary drinks are a regular part of your diet, I would highly encourage you to cut them out. It might be hard for the first few days, but I promise you it will be worth it! I wish you all the best with your health journey and if you do venture into making your own drinks, make sure to tag me on Instagram! I would love to see your drinkable creations! 

Blessings and cheers,

Priscilla