9 Foods Not to Give Kids
Categories: Childrens Health • How to Eat Healthy • Nutrition
If you’ve followed the news on childhood obesity lately, you know that the state of affairs is pretty grim. Childhood obesity rates have tripled over the past two decades, and most signs show that today’s children will be the first to have shorter life expectancies than their parents. Much of the blame for this has deservedly been laid at the feet of the producers and marketers of unhealthy food aimed at our youngest consumers. These producers and marketers have created an uphill battle for parents trying to compete with superheroes and cartoon animals for their children’s palates and stomachs.
Since most kids have hummingbird metabolisms that adults can only envy, it’s easy to often give kids a free pass and let them eat whatever they want. But eventually, those metabolisms slow down, and the pounds settle in. Also, because physical activity appears to be decreasing nowadays, and processed-food intake is increasing, kids aren’t burning calories the way their parents might have when they were kids. And even if the kids aren’t getting fat now, they are establishing eating habits that they will take into adulthood. As parents, you can help foster a love for healthy eating and exercise that will last your kids a lifetime—which will hopefully be a long one (check out Shaun T’s Fit Kids™ Club
for help with fostering a love of exercise in your child)!
I can remember the often contentious family dinners with my brother and parents that could turn into standoffs. Eating is always a classic power struggle wherein a kid tries to finally locate their mom’s and dad’s last nerve. There are numerous strategies you can use to mitigate this. Let your kids help with the selection and preparation of the food. If they picked out the veggies at the farmers’ market and helped cook them, they might be less inclined to feed them to the family pet. Also, try to promote eating vegetables and healthy food as being its own reward. By offering dessert as a reward for eating vegetables, you create a system wherein unhealthy food is a treat and healthy food sucks.
Someday, your children will realize that caped men in tights and sponges who live under the sea might not have their best interests at heart when it comes to food, but until then, here are some of the worst foods you can try to keep them away from, and some healthy replacement ideas. And for the overgrown children among you, the alternative snacks might even tempt you.
Note: The following recommendations are for school-aged children. Infants and toddlers have different specific nutritional needs that are not addressed in this article.
Chicken nuggets/tenders. These popular kids-menu items are little nuggets of compressed fat, sodium, high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), and in some form, chicken. Depending on the restaurant, chicken might not even be the first ingredient. Oftentimes, the nuggets or tenders are made of ground pieces of chicken meat and skin, pressed into a shape, flavored with HFCS and salt, and batter-fried in hydrogenated oil (the bad, trans-fatty stuff). Then, as if that isn’t unhealthy enough, you dunk it in a HFCS- or mayonnaise-based sauce. With all the fat, salt, and sugar, it’s easy to understand why they’re tasty, but the nutritive value weighed against the huge amount of calories and fat consumed is incredibly lacking. Even healthier-sounding menu items like McDonald’s Premium Breast Strips (5 pieces) pack 630 calories and 33 grams of fat, more than a Big Mac, and that’s before you factor in the dipping sauce.
Instead: If you’re cooking at home, grill a chicken breast and cut it into dipping-sized pieces either with a knife or, for extra fun, cookie cutters. Make a healthy dipping sauce, with HFCS-free ketchup, marinara sauce, mustard, or yogurt. Let your kids help make the shapes or mix up the sauce. Try cooking without breading, but if you must, dip the chicken breast in a beaten egg, and then roll it in cornflake crumbs before you bake it. It’ll be crunchy and delicious, but not as fatty.
Sugary cereal. I can remember as a child feeling horribly deprived when I would go to friends’ houses for overnight visits and be treated in the morning to cereals with marshmallows that turned the milk fluorescent pink or blue. But now I can appreciate my mom and her unpopular brans and granolas. True, they didn’t have any toy surprises in the box or any cartoon characters on the box, but they also didn’t have the cups of sugar, grams of fat, and hundreds of empty calories that these Saturday morning staples are loaded with.
Instead:Read the labels and try finding cereal that is low in sugar and high in fiber and whole grains. Remember, “wheat” is not the same as “whole wheat.” Also, avoid cereals (including some granolas) that have hydrogenated oils, artificial colors, or chemical preservatives. Add raisins, sliced bananas, berries, or other seasonal fruit to the cereal for extra flavor and nutrition. Again, letting your child help design a healthy bowl of cereal from choices you provide will get you a little more buy-in at the breakfast table.
Lunch meat and hot dogs. Kids love hot dogs, bologna, and other processed meats, but they are full of potentially carcinogenic nitrates and nitrites, sodium, saturated fat, and artificial colors and fillers. A study in Los Angeles found that kids who ate 12 hot dogs a month had nine times the risk of developing leukemia.1 And more health risks are being discovered all the time. Leaf through any research about kids’ nutrition, and you’re bound to read about the bane of the cafeteria—Oscar Mayer’s Lunchables. These and similar prepackaged lunches are loaded with processed meats and crackers made with hydrogenated oils. These innocent-looking meals can boast fat counts of up to 38 grams. That’s as much fat as a Burger King Whopper and over half the recommended daily allowance of fat for an adult.
Instead: Get unprocessed meats, like lean turkey breast, chicken, tuna, or roast beef. Use whole wheat bread for sandwiches; or if your kid’s dying for Lunchables, fill a small plastic container with whole-grain, low-fat crackers; lean, unprocessed meat; and low-fat cheese. This can be another great time to get out the cookie cutters to make healthy sandwiches more fun. For hot dogs, read labels carefully. Turkey dogs are usually a good bet, but some are pumped up with a fair amount of chemicals and extra fat to disguise their fowl origins. Look for low levels of fat, low sodium, and a list of ingredients that you recognize. There are some tasty veggie dogs on the market, although a good deal of trial and error may be involved for the choosy child.
Juice and juice-flavored drinks. Juice, what could be wrong with juice? While 100% juice is a good source of vitamin C, it doesn’t have the fiber of whole fruit, and provides calories mostly from sugar and carbohydrates. Too much juice can lead to obesity and tooth decay, among other problems. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests 4 to 6 ounces of juice per day for kids under 6, and 8 to 12 ounces for older kids. Juice drinks that aren’t 100% juice are usually laced with artificial colors and that old standby, HFCS, and should be avoided. Your best bet is to make your own juice from fresh, seasonal fruit. You won’t have to worry about all the additives, and it’s another way you can involve your kids in the cooking process. Let them design their own juice “cocktail.” And if you were even considering soda, perhaps a refresher course from Steve Edwards’ Nutrition 911 series is in order (see “Nutrition 911, Part VI: The Worst Food on the Planet” in “Related Articles” below).
Instead: Water is still the best thirst quencher. Explain the importance of good hydration to your kids, and set a good example yourself by carrying around a water bottle. Get them used to carrying a small bottle of water in their backpack or attached to their bike. If they’re very water averse, try water with a splash of fruit juice in it. But just a splash. The idea is to get kids used to not having things be overly sweet, overly salty, or overly fatty. The other great beverage is milk. Filled with nutrients, calcium, and protein, growing kids need plenty of milk, though not so much fat. Choosing low-fat or skim milk will help ensure that they get their milk without becoming a cow.
French fries. High in calories, high in fat, and high in sodium—and unsurprisingly, the most popular “vegetable” among kids. They offer virtually none of the nutrients found in broccoli, carrots, spinach, or other veggies not found in a deep fryer. And the fat they’re fried in is usually trans fat, the unhealthiest kind for the heart. To top it all off, studies are beginning to show cancer-causing properties from acrylamide, a toxic substance that is created when starchy foods like potatoes are heated to extreme temperatures. In some tests, the amount of acrylamide in French fries was 300 to 600 times higher than the amount that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) allows in a glass of water.2
Instead: Vegetables like baby carrots, celery sticks, or other crudités are great options, but if potatoes must be had, there are some options that don’t begin with melting a brick of fat. A scooped-out potato skin with low-fat chili and a little cheese can provide lots of fiber and vitamins, with even higher amounts if the chili has beans. You can also try making baked fries, using slices of potato with a light brushing of olive oil. Or, the classic baked potato could be a hit, with yogurt dip or cottage cheese instead of sour cream and butter.- Chips (potato chips, Cheetos, Doritos, etc.). These are full of fat, oftentimes saturated, and way more sodium than any child or adult should eat. Some chips also have the acrylamide problem discussed under French fries. Also, watch out for innocent-seeming baked and low-fat chips that contain olestra or other fake fats and chemicals that could present health issues for kids.
Instead: Kids gotta snack. And in fact, since their stomachs are smaller, they aren’t usually able to go as long between meals as adults. Cut-up vegetables are the best thing if you want to get your crunch on, but air-popped popcorn and some baked chips are okay, too. You can control how much salt goes on the popcorn, or experiment with your child using other potential popcorn toppings like red pepper, Parmesan cheese, or dried herbs. Try making your own trail mix with your child. They might be more excited to eat their own personal blend, and you can avoid certain store-bought trail mixes, which sometimes contain ingredients like chocolate chips and marshmallows that don’t lead kids down the healthy snack trail. - Fruit leather. Many of these gelatinous snacks like roll-ups or fruit bites contain a trace amount of fruit but lots of sugar or HFCS and bright artificial colors. Don’t be misled by all the products that include the word “fruit” on their box. Real fruit is in the produce section, not the candy aisle.
Instead:If your child doesn’t show interest in fruit in its natural state, there are some ways you can adulterate it without sacrificing its nutritional value. Fill ice-cube or popsicle trays with fruit juice or freeze grapes for a healthy frozen treat. Or buy unflavored gelatin and mix it with fruit juice and/or pieces of fruit to make gelatin treats without the added sugar and color (another good time for the cookie cutters!). Serve some raisins, dried apricots, apples, peaches, or other fruits that might give you that chewy, leathery texture without the sugar. - Doughnuts. These little deep-fried gobs of joy are favorites for kids and adults alike, but they are full of fat and trans-fatty acids, and of course, sugar. Toaster pastries, muffins, and cinnamon buns aren’t much better. The worst thing about doughnuts and these other pastries, aside from their nutritional content or lack thereof, is that they’re often presented to children as acceptable breakfast choices. These delicious deadlies need to be categorized properly—as desserts, to be eaten very sparingly. And you can’t have dessert for breakfast.
Instead: Honestly, a slice of whole wheat toast topped with sugar-free fruit spread or peanut butter isn’t going to get as many fans as a chocolate-filled Krispy Kreme, but at some point, you have to stand firm. You be the cop that doesn’t like doughnuts. Doughnuts—not for breakfast. Period. 
Pizza. In moderation, pizza can be a fairly decent choice. If you order the right toppings, you can get in most of your food groups. The problem comes with the processed meats like pepperoni and sausage, which add fat and nitrates/nitrites (see lunch meat and hot dogs above); and the overabundance of cheese will also provide more calories and fat than a child needs.Instead:Make your own pizza with your kids. Use a pre-made whole wheat crust (or whole wheat tortilla), an English muffin, or bread as a base. Then brush on HFCS-free sauce, and set up a workstation with healthy ingredients, like diced chicken breast, sliced turkey dogs, and vegetables that your child can build his or her own pizza with. Then sprinkle on a little cheese, bake, and serve. If your child gets used to eating pizza like this, delivery pizzas may seem unbearably greasy after a while.
1 Peters J, et al. “Processed meats and risk of childhood leukemia (California, USA).” Cancer Causes & Control 5: 195-202, 1994.
2 Tareke E, Rydberg P, Karlsson P, et al. Analysis of acrylamide, a carcinogen formed in heated foodstuffs, J. of Agri and Food Chem. 2002;50:4988-5006.
Nutrition 911, Part XIII: Juice, Juicing,
and Fruit – The Differences
Categories: Nutrition • Weight Loss • healthy drinks
Last time we discussed why Jamba Juice® isn’t always the health food beverage chain it’s cracked up to be. We took a brief look at why something that is “100 percent fruit” might not be healthy, even though we’re pretty sure that whole fruit is healthy. Today we’ll look at juice, both the kind you buy at the store and the kind you can make at home. Then we’ll compare them to regular fruit.
Minute Maid® and other mainstream junk
First, let’s talk about what you buy in a store. Almost everything that you can find in a store in the United States is pasteurized to kill potentially harmful bacteria. While this is safer for a big company afraid of lawsuits, it also eliminates many of the most important nutrients of the fruits and vegetables used to make the juice (this is the same for other pasteurized items as well, like milk). Enzymes, in particular, are destroyed by the high temperatures associated with pasteurization, as are many of a fruit’s or a vegetable’s phytonutrients. Most commercial juice is fortified with vitamins to restore some of its nutrients, but many of the most vital elements are lost and the resulting item is often little more than vitamin-fortified sugar water. Even “100 percent pure” juice that’s pasteurized has lost most of its nutrients.
The store now has healthier options. These are generally considered smoothies, which we discussed last time (refer to “Nutrition 911, Part XII: Jumbo Juices and Crappuccinos” in the Related Articles section below).
Juice bars
Juice bars, like Jamba Juice, etc., are a small step in the right direction because they use whole fruit in their beverage options. The problem with these juice bars is that they tend to avoid using veggies and also use some concentrated juice that’s mainly sugar. Fruit alone is high in sugar, especially when liquiefied because some of the fiber is lost. So even 100 percent fruit smoothies are very high in sugar, unless something else is added to balance out the macronutrient ratio. But we’ve already discussed them too, so let’s move on.
Home juicing
There are two types of home juicing. One is when you throw everything into a blender and mulch it. The other is when you use a juicer, but this type of juicing removes fiber.
Why would you want to remove fiber when you know it’s super healthy? For fruit juices, you generally wouldn’t, which is the main problem with store-bought options. Fruit is sugar and fiber with a lot of great nutrients. Veggies, however, are mainly fiber. What isn’t fiber, however, is the most nutrient-rich food we can eat.
Fiber limits the amount of veggies you can eat in a day, so juicing veggies to remove the fiber allows you to drink a ton of nutrients. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 75 percent of Americans don’t eat the recommended five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables per day. Juicing is the easiest and most effective way to meet the recommended daily allowance.
Your blender, the other type of home juicing, doesn’t deplete fiber like a juicer does. This is by far the best way to juice with fruits, and it’s the origin of the fruit smoothie. While some fiber is lost, the mulching process creates a higher percentage of soluble fiber, which makes it easier for your body to utilize the fruit’s phytonutrients.
The only downside to juicing is that it requires some work. You need to buy fruits and veggies and you need to juice them. Drinking them is the easiest part. For those of us who are culinarily challenged, there are places that will do this for you. Many health food stores have juice bars that use veggies as well as fruits. Unfortunately, they tend to be expensive. You can probably buy a juicer for less than you’d spend in a week at the Whole Foods juice counter.
Why not just eat whole fruit?
Great question, especially considering a recent study has shown that eating whole fruit could be the main dietary difference between obese and overweight individuals. At the University of Southern California, researchers showed that the main difference between 52 normal-weight adults and 52 overweight and obese adults was the amount of fiber in their diets, which mainly came from fruit.
In the study, the normal-weight group consumed an average of 33 percent more fiber and 43 percent more carbohydrates than their overweight counterparts. This suggests that fiber, much more than following a low-carb or low-fat diet, is the key for weight control.
So what is fiber and how important is it? That’s a topic for another day. Next time, we’re going to stick to beverages and look at the new kid on the block, energy drinks.
Related Articles in this “Series Nutrition:911″
Part Twelve ~ NUTRITION-911-PART-XII-JUMBO-JUICES-AND-CRAPPUCCINOS
Part Eleven ~ NUTRITION-911-PART-XI-COFFEE-TEA-AND-CAFFEINE
Part Ten ~ NUTRITION-911-PART-X-WHATS-IN-YOUR-WATER
Part Nine ~ NUTRITION-911-PART-IX-10-REASONS-TO-DRINK-WATER
Part Eight ~ NUTRITION-911-PART-VIII-POP-GOES-THE-DIET-THE-WORST-FOOD
Part Seven ~ NUTRITION-911-PART-VII-SUGAR-VS-FAT-WHICH-IS-WORSE
Part Six ~ NUTRITION-911-PART-VI-SWEETNERS
Part Five ~ NUTRITION-911-PART-V-5-QUICK-STEPS-TO-MASTERING-FOOD-LABELS
Part Four ~ NUTRITION-911-PART-IV-WHAT-FAT-FREE-AND-LOW-CARB-REALLY-MEAN
Part Three ~ NUTRITION-911-PART-III-DECIPHERING-MARKETING-JARGON
Part Two ~ NUTRITION-911-PART-II-WHAT-TO-EAT-HERES-THE-STRAIGHT-411-
-SO-YOU-CAN-AVOID-A-DIETARY-911
Part One ~ NUTRITION-911-PART-I-EMERGENCY-NUTRITION-CLASS
Nutrition 911, Part XII: Jumbo Juices and Crappuccinos
Categories: Dieting • Nutrition • Weight Loss • healthy drinks
Today, our oh-so-basic nutrition class hits the mall, or at least the strip mall, for a look at popular beverage chains. These range from places we know may not be healthy, like coffeehouses, to juice bars that market themselves as the pinnacle of nutrition. Certainly, beverages named after a cornucopia of healthy fruits must be good for you, right? Let’s take a deeper look at that Mangorangoberry Pizzazz you were considering for lunch today.
Most of the drinks we’re discussing fall under the smoothie category. We’ve been conditioned to consider this word synonymous with healthy, but many of these drinks are quite the opposite. Smoothie’s not a word you need to strike from your vocabulary, but like most things you put into your body, you should pay attention to the ingredients. Some of these beverages are great, while others are little more than ice cream in a cup. Here’s a quick rundown on the types of smoothies you’re likely to encounter and when, or if, you should drink them.
Bottled “smoothies”
A smoothie used to be a blend of various whole fruits with, perhaps, a bit of protein powder and/or other ingredients that were healthy, didn’t taste great, and were best hidden in a mixture of yummy fruit. Nowadays, it can be almost anything. In stores, however, most of ‘em still follow that traditional blend. They also have the nutrition information listed on the side, so it’s easy to see what you’re drinking. I guess this is why you’ll almost never see a Peanut Butter Blast™ at your local market, but you’ll often see spirulina.
Analysis: Most of these drinks are pretty darn healthy, and it’s obvious when they’re not. Just make sure to read the nutrition information on the label.
Jamba Juice®, et al.
I’m using the Jamba Juice model because it’s the biggest smoothie chain, but there are plenty of others. Most follow a similar format of offering varying drink options. Coffeehouses get in on this too, which we’ll get to later. Jamba Juice touts its usage of real fruit and fruit juices to make its beverages sound healthy. When analyzing the final product, we see an abundance of sugar and not much fiber, meaning that fruit juice is being used, which is completely different nutritionally than using whole fruit.
- Traditional smoothies.Jamba Juice calls these “classics,” because it’s all that was offered before consumers caught on to the hype and demanded healthier options. These are mainly made of fruit, with some amount of dairy dessert like sherbet added for a smooth texture. At an average of around 500 calories (for an “original” size, or a medium) and 100 grams of sugar, this is not exactly the “light lunch” many people thought they were getting.Analysis: The only time this would be an appropriate snack (or meal, really) is if you were doing an excessive amount of exercise. Adding protein powder as an option helps balance it a little bit, but basically there’s no way around the fact that this is a high-sugar meal, which is only okay if you happen to be burning a lot of blood sugar.
- Functional smoothies.These use industry buzzwords in drinks like Açai Supercharger™, Matcha Green Tea Mist™, Protein Berry Pizzazz™, Coldbuster®!, and a host of other ultra-healthy-sounding items. Some of them have a slightly higher amount of protein, but checking the bottom line, an “original” also has around 500 calories, 400 or so of which come from sugar.Analysis:Shakespeare once asked, “What’s in a name?” Maybe he was referring to a business he knew would pop up in a few centuries. Don’t believe this marketing hype; the only purpose of these beverages would be to fuel you after a long bout of very intense exercise.
Enlightened smoothies.How did they do it? They look the same. They’re the same size. Yet these average around 300 calories, about 250 of which are sugar. To reduce the calorie count, these beverages are made with nonfat milk, whey protein, and Splenda®. This does boost their protein content a bit, an improvement over the classics, but you have to deal with Splenda.Analysis Do two pluses offset a minus? You get fewer calories and more protein, but what’s with the Splenda? This somewhat disgusting artificial sweetener (basically chlorinated sugar, as we discussed in “Nutrition 911, Part VI: Sweeteners”; refer to the Related Articles section below) has a lot of negative press surrounding it. It’s probably fine in small doses, but it raises this question: why? Surely there are healthier options. If Jamba Juice is so into health trends like açai and maca, couldn’t they have sweetened these “enlightened” smoothies with yacon?- All-fruit smoothies.These beverages don’t use dairy products and stick to fruit juice and fruit. But they’re sweetened fruit juice, so their 300 plus calories are nearly all sugar, with about a third as much fiber as a comparable amount of whole fruit.Analysis:Another sugary sports drink. Sure, there are vitamins and antioxidants in this stuff—it’s made of fruit, after all. But you’re far better off with a piece or two, or three, of whole fruit, which is healthier, more filling, and doesn’t cause a sugar rush.
Good Moo’ds. These are the chocolate “anythings” that invariably show up on the menu. They’re advertised as being “made with nonfat milk,” or some other hollow promise. But a medium “Peanut Butter Moo’d” contains 21 grams of fat (or 190 calories of fat), 122 grams of sugar, 480 milligrams of sodium, and 840 calories. Analysis:You might as well go for the ice cream. If that’s what you want, there’s not much trade-off here. These have no place in a healthy diet, except as some kind of reward. They are decadence, pure and simple.
Starbucks®, et al.
Coffee chains have gotten in on the game too. Sometimes called smoothies, coffeehouse options are also referred to by various other names. Coffee and tea don’t have any calories and give you a rush. But people seem to want their rush with other assorted items, like sugar and fat. So now when you order a black coffee at one of these places, you often get a strange look, or you’re asked, “Are you sure?” I guess that’s not what the cool kids are ordering. So let’s have a look, shall we? Because the kids won’t stay cool if they keep eating like this.
Frappuccinos. An average 24-ounce Starbucks Frappuccino® (the large or Venti® size) has around 700 calories, 25 grams of fat, 100 grams of sugar, 400 milligrams of sodium, and 70 milligrams of cholesterol. You can save a few hundred calories by ordering “light,” which substitutes artificial sweeteners for sugar.Analysis:These are dessert items. There is no other way to categorize them.- Lattes ‘n’ such.These are slightly less caloric and vary quite a bit. A Grande Nonfat Cappuccino might only have 100 or so calories, but a Venti White Chocolate Mocha with whipped cream has over 600 calories.Analysis:There’s a lot of variance here, and I believe most of you know the good from the bad. Here’s a quick rundown:
- Coffee or tea:Zero calories; the best option is to drink them unsweetened and without milk or cream.
- Milks and cream:Nonfat is best. Low fat is the second best option, and last is whole, which is highly caloric and loaded with fat. Half-and-half or cream is even worse. Soy milk is a good option for the lactose intolerant, but it has fat and calorie contents similar to regular milk. Most nondairy creamers are filled with sugar and hydrogenated junk. You’re better off with the real stuff.
- Chocolate, caramel, vanilla, etc.:All of these flavorings are sugar—a lot of sugar.
- Whipped cream:100 percent fat and condensed sugar and almost zero nutritional value.
Chai and other holistic-sounding stuff:These follow the exact same pattern as the Frappuccinos. The only difference is that they use tea instead of coffee as their base. Often touted as “a taste of Asia,” or some such nonsense, these have long ago lost any trace of their “exotic spices” and are flavored by the same junk that’s in all the unhealthy stuff.
Today we learned that we may not need to steer clear of these establishments, but we definitely need to be careful about what we order. We touched on the “natural” fruit claim but could probably stand to go into the issue more thoroughly. So next time, let’s look at the difference between whole fruit and fruit juice.
Related Articles in this “Series Nutrition:911″
Part Eleven ~ NUTRITION-911-PART-XI-WHATS-IN-YOUR-WATER
Part Ten ~ NUTRITION-911-PART-X-WHATS-IN-YOUR-WATER
Part Nine ~ NUTRITION-911-PART-IX-10-REASONS-TO-DRINK-WATER
Part Eight ~ NUTRITION-911-PART-VIII-POP-GOES-THE-DIET-THE-WORST-FOOD
Part Seven ~ NUTRITION-911-PART-VII-SUGAR-VS-FAT-WHICH-IS-WORSE
Part Six ~ NUTRITION-911-PART-VI-SWEETNERS
Part Five ~ NUTRITION-911-PART-V-5-QUICK-STEPS-TO-MASTERING-FOOD-LABELS
Part Four ~ NUTRITION-911-PART-IV-WHAT-FAT-FREE-AND-LOW-CARB-REALLY-MEAN
Part Three ~ NUTRITION-911-PART-III-DECIPHERING-MARKETING-JARGON
Part Two ~ NUTRITION-911-PART-II-WHAT-TO-EAT-HERES-THE-STRAIGHT-411-
-SO-YOU-CAN-AVOID-A-DIETARY-911
Part One ~ NUTRITION-911-PART-I-EMERGENCY-NUTRITION-CLASS
Nutrition 911, Part XI: Coffee, Tea, and Caffeine
Categories: Nutrition • Weight Loss • healthy drinks
Today we discuss the most popular drink in the world: coffee. I don’t actually know where these statistics come from, but since we mainly want to discuss one ingredient, caffeine, I’ll lump coffee, tea, and other caffeinated beverages into the same discussion so that we’ll be sure to address something that’s pertinent to almost all of you. Coffee and tea have been around for the entirety of recorded history, so no matter what science tells us, we begin this edition with some time-tested knowledge that people don’t go around dropping dead over the stuff, nor will it get you banned for cheating when you win at the Olympics (unless it’s too much).
Coffee and tea are probably the most controversial substances we consume. Unlike, say, soda, candy, chocolate, and fast food—which we know are detrimental to our diets—studies swing both ways over the benefits and dangers of our morning cup of java. But whatever the outcome, we drink the stuff with an almost ritualistic glee. If you drink neither coffee nor tea, you’re an outsider in almost any culture on the planet.
Coffee, tea, and other caffeinated drinks
First off, let’s talk about the difference between tea, coffee, and other drinks laced with caffeine. Coffee and tea are both very simple products made from mixing ground-up plants with hot water. So they’re both 100 percent natural, contain approximately zero calories, and have a few nutrients. What they do contain is caffeine. A lot of it. Coffee has nearly twice as much caffeine as tea, but the amount varies by type and the brewing process. As a general rule, trendy green teas have less caffeine than black teas, which have less than coffee. Figure that for each cup of coffee or tea you consume, you’ll get between 50 milligrams and 200 milligrams of caffeine.
Both have other assorted nutrients, mainly antioxidants, all of which are quite healthy. The downside is that both are acidic to the point that habitual consumption can cause stomach problems in some people. But the main hit or miss with folks when it comes to coffee or tea is the caffeine. After this, their choices are usually made by taste, ritual, or the culture they live in.
Caffeine gives you a jolt of energy, which we’ll discuss later, and because of this, many other beverages now come with a healthy dose of the stuff. Most sodas have some caffeine, but the big trend today is toward turbocharged “energy drinks,” a topic for another day. These are often nasty concoctions of sugar, caffeine, and other assorted legal uppers designed to amp you sky-high and provide the illusion that you’re having a good time. They may work, at least for a short time, but they are basically just time bombs of euphoria. When you crash, you crash hard.
Can coffee or tea make you fat?
There is one place we have a definitive answer on this subject, and it’s that neither of these drinks will make you fat. In fact, they should do the opposite. Caffeine is a diuretic, meaning that it affects your metabolic process at a heightened level. Translation: it makes you go to the bathroom more often. It also elevates brain activity, which, technically, should make you less hungry. This is why caffeine is often added to diet aids.
The only things in coffee or tea that can make you fat are the things you add to them. The menu at your local Starbucks contains stuff that makes coffee merely a side dish, if that. And traditional drinks such as Thai iced tea are only tea in name. Therefore, just because something calls itself “coffee” or “tea” doesn’t mean that’s all there is to the story. Like with most foods, reading labels is important. We’ll talk more about coffee drinks next time.
The latest research
Coffee has been in the headlines a lot recently. You may have caught the headlines a while back stating that it could give you a heart attack. Or maybe you caught the study touting it as a superfood, which came out at the same time! Certainly, you’ve heard that it’s a banned substance by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) due to its performance-enhancing qualities. But then why, you wonder, did you just see a headline saying you should avoid it prior to a workout? And what about that study stating that if you drank enough coffee, it would stave off the effects of all that alcohol you consume?
Coffee, tea, and caffeine are perhaps the most widely studied things we put into our bodies (over 19,000 recent recorded studies), yet no definitive stance can be found on the stuff. If this seems odd, we must consider the fact that studies need to be funded and a lot of money can skew a study to say this or that—a subject I touch on often in my blog (see “The Straight Dope”). At any rate, let’s wade into some of the more recent headlines and try to make some sense out of them.
Will coffee give you a heart attack?
Apparently it will—if you’re “at risk for heart attacks,” according to a syndicated article that was all over the Internet a while back. But what does this mean? The article begins with the vague line about how coffee may trigger a heart attack in some people. If you delve deeper, the water becomes muddier, so, tired of sifting through their muck, I went to the source.
For over 4 years, a large Costa Rican study examined the relationship among 503 nonfatal heart attacks. The study found that most of the subjects drank coffee prior to having the heart attack. In the stats, it appeared that light coffee drinkers were at more risk than heavy coffee drinkers. This, as you might suppose, caused some confusion.
Looking deeper into the abstract, we see that the researchers think that the coffee/heart attack relationship stems from a rare gene variation in some people. They also stated that their research was “far from conclusive.” The report on Yahoo!® made no mention of the gene variant and, instead, went with the more alarmist “those at risk” line because “who isn’t, right?” The study also clearly stated that most of the population was at zero risk from drinking coffee.
The bottom line of the study was that most of the population was not at risk, and the few that might be, also may not be. So, for now, I’ll side with Dr. Robert Eckel, former president of the American Heart Association, and remain “unconvinced.”
Furthermore, a study done over 2 decades using 120,000 subjects concluded that there was no relationship between even heavy coffee drinking and heart disease. This study, done in part by the Harvard School of Public Health, showed that there was no link between heart disease and a daily intake of six or more cups of coffee per day. It also stated the risk was the same for those who consumed less than one cup of coffee or tea per month. This study also addressed the Costa Rican findings, stating they were “possible” but “require confirmation.”
Can you lose your gold medal?
Not anymore. In 2004, the IOC removed caffeine from its list of banned items. Prior to that, athletes could be busted for drinking about five or more cups of coffee. Certainly, this means that some highly regarded scientists once thought it was an ergogenic (a performance enhancer). But was it removed because it was found to be ineffective, as there are now better ways of “cheating,” or because the coffee lobby contributed to the IOC? Time may or may not tell, but one thing’s for sure: many people believe caffeine enhances performance.
A recent Swiss study, however, refutes it, at least in one sense. The study of 18 individuals showed that coffee prior to exercise restricted heart blood flow by 22 percent. Obviously, this would be a detriment to performance, but again, the research is far from conclusive. For one, the study used regular coffee drinkers, and participants were not allowed to drink coffee for 36 hours prior to the experiment, so their results may have had to do with a coffee-withdrawal effect. And two, no study of 18 people can be anywhere close to conclusive. But it’s interesting, for sure, and certainly much more will be done. I’d keep an eye out for more on this.
But again, there’s a lot more science showing that it has positive physical effects, even if they stem from better brain function. An Austrian study using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging to assess memory skills showed that there was a marked improvement in motor skills and memory after subjects ingested 100 milligrams of caffeine. The study cautioned that the progression was not linear (meaning that more is definitely not better). But the test concluded that caffeine was a a performance enhancer.
According to physiologist Terry Graham, PhD, of the University of Guelph in Canada, “What caffeine likely does is stimulate the brain and nervous system to do things differently. That may include signaling you to ignore fatigue or recruit extra units of muscle for intense athletic performance.” And as to whether this better aids strength or endurance sports he adds, “What’s amazing about it is that unlike some performance-enhancing manipulation athletes do that are specific for strength or endurance, studies show that caffeine positively enhances all of these things.”
Is coffee a superfood?
This would depend, I guess. We’ve seen some downsides, and I’ve yet to mention two others. One, it’s addictive, and two, it’s been linked to insomnia. Performance-wise, sleep is crucial for your body to recover and recharge itself. No matter its benefits, if coffee negatively affects your ability to rest, it’s not going to help you much.
Yet, analyzing data—of 126,000 people and gathered over 18 years—has led to an almost astonishing number of likely health benefits, including lowering your risk of diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and colon cancer; improving mood; appeasing headaches; and even lessening the risk of cavities.
In some cases, even the “all things in moderation” cliché was put to the test. For example, drinking one cup to three cups a day reduced type 2 diabetes risk by single digits, whereas drinking six or more cups per day slashed men’s risk by 54 percent and women’s risk by 30 percent. Maybe it’s just because coffee makes you want to get up and do something; those participants who reduced their risk may have exercised more.
These findings have been routinely backed up by further studies. At least six studies indicate that coffee drinkers are up to 80 percent less likely to develop Parkinson’s disease, with three showing the more they drank, the lower the risk. Other research shows that compared to not drinking coffee, at least two cups daily can cut your risk of gallstones in half, provide a 25 percent reduced chance of contracting colon cancer, and offer a whopping 80 percent decline in liver cirrhosis risk. So abundant is this research that caffeine is added to certain medications to treat headaches, mood, asthma, and now Parkinson’s disease.
So is it time to hit Starbucks?
Since, as I’ve said before, this isn’t Politics class, I won’t tell you not to, but I’m certain that your local organic, fair-trade, mom-and-pop coffeehouse with the open mic on Thursdays will have better coffee anyway (wink). Back to the subject, coffee or tea certainly don’t seem to be harmful as a part of your diet. The problem with them, I suspect, is more often what we add to them. So if you enjoy your morning or afternoon (maybe skip the evening) ritual, then by all means indulge. Just keep it traditional, pure, simple, and forget the word Frappuccino was ever invented.
Speaking of Frapps, that’s where we’re headed next time. See you then!
Sources: Harvard study: Esther Lopez-Garcia, DrPH; Rob M. van Dam, PhD; Walter C. Willett, MD, DrPH; Eric B. Rimm, ScD; JoAnn E. Manson, MD, DrPH; Meir J. Stampfer, MD, DrPH; Kathryn M. Rexrode, MD, MPH; Frank B. Hu, MD, PhD. Coffee Consumption and Coronary Heart Disease in Men and Women. Circulation. 2006;113:2045-2053. Costa Rican study: Marilyn C. Cornelis, BSc; Ahmed El-Sohemy, PhD; Edmond K. Kabagambe, PhD; Hannia Campos, PhD. Coffee, CYP1A2 Genotype, and Risk of Myocardial Infarction. JAMA. 2006;295:1135-1141. Swiss study: Mehdi Namdar, MD, Pascal Koepfli, MD, Renate Grathwohl, MD, Patrick T. Siegrist, MD, Michael Klainguti, MD, Tiziano Schepis, MD, Raphael Delaloye, MD, Christophe A. Wyss, MD, Samuel P. Fleischmann, MD, Oliver Gaemperli, MD and Philipp A. Kaufmann, MD. Caffeine Decreases Exercise-Induced Myocardial Flow Reserve. J Am Coll Cardiol, 2006; 47:405-410. Florian Koppelstätter, MD, PhD., Thorsten D. Poeppel, MD, PhD, Christian M. Siedentopf, Ilka Haala, Anja Ischebeck, PhD, Felix M. Mottaghy, MD, PhD, Paul Rhomberg, MD, PhD, Michael Verius, PhD, Stefan M. Golaszewski, MD, PhD, Christian Kolbitsch, MD, PhD, Stephan R. Felber, MD, PhD, and Bernd J. Krause, MD, PhD Coffee Jump-starts Short-term Memory. Radiological Society of North America’s annual meeting, Chicago, Nov. 27-Dec. 2, 2005. American Dietetic Association: “Cutting Down on Caffeine.” News release, Radiological Society of North America. Guelph study: Terry E. Graham, PhD. Caffeine and Exercise: Metabolism, Endurance and Performance. Sports Medicine, Volume 31, Number 11, 1 November 2001; 23:785-807.
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Nutrition 911, Part X: What’s in Your Water?
Categories: Nutrition • Weight Loss • healthy drinks
This week, our oh-so-basic nutrition class takes a look at bottled water. We drink it because it’s safe, right? Or do we drink it because it tastes good? What if someone told you that your tap water was held to a higher safety standard than your bottled water? Would that get your attention? If not, then how about this: what if I told you that the refreshing bottle of Aquafina® you just paid $2.75 for at the Stop-N-Rob came from the municipal water supply of Detroit?
The bottled water industry is still relatively young in the U.S. and has only recently come under a somewhat underpowered microscope. Even so, the findings are far from pretty, and a much further cry from that pristine glacier-fed mountain spring you thought you were shelling out three bucks a gallon for. But before you go dump that case of Dasani® you just bought into Fido’s dish, read on.
First off, the odds are with you, health-wise. The findings of a recent 4-year study conducted by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) showed that 78 percent of the brands tested were safe. This means that unless you’ve been extremely loyal to one brand on the list, you’re probably okay. Still, knowing that 22 percent of the companies out there have chemical contaminants in their water higher than the state limits isn’t too reassuring.
Add that to the findings that almost 25 percent of the companies selling bottled water are using tap water that sometimes has no further treatment, and it becomes downright maddening. After all, Americans consumed an estimated 25.8 billion liters of bottled water in 2004. At an average of about a dollar a liter, that’s a lot of money to be spending on smartly dressed tap water.
If you’re not offended yet, consider the resources it takes to pour water out of a tap and into a bottle. To create enough plastic to bottle these 26 or so billion liters requires over 1.5 million barrels of oil. This is enough to fuel about 100,000 cars for a year. And this is just in the U.S. alone. Then consider that there’s a flotilla of plastic in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that’s twice the size of Texas and that every time you throw out a plastic water bottle (bottles which are only formulated to be safe for one-time use) you’re adding to it, and you should be fired up enough to enroll in Politics 911. But back to the task at hand, your health.
What’s up with the standards?
This is a good question. Most of us have heard stories about polluted metropolitan water supplies. When I lived in Los Angeles, every year or so, a story would hit the wires about excessive levels of certain substances being found in our tap water. Scary? Of course. So now I live in the city with the best water standards in the U.S., Salt Lake City. For some reason, however, bottled water companies have somehow flown under this regulatory radar. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that most of the big-name water brands are subsidiaries of soda companies with massive lobbying power and, historically, little regard for their consumers’ health. (It’s Pepsi® who brings you the cool drink of Detroit’s finest, for example.)
Whatever the cause, the regulations enacted allow bottled water to contain some contamination by E. coli, or fecal coliform, and don’t require disinfection for cryptosporidium or giardia. There is also no regulation for the types of plastic to be used, and some of these cheap, “throwaway” plastics allow chemicals to migrate from the plastic and into the water. If you don’t understand what any of this stuff is, trust me, you don’t want to be drinking it.
How do I tell good water from bad?
Unfortunately, this is difficult, if not impossible. A list of the offending companies has not been made public, so as of now, there just isn’t much you can do to ensure your safety. Contacting the bottler might be helpful. Contacting the state water boards in the state where the water’s bottled can also help because they often oversee the bottling standards as well. And if the cap says, “from a municipal source,” or, “from a community water system,” you’re drinking tap water, which may or may not be further treated.
The best solution is probably to cry foul (see below). With 78 percent still on the upside, we’ve got a good chance of spurring the good guys to action on this one.
What to do?
Switching to tap water isn’t the perfect answer. While the U.S. has high standards for water purity, the taste alone is often enough to incite dreams of Evian®. A home water filter is probably the best solution. Filters certified by NSF International (800-NSF-MARK) ensure the removal of many contaminants. A certification is not a safety guarantee, but it is better than no certification at all. It’s important that all filters be maintained and replaced at least as often as recommended by the manufacturer. Otherwise, they could make the problem worse.
You can also get the test results of your tap water. All water suppliers must provide annual water-quality reports to their customers. Give ‘em a call and they’ll send you one. Their number is on your water bill.
If you’re fastidious, or suspicious, you can do this test on your own. Call the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791) for a list of state-certified water testing facilities. Standard consumer test packages are available through large commercial labs at a relatively reasonable price.
What about my bottled water?
No matter how you look at it, the safest current option is checking out your local tap water and then filtering it. And when you do opt for bottled waters, try finding those from springs or aquifers, not municipal sources, unless you know which municipal source the water came from and can check it out. At this point, I’d have to recommend bottled water as a supplement only, not as your primary water source.
You don’t have to like it
If you’re mad as hell and don’t want to take it anymore, well, it’s a good thing we live in a democracy. Fire off a letter of indignation to your members of Congress, the Food and Drug Administration, and your governor, and urge them to adopt strict requirements for bottled water safety, labeling, and public disclosure. Specifically, refer to these points suggested by the NRDC:
- Set strict limits for contaminants of concern in bottled water, including arsenic, heterotrophic-plate-count bacteria, E. coli and other parasites and pathogens, and synthetic organic chemicals such as “phthalates.”
- Apply the rules to all bottled water, whether carbonated or not and whether sold intrastate or interstate.
- Require bottlers to display information on their labels about the levels of contaminants of concern found in the water, the water’s exact source, how it’s been treated, and whether it meets health criteria set by the EPA and the Centers for Disease Control for killing parasites like cryptosporidium.
To take even further action, you can encourage (or demand, your call) your bottlers and the International Bottled Water Association (a trade organization that includes about 85 percent of water bottlers) to voluntarily make labeling disclosures such as those listed above.
Contact information:
FDA
Andrew von Eschenbach
Commissioner, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, MD 20857
That’s enough for today, where we actually did borderline on politics class. Unfortunately, that’s the world we live in. We’re often forced to stand up and fight for things that should be basic, such as the right to non-polluted water. Next time, we’ll stay on the beverage theme by looking at one of the most popular drinks on the planet, coffee.
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Lift Your Butt like a Brazilian
Categories: Exercise • Fitness Programs • Weight Loss
“Butt is the new abs,” says Brazil Butt Lift® creator Leandro Carvalho. “Look at the latest group of Victoria’s Secret® Angels [models]; 17 of the 28 are from Brazil. The reason is because they have beautiful butts.”
For Carvalho, this is more than a casual observation. His training techniques hit the mainstream when he began transforming waiflike runway models into bootylicious supermodels. Now you’re fortunate if you can find a spot in one of his classes, which are taught exclusively at Equinox Fitness Clubs in New York. Luckily, he’s gone viral, and now you can do his classes in the comfort of your living room. I sat down with Carvalho recently to chat about Brazil Butt Lift® and came away with a lot more: a story about a guy who has always followed his dream, arrived in America without knowing anyone or speaking the language, and is now a celebrity. Today, in part one of this interview, we’ll hear about the history of Brazil Butt Lift and why not being able to “spot train” is a myth.
“Five years ago, I met Alessandra Ambrosio, the world-famous supermodel, at a party,” Carvalho began our interview. “She didn’t like her trainer because she was putting on more muscle than she wanted. She only wanted to work on her waistline, her butt, and the inside and outside of her legs. I knew that by combining dance, Capoeira, and what I had learned as a trainer I could get her the results she wanted. As soon as I did, she began telling her friends, and things escalated from there.”
I asked about spot training, which is often considered a myth among trainers, to which he replied, “Those people haven’t been to Brazil. We [Brazilians] love to dance and celebrate. In fact, we celebrate just about everything with dance. Not just special occasions. We dance at church. We dance at sundown. We just dance constantly, which works the legs, the abs, and the butt. This is why our beaches are so famous. Everyone looks great from dancing, both men and women.”
“And you can translate this into specific training. Of course, squats and lunges [the standard leg exercises] are great, but if you do too much you also bulk up the legs, which is especially true when you start adding weight. I had to work the butt without bulking the legs. So I combined squats and lunges with Afro-Brazilian dance. That’s the ’secret.’”
“After my success with Alessandra, I needed something to call it because all the clubs in New York wanted these workouts. I was watching Extreme Makeover. There was a doctor on who was doing some sort of cosmetic surgery that he called a Brazilian butt lift. I thought this was a great name for my class. Equinox loved it and signed me to an exclusive deal to teach for them. They gave me a lot of press. TV, magazines, everywhere. My classes have been packed ever since.”
As Beachbody’s science guy, I was eager to hear about this angle. Certainly, there’s more to it than dance, I asked. “Most trainers focus on the large muscles, like the gluteus maximus. But the glutes are three different muscles: maximus, medius, and minimus,” stated Carvalho, now sounding like the guy I knew had a degree in exercise physiology and had been at this for decades . “You need to train them all. Not only that but you need to hit them from various angles to strengthen the head of each muscle. In total, we’re looking at 12 different angles you should hit in order to create a round butt.”
Before I even got a chance to ask about men, Carvalho beat me to it. “Even though it was created for women, it’s important to say it’s not just for girls,” he said. “I worried that men won’t want to do it, but it works very well for them. Men like having great butts, too, and women like looking at men with great butts! Back in Brazil, I used to train police and firefighters, and we did a lot of the same movements.”
I brought up some training sessions I’d read about when he was working with John McEnroe, the professional tennis player who was famous for his bad temper. Certainly, I think, if McEnroe wasn’t yelling “you can’t be serious,” the workouts must pass some kind of macho test. Unfortunately, at least from my angle, he seems to have mellowed with age.
“Well,Trudie [Styler] had hired me, and I had no idea [that] I was teaching anyone else. All these other people just showed up, including Sting [Styler's husband], Tom Hanks, McEnroe, and others. We all trained on the beach. McEnroe was pretty conservative. The actors, guys like Hanks, were more willing to dive into the dance moves, because they’re more used to being outside their comfort zone. That seems to be the same thing with my classes. Guys are more reserved about taking any exercise class. But when they do show up, they love it.”
Next time, we’ll dig deeper into Carvalho’s background; Brazil Butt Lift’s science and nutrition; and what it’s like to juggle teaching sold-out classes, filming a workout video, and training 26 supermodels.
Cola: Real Thing or Real Junk?
Categories: Dieting • Exercise • Nutrition • Weight Loss • healthy drinks
Sure, soda pop is the biggest calorie source in the American diet. Sure, it may be a sugary-sweet drink that is partially responsible for the planet’s obesity epidemic, according to a 2007 Yale University study. But frankly, there’s not much real about cola. Heck, most American versions don’t even have real sugar in it.
To prove this point, we’ve decided to take a look at the ingredients in a can of cola. Is there anything real in there? You tell us.
Carbonated water
Ingredient-wise, this is cola’s get-out-of-jail-free card. Carbonated water—water injected with carbon dioxide gas—has received a bad rap over the years, but current studies suggest there’s little wrong with it. The idea that the phosphorus (the “fizz”) in bubbly water drains calcium from bones was shown to be untrue in a 2001 study by the Creighton University Osteoporosis Research Center in Nebraska. So if you give up the soda and stick to the soda water, you’ll be in good shape.
High fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
For the uninitiated, HFCS is corn syrup that has gone through enzymatic processing to increase its fructose level. It’s then mixed with un-enzymatic processed corn syrup to make a combo of fructose and glucose that can be used as a sweetener. Due to the massive amount of corn our country produces, HFCS is cheaper than white cane sugar and, therefore, the sweetener of choice for just about every American junk food you can think of.
There have been all kinds of theories and studies over the years claiming that HFCS is worse for you than other sugars. Conversely, the Corn Refiners Association has gone to great lengths to dispute this information, but it’s a losing battle. They have yet to comment on the latest studies, one published in Environmental Health and another from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, both showing that HFCS can contain mercury.
Whomever you believe, this stuff just isn’t good for you. One 12-ounce can (and who drinks just a can anymore?) contains 39 grams of simple carbohydrates, all from HFCS. With no fat, no protein, and no fiber, it’s 140 calories of blood-sugar-spiking sweetness. It’s like eating 9 teaspoons of table sugar. So no matter what you call it, what vegetable it’s derived from, or how you process it, it’s bad for you.
Caramel color
Also known as caramel coloring, this is just sugar heated until it turns brown. However, the heating process to make class IV sulfite ammonia caramel coloring, the kind they put in soft drinks, requires ammonia. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, this doesn’t affect the toxicological properties. A joint Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization expert committee on food additives wasn’t quite as sure and suggested a 0 to 200 milligram per kilogram of body weight limit on the stuff. Most colas don’t appear to publish the amount of caramel color they use, so we have no idea how much you’ll find in a Big Gulp.
Either way, in the U.S., guess what kind of sugar this stuff is made of? Yes, corn syrup (see: High Fructose Corn Syrup [HFCS]).
Phosphoric acid
Phosphoric acid is a chemical that gives colas their “tangy taste.” It’s much cheaper to use than more natural ingredients. The belief that phosphoric acid lowers bone density is contentious. While it’s true that a 2006 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that women who consume cola daily have lower bone density, that could also be because those soda drinkers were less inclined to drink calcium-rich beverages such as milk. Furthermore, the Creighton University study (see: Carbonated water) suggests that it wasn’t the phosphoric acid causing the problem—rather, it was the caffeine.
Regardless, phosphoric acid makes an excellent rust remover for iron and steel. So think about that the next time you have a hankering for a cola.
Natural flavors
Most people believe the word “natural” means that these flavors are the good stuff. Nothing could be further from the truth. Eric Schlosser, in his amazing book Fast Food Nation, sums it up best. Basically, just because a flavor is “natural” doesn’t mean it’s healthier than an “artificial” flavor. In fact, sometimes the opposite can be true. The example Schlosser brings up is almond flavoring. “When almond flavor is derived from natural sources,” he writes, “such as peach and apricot pits, it contains traces of hydrogen cyanide, a deadly poison.”
Conversely, artificial almond flavor “derived through a different process (by mixing oil of clove and the banana flavor, amyl acetate) does not contain any cyanide.”
Most colas’ secret recipes are safely hidden in their natural ingredients. Given that it’s one of the best-kept secrets in industrial history, props to you if you can figure out what you’re drinking.
Caffeine
Considering that some of our supplements contain caffeine, it would be downright hypocritical to trash it here. The simple fact is that in small amounts caffeine is fine. In fact, it’s an ergogenic aid, meaning that it can increase the capacity for mental or physical labor. However, if you get too carried away, it can lead to everything from peptic ulcers to sleep disorders to the above-mentioned bone density loss.
So if you’re at risk for osteoporosis, you’re probably going to want to pass on caffeine. Otherwise, you’ll want to drink it in moderation.
How does this bode badly for soda? Simple. Pretty much every other source of caffeine around has some kind of benefit. Supplements have myriad benefits. Coffee and tea contain antioxidants. Even chocolate, in moderation, is said to be beneficial, with its antioxidants, flavonoids, and phenylethylamine—a mild mood enhancer. Why get it drinking soda, a beverage without a single other beneficial quality yet several detrimental ones?
So there you have it. Mix that all together, and you get cola. Heck, because it’s so natural and “real,” you should be able to make it at home with ingredients sitting in your kitchen pantry. Right? Right?
Who am I kidding? This stuff’s junk. Real junk, but junk nonetheless.
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