Tag Archives: Drinks

Children’s Obesity Fund Concerned By Link Between Diet Drinks And Obesity

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obesegirlvectorexerciseThe Omidi brothers, through their non-profit The Children’s Obesity Fund, would like to call attention to the new results of a 14 year study that found those who drink diet drinks with artificial sweeteners have a 15 percent increased risk for the development of Type 2 Diabetes than their counterparts who only drank regular soft drinks.

Children’s Obesity Fund founders Dr. Michael Omidi and Julian Omidi are concerned about recent findings that connect artificial sweeteners such as aspartame with the country’s obesity epidemic. A new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported an increased risk of weight gain and the development of Type 2 Diabetes for those who drink diet soda.

“While it is no secret that sodas, whether they are sweetened with corn syrup, sugar or zero-calorie sweeteners, are not good for you, the only reasonable benefit to consuming a ‘diet’ drink is its lack of sugar and caloric content, which ostensibly facilitates weight loss,“ says Julian Omidi, Children’s Obesity Fund co-founder. ”This new research refutes that belief leading us to conclude that there is little to no weight control benefit in consuming a diet soft drink.”

Researchers followed more than 60,000 female subjects for 14 years. Subjects who consumed diet drinks regularly were found to have a 15 percent increased risk for the development of Type 2 Diabetes than their counterparts who only drank regular soft drinks.

It is theorized that the enhanced sweetness of the diet drinks results in dulling the taste receptors, causing the drinker to consume more calories in order to satisfy the craving for sweets. Another theory suggests that the brain chemistry is affected by the artificial sweetness of the diet drinks. And since the body is not receiving calories from the sweet drinks, the brain stops signaling the release of hormones when sweet things are eaten, which could cause the body to fail to register satiety from fats and sugars. In essence, the study shows that diet drinks condition the body to crave more sweet drinks and foods acerbating the obesity problem.

To read the full press release…..Click here

- Courtesy of PRWeb

Healthy Liquid Intake For Children

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By Dr. Adeyemi Fatoki, M.D.

sodabottleThere is really no difference between 100 percent fruit juice, sports drinks, soda or fruit drinks. They all contain excessive amounts of sugar and are not a substitute for fruit. In the same manner, vegetable juice is not a substitute for eating real vegetables. Juices are processed and contain ingredients that are not naturally found in natural fruits or vegetables.

Whole milk is much healthier than low fat milk. Low fat milk is processed from whole milk and is a known cause of elevated triglycerides (a form of bad cholesterol) and HDL (good cholesterol). Sugar will cause the same dysfunction in the body. Typically, foods that are labeled “low fat” contain more sodium and/or sugar.

The true cause of obesity and obesity related disorders is processed foods. These are man-made foods that the body was never designed to use. As much as fat in the diet has been blamed and reduced, we continue to see an increase in obesity and obesity related disorders. I am yet to treat a patient who craves or eat fat or one who drinks oil regularly. Fats are not palatable unless they are combined with sugar or salt. For us to improve the health of our children and save the future generation, we need to curtail the manufacture and consumption of processed food.

- Dr. Adeyemi Fatoki, M.D., is a Bariatrician, Author, & Medical Director of Great Heights Family Medicine in Calumet City and Ottawa, IL and co-founder of Practical Health Technology Solutions.

Copyright 2012 Adeyemi Fatoki, MD. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.

Diet Drinks May Not Fuel Your Appetite

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sodaFrom Your Health Journal…..”A great article recently by Reuters in the Global Post that diet drinks may not fuel your appetite. Lately, some research had suggested that individuals who drank diet soda may increase their appetite of sugary or fatty foods. Some researchers have proposed that drinks sweetened with artificial sugar might disrupt hormones involved in hunger and satiety cures, causing people to eat more. Others hypothesized that diet beverages could boost the drinker’s preference for sweet tastes, translating to more munching on high-calorie treats. Now, new research in the United States may prove this to be untrue. Please visit the Global Post web site (link provided below) to read the complete article. It was very interesting.”

From the article…..

Take another sip of that Diet Coke without fear that it may be spurring your appetite. Apparently, diet soda drinkers don’t eat any more sugary or fatty foods than people who stick with water instead, according to a U.S. study.

Some researchers have proposed that drinks sweetened with artificial sugar might disrupt hormones involved in hunger and satiety cures, causing people to eat more. Others hypothesized that diet beverages could boost the drinker’s preference for sweet tastes, translating to more munching on high-calorie treats.

“Our study does not provide evidence to suggest that a short-term consumption of diet beverages, compared with water, increases preferences for sweet foods and beverages,” wrote lead researcher Carmen Piernas in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Piernas, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health, and her colleagues, looked at 318 overweight or obese adults in North Carolina, all of whom said they consumed at least 280 calories’ worth of drinks each day.

One third of the participants were advised to substitute at least two daily servings of sugary beverages with water. Another third was instructed to substitute diet drinks, including Diet Coke and Diet Lipton Tea.

“Artificial sweeteners are a lot sweeter than regular sugar, on the order of 250 times sweeter, so that’s where the concerns came from,” said Vasanti Malik, a nutrition researcher from the Harvard School of Public Health, who was not part of the study.

After three and six months, people reported their food and beverage intake on two different days in detail. A previous publication showed that participants in both groups lost weight.

According to the new report, water and diet beverage drinkers reduced their average daily calories relative to the start of the study, from between 2,000 and 2,300 calories to 1,500 to 1,800 calories. At both time points, people in the two groups were eating a similar amount of total calories, carbohydrates, fat and sugar.

Six months in, the only differences were that members of the water group ate more fruit and vegetables, and people randomized to diet beverages ate fewer desserts, compared to their diet habits at the study’s onset.

To read the full article…..Click here

Sugar Ban?

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sodabottleFrom Your Health Journal…..”An interesting story by Felicity Duncan for a web site I like called Money Web about sugar bans. This blog has discussed many times how a great start to lose weight is to watch liquid consumption. For many, 25-40% of an individuals diet is directly from liquid. Soda, juice, and flavored milks taste great, but add many unnecessary calories. Nothing wrong with drinking them once in a while if you like it, but moderation is the key. In big cities in the United States, local governments are trying to ban, restrict or limit ‘sugar’ filled soft drinks. The rationale behind these restrictions is that the average 500ml soft drink contains more than the recommended daily allowance of sugar – the American Heart Association recommends that women consume no more than 6 teaspoons of sugar a day (about 20g), and men no more than 9 (about 36g), but the average can of cool drink contains over 10 teaspoons of sugar (about 40g). Since Americans routinely “super-size” their drink orders because it’s cheap (usually the cost per millilitre is lower the bigger your drink is), advocates of the ban argue that, by keeping sodas small, it will reduce the amount of empty calories New Yorkers consume in liquid form. Please visit the Money Web site (link provided below) to read the complete article. I found it to be well written and informative. I will visit this site often, as they seem to have some great health stories.”

From the article…..

Moves to cut the sugar in soft drinks to curb obesity.

In the last few months, an interesting health controversy has been brewing in the United States – anti-obesity advocates and health lobbyists have been trying to get officials to ban or disincentivise high levels of sugar in soft drinks and other beverages, because they believe that the sweet stuff in drinkables is a key culprit in the rise of obesity and its associated health problems.

According to advocates of interventions, sugary drinks have a pernicious effect on waistlines. Many people consume lots of extra kilojoules every day in the form of sweetened beverages. In South Africa, for example, children consume large quantities of sweetened drinks; in one study among grade 4 and grade 7 kids in the Western Cape, learners consumed an average of 783ml of soft drinks per day. More generally, estimates put South Africans’ sugar consumption at about 31kgs per person per year (about 84g a day), about half of which comes in the form of sweetened beverages.

However, these beverages do not promote a feeling of fullness, so people don’t eat less to make up for the kilojoules they drink in the form of sugar. The result is that they end up taking in far too many kilojoules and piling on weight. In addition, the consumption of too much added sugar also promotes poor nutrition, increased levels of circulating blood fat, and tooth decay. The solution, say advocates of sugar bans in the US, is to force or persuade manufacturers to put less sugar in their products in the first place, and they have been taking various actions to see this achieved.

In an unusually bold move, a lobbying group has presented the US Food and Drug Administration (the body which regulates food labels and ingredients) with a petition signed by Harvard School of Public Health researchers, the Boston Public Health Commission, and others urging it to regulate the amount of sugar that is permitted in beverages. The petition is unlikely to succeed, but the fact that it was submitted highlights a growing momentum of advocacy around banning sweetened drinks.

Predictably enough, the whole brouhaha was kick-started in New York City when mayor Michael Bloomberg approved a citywide ban on large sugary drinks, including super-sized soft drinks and large, sweet frothy latte-style drinks. The ban, which comes into effect in a few months, will mean that fast food chains, coffee shops, and restaurants in NYC will not be allowed to sell sugary beverages in servings larger than 500ml.

To read the complete article…..Click here

A Push For Healthier School Snacks And Drinks

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This press release was forwarded to me today, which I thought was important for my visitors to read. As always, feel free to send along press releases using the contact form above.

A Push For Healthier School Snacks And Drinks

National Education Association Health Information Network helps school communities take action against childhood obesity

newsBag the junk–that’s the goal of a new website recently launched by the National Education Association Health Information Network (NEA HIN). BagtheJunk.org aims to educate, mobilize, and empower members of the school community to help them improve the nutritional quality of foods and beverages sold in school a la carte lines, vending machines, and stores.

The site was launched just weeks before the U.S. Department of Agriculture released its new proposed national nutrition standards for snack foods and beverages sold in schools, which call for schools to offer more snacks with whole grains, low-fat dairy, fruits, or vegetables as their main ingredient.

“The proposed updates to national nutrition standards for school snack foods are long overdue,” said Nora Howley, NEA HIN’s Acting Executive Director. “It’s critical that we end up with a strong national baseline, but states and school districts can also do a lot on their own to ensure that all students have healthy options available before, during, and after the school day.”

During the 2009-10 school year, 76% of high school students, 63% of middle school students, and 47% of elementary school students could buy unhealthy snack foods at school. Sugar-sweetened beverages, including soda, sports drinks, and high-calorie fruit drinks, also were widely available to students of all ages. Yet evidence suggests that restricting sales of unhealthy snacks and beverages in schools can improve children’s diets, reduce weight gain, and even increase school food service revenues.

“Replacing junk food and sugary drinks with healthy options will be a win-win–for students and for schools,” said Howley. “Schools across the country already are making these changes and they’re seeing great results. We’re encouraging our members to get involved and help their students have better choices.”

BagtheJunk.org highlights stories about schools that are already offering healthier snacks and beverages to students and provides free resources, including video, infographics, fact sheets, and organizing activities that can help school employees and parents create healthy changes in their own schools. The site also features blog posts from experts and news about trends and research related to school foods and the national movement to prevent childhood obesity. Support for the website was provided by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

To read the full press release…..Click here

Energy Drinks, Alcohol And Teens Shouldn’t Mix

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sodaFrom Your Health Journal…..”A interesting article from a local CBS affiliate written by Ryan Jaslow called Experts: Energy drinks, alcohol and teens shouldn’t mix. Over the years, we have read many stories about energy drinks, caffeine, and alcohol usage for children or teens. A recent article suggests that energy drinks can cause insomnia, rapid heartbeat, high blood pressure, anxiety and obesity among other issues which can be exasperated by alcohol. There are many adults and teens who consume energy drinks wisely, with no problems, but the problem for many, is when it is combined with alcohol. Alcohol misuse by teens is nothing new, but trying to find a solution to this is the challenge. The study also stated that drinking just one caffeinated beverage mixed with alcohol can be the same as drinking a bottle of wine and several cups of coffee, according to the study. So, what can be done. The one thing is to educate teens about the dangers of mixing caffeine and alcohol. Please visit the CBS web site (link provided below) to read the complete article.”

From the article…..

The caffeinated contents of energy drinks like Red Bull and Monster can be dangerous for teens, especially when combined with alcohol, new research confirms.

A report, published on Feb. 1 on Pediatrics in Review, reiterated that energy drinks can cause insomnia, rapid heartbeat, high blood pressure, anxiety and obesity among other issues which can be exasperated by alcohol.

Other side effects include concerning behaviors, which can include drunk driving and risky sexual behavior.

“I don’t think there is any sensationalism going on here. These drinks can be dangerous for teens,” review lead author Dr. Kwabena Blankson, a U.S. Air Force major and an adolescent medicine specialist at the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, Va., told HealthDay. “They contain too much caffeine and other additives that we don’t know enough about. Healthy eating, exercise and adequate sleep are better ways to get energy.”

Making things worse, study authors said, that energy drink makers constantly market to young people, leading them to think it’s okay to mix their drinks. These adolescents and young adults aren’t always aware that mixing alcohol and energy drinks can make them feel less drunk than they really are, they said.

Drinking just one caffeinated beverage mixed with alcohol can be the same as drinking a bottle of wine and several cups of coffee, according to the study. Sixteen-ounce energy drinks have about 160 mg of caffeine, compared to one average cup of coffee which only contains 100 mg. More than 100 mg a day of caffeine is unhealthy for teens, Blankson told HealthDay. Other additives like sugar, ginseng and guarana boost the caffeinated effects in the energy drinks.

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One In Six Kids Are Drinking Sugary Drinks Each Day

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From Your Health Journal…..”A great and informative article recently out of Australia from the News Mail about children and sugary drinks. We have reported here many times about children consuming too many calories from liquids. Some reports stated that 1 in 4 calories kids consume is from liquids. Here is a snapshot of an MSNBC report (click here) stating the 22% of a child’s diet is from liquid. The key here is moderation. Having a sugary drink once in a while is not bad, but water is a better choice at times for many children. With obesity rising in children, small changes are needed, and cutting back on the liquids is a great first step. Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (including soft drinks, energy drinks, fruit drink, cordial and sports drinks) is associated with health issues which include weight gain and obesity, which can lead to some cancers, type 2 diabetes and heart problems. Please read this important article (link provided below) to learn more.”

From the article…..

A report reveals children aged five to 17 are consuming far too much sugar through sweet drinks such as soft drink, sweetened juice and sports drinks.

Childhood sugar consumption has hit an alarming high, with one in six Queensland kids drinking at least one sugar-sweetened beverage every day.

The 2012 Queensland Chief Health Officer’s Report revealed 16 per cent of children aged five to 17 years consumed non-diet soft drink and non-diet flavoured drinks daily.

The prevalence of daily non-diet soft drink consumption also increased with age.

Cancer Council Queensland, Diabetes Queensland and the Heart Foundation have recommended Queensland adults and children limit their consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, and instead drink water or unflavoured low-fat milk.

Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (including soft drinks, energy drinks, fruit drink, cordial and sports drinks) is associated with serious health issues including weight gain and obesity, which can lead to some cancers, type 2 diabetes and heart problems.

Cancer Council Queensland spokeswoman Katie Clift said one can of soft drink contains up to 10 teaspoons of sugar – far more than most Queenslanders would believe.

“Targeted marketing has misled Queenslanders to believe soft drinks and energy drinks are an acceptable addition to a daily diet – they aren’t,” Ms Clift said.

“Consuming one can of soft drink every day, on top of your usual diet, could lead to an extra 6.75kg weight gain in just one year.

“While obesity is caused by a complex range of factors, we know that eating a healthy diet – limiting sugary, fatty and salty food and drinks – and being physically active are both important aspects of maintaining a healthy weight.”

To read the complete article…..Click here

Reducing Sugary Drinks

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From Health Journal…..”As childhood obesity numbers continue to rise, many experts are trying to figure out what are the main causes. To some, they feel that technology is causing sedentary lifestyle, where children are involved in less physical activity, and sitting too long. Others point the finger at diet, as children are not eating healthy. Some, as this article suggests point the finger at the ‘liquid candy’ kids ingest each day. Some studies show that almost 40% of calories consumed each day by children is from liquid. Simply cutting the sugary drinks can significantly help many children lose some extra pounds, along with 30-60 minutes of physical activity each day. Do kids need to cut the sugary drinks completely? Not necessarily, but moderation is the key. Cutting back a little bit over time can help, and eventually lead children towards a healthier lifestyle.”

From the article…..

A Columbia-based nonprofit is kicking off an anti-obesity campaign designed to get parents and children in Howard County to kick the soda habit.

The Horizon Foundation plans to hold a “Dump Sugar” event Tuesday morning, where organizers will dump 10 tons of “sugar” (actually white sand) at a local middle school.

Ten tons signifies the amount of sugar that the average middle school student would consume if he or she drank one 12-ounce soda each day for one year, organizers said.

Soda and other sugary beverages are considered to be one of the major culprits in the obesity epidemic. A quarter of Maryland children are obese or overweight, organizers said.

To read the full article…..Click here