Soft drink is the worst possible thing to be drinking

[Britpoint]

I am extremely grateful that I prefer the taste of Diet Coke. I can drink as much of that as I like and won't gain a single pound!

Of course, after 6 years of 4-5 cans of the stuff per day, I went to the doctors for a routine check up and found I had pretty horrible tachycardia. That is, my resting pulse was about 130bpm - about twice what it should be. Thanks, caffeine! Luckily it's not a permanent thing, I have drastically reduced my coke input (and when I do have some it's almost always the caffeine-free Diet variant) and started getting proper exercise, so all will be well.

But yeah, beware of even the fat-free, healthy weight-watchers decaffeinated fountain of youth versions of the unhealthy things you consume. At the end of the day, there's no such thing as the perfect food. Everything contains something that will kill you or make you fat if you go overboard. Conversely, everything is fine as long as it's in moderation. As a general rule, if I'm eating/drinking more than one or two of any particular thing per day, I assume I'm probably having too much of it.

 

[Lovely Mixture]

Anything consumed in excess without moderation can be a bad thing, even water.
The drinks aren't the problem, the diet is.

Still not as bad as cigarettes.

 

[Robyrt]

I sympathize - I have a slow metabolism and a sedentary lifestyle, so even an extra few hundred calories per day over my standard 1800 has a visible impact within a week or less. However, it is possible to take the weight back off, and the most important element is changing your diet. Cut the Coke and the protein shakes immediately, and start doing some cardio (I hate it too, but too bad). Different people react very differently to the same stimulus - so experiment a bit to find out what works for you.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

Just for the record, I've drunk fizzy drinks since I can remember and until I was 18 I was super skinny, I've now packed on a bit too much weight but it's not like stopping drinking coke would make me the perfect weight.

Personally, when my metabolism started slowing down, I started gaining weight. As a result, I cut my soda consumption to no more than a single 12 ounce can a day (In the morning - I don't do coffee or tea) and was able to quickly reach equilibrium.

I mean, sure the 180 or so calories in a soda isn't much all by itself but when you consider it's pretty easy to have several dozen such cans in a week you'll see just what can happen. My only other option was to dramatically cut down on the calorie content of my food and while I eat reasonably healthy, that would have resulted in more or less having to remove entire ingredients from regular rotation. Because I'd rather have cheeses and meats as part of my diet, Soda had to go.

On a semi-unrelated note, I learned recently that some people are actually turned off by the word "organic". That blew my mind.

You can count me in that list. Beyond the fact that there isn't much that in the way of legal definition of the word (meaning something can be called Organic under a wide variety of circumstances where I wouldn't really consider it organic), there is the simple fact that an organic version of a particular food can be many times more expensive than other versions. Combine that with the fact that organic foods often have more blemishes and signs of various infestations and the like and what one is effectively asking me is to pay extra for food that is at least visually inferior (often inferior in other ways to boot) on the off chance that it might be free of pesticides. Pesticides that, it should be noted, can be washed off. The exchange simply doesn't seem to be any good.

Personally, I never buy organic from any grocery store. I'm sure I've gotten some in the past at farmer's markets where many of my fruits and vegetables come from in the summer but there I'm paying for freshness and flavor more than a label with zero legal backing.

 

[Yan007]

So you gained more weight drinking 2 sodas a day for a month than the Supersize Me guy did eating 3 McDonalds meals a day for a month? Adding 278 calories a day to your diet made you gain an 8 year old in weight?

Obviously I wasn't clear in the post, the 30kgs I've put on is from a year and a half of going to the gym, the post is about some fat I've put on from drinking Soda for a month, no specific weight mentioned.

Bodybuilder here. Reality check.

In the best case scenario, if your diet is the best, your training is top shape and you are experiencing noob gains, you'd gain at the very most 10 pounds of muscle [4.5kg] on your first year. For most people training, an awesome year would give you 5 pounds [2.2kg].

You mean to tell me you gained 30kg in a year and a half and most of it was lean gain then you suddenly got love handles because you upped your calories for a month? I have to call bullshit. The best case scenario for you would have been to gain 6.7kg in that time yet you claim 30kg. Something tells me you are carrying 20something kgs of excess fat and water already.

Edit: Edited for dis-ambiguity.

 

[Daverson]

Sir, I respectfully dispute your claim about soft drinks. How, you ask?

Bleach

Bam. Something worse for you to drink than soft drink.

Some people would argue that a quick death is better than a slow one =p

I mean, you drink bleach, you die, you know you die. No one chugs a bottle of bleach expecting to survive. Soft drinks take time to kill you, they've got peer pressure (not drinking beer? Have a coke. No one orders water at a bar!), constant advertising and half of them are actually addictive. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine_addiction]

 

[DalekJaas]

So you gained more weight drinking 2 sodas a day for a month than the Supersize Me guy did eating 3 McDonalds meals a day for a month? Adding 278 calories a day to your diet made you gain an 8 year old in weight?

Obviously I wasn't clear in the post, the 30kgs I've put on is from a year and a half of going to the gym, the post is about some fat I've put on from drinking Soda for a month, no specific weight mentioned.

Bodybuilder here. Reality check.

In the best case scenario, if your diet is the best, your training is top shape and you are experiencing noob gains, you'd gain at the very most 10 pounds of muscle [4.5kg] on your first year. For most people training, an awesome year would give you 5 pounds [2.2kg].

You mean to tell me you gained 30kg in a year and a half and most of it was lean gain then you suddenly got love handles because you upped your calories for a month? I have to call bullshit. The best case scenario for you would have been to gain 6.7kg in that time yet you claim 30kg. Something tells me you are carrying 20something kgs of excess fat and water already.

Edit: Edited for dis-ambiguity.

I wasn't fully leaned out, which is why I said fatter as opposed to got fat. And everything I have ever, read heard and experienced says you can put on at just under a kilo of pure muscle a month with solid training (a quick google search will confirm this for you). Plus I went from being massively underweight for my height to being normal looking and I doubled the amount I was eating daily which all contributed.

Did develop a bit of a gut though, and this soft drink thing is my starting motivation to get rid of it, since it got a lot worse than it was.

 

[Ranorak]

And this, people, is why you don't do science with 1 subject; without a negative and positive control and without setting the t=0 state.

All in all, poor experiment, useless data and not worth drawing any conclusions besides the fact that you had a pretty good deal on coke.

 

[Riff Moonraker]

I agree... soda is absolutely terrible for you. I used to love a cold Pepsi, but I decided to try quitting them. After a week or so of going without, I tried another Pepsi. I was surprised to find that I didnt even like the taste, anymore. Anyway, thats been a few years ago, and other than allowing myself a Monster on friday and saturday night while I am gaming, I drink tea and water. During the week, I average drinking around a gallon of water a day, and have been doing that for years now. Its just healthier, no question.

 

[Yopaz]

Well considering soft drinks are pretty much just sugar water it's no wonder that you would gain weight from drinking them if they're supplementing what you normally eat and drink, rather than replacing it.

I drink all the soda that I want, and I'm 9% body fat. The difference is that I don't eat candy, or anything really sugary other than soda, and I never add sugar to anything else that I drink (take my tea unsweetened and my coffee black, etc).

Yeah, basically this. Higher intake of calories than expended? You gain weight! This can be from healthy meals and unhealthy if your intake surpasses your need then guess what, you're gonna gain weight.

Doesn't matter what you eat, just how much of it. One glass of soda a day will do nothing to you IF you get sufficient exercise.

People that say "I have super fast metabolism hurr hurr I can eats whatever I wants lol~" are so full of shit. You are NOT some kind of super-human being with a genetically superior body. You have the EXACT same internal organs as other people, you just live a different LIFE.

Look at the calorie count before you eat something; but wait! Also look at the servings per container. You might see "150 calories" and think oh, no big deal. But then it'll say something like, 4 serving per container next to it. Which of course means if you drink that whole can, it'll be SIX HUNDRED (600) calories. THAT'S AN ENTIRE DINNER WORTH OF CALORIES. IN A DRINK.

Welllllllll metabolism is fairly variable. Personally I am quite skinny, I am known to eat a whole lot almost scaring my friends at times and I am often told that they would kill for my metabolism. (Now here's the kicker)

So I ended up testing it. Turns out that my metabolism is different from average, I am actually ever so slightly below the average basal metabolic rate. I just happen to exercise a lot and I don't eat candy or drink soda except for at rare occasions. I even tried to see if I could gain weight by simply adding another meal to each day. I gained 5kg in a few months.

So yeah, what you're saying is pretty accurate. Most people with high metabolism are really just fooling themselves (though some slight exceptions will exist). One guy I know used to drink a whole lot of soda every day and he didn't gain weight. However he didn't eat breakfast and he rarely ate a full dinner so of course he didn't gain weight. That soda was the only thing keeping his intake on par with his needs. He also exercised a good deal and he had a long way to school which he rode on his bike every day.

So soda isn't the worst thing to drink. Alcohol actually contains more calories than soda especially harder stuff. It's not rocket science. Soda isn't good for you, but it's not as bad as some might make it out to be.

 

[Hero of Lime]

I would say soda isn't as bad overall as alcohol. People never get into deadly car accidents for drinking too much soda, nor is there such thing as pop poisoning. Yes, it's a very bad idea to drink nothing but soda, but it is worse for your teeth than your waistline.

I used to be overweight, and I probably had more soda, but now I'm in great shape with little to no excess flab and I still have soda at a decent rate. It was my lack of exercise and over eating that made me a fatty before, so I started exercising and eating smaller portions, and boom! Two years later I'm a borderline health nut.

 

[Weaver]

I find it hard to believe that you gained 82 pounds off of pop alone, especially since you're reportedly only drinking one to two cans a day. You've got to have other, just-as-bad habits in there and you've got to be leading a pretty sedentary lifestyle to let it effect you as drastically as 82 pounds in a month. For one thing, if you -did- exercise, that would keep your basal metabolic rate up high enough that one or two cans of pop isn't going to effect you much due to the set point theory.

Yeah, I'm sorry, but I don't believe you. It ain't just the pop that's doing it and you're fudging the facts around here somewhere.

I'm calling bullshit.

I agree. even if the coke turned 100% into fat; 30 bottles even of coke does not weigh 37kg.

 

[FireAza]

I don't know OP, I think cyanide would be a far worse choice than soft drinks

Smart-ass comments relating to the titles of threads aside, there's no "bad" foods that you should never eat or drink. Drinking a Coke or two won't turn you into Fat Bastard overnight. But you should absolutely be aware of what you're putting into your body and make informed choices based on this knowledge.

I used to be quite tubby, but now it's to the point where I wear medium and small shirts instead of large. And it's not because I completely cut soft drinks, chocolate and fast food out of my diet (I still totally eat this stuff) but I learned about energy intake and cut back on portion sizes and how often I eat the aforementioned foods.

 

[sabercrusader]

There are way to many other variables to consider. Soft Drinks are by far not the worst thing to be drinking. Are they good for you? No, of course not. But if you're only drinking 1-2 cans a day, and you gained that much in one month, something else has to be up. I drink pop all the time. Actually, from around 6th grade when I stopped playing sports, I've been drinking pop regularly. All I ever did was sit at home and play games too. And I never got that fat or gained too much weight. I was a good 210 lb until I started working. Actually, at my job, if we brought our own cup, or payed $1 a week, we were able to have as much pop as we wanted while we were there. I started drinking even more pop while I worked, and I was eating even more fast food too, and I still lost weight. Sorry, but something seems wrong here, pop is bad, but not that bad.

 

[veloper]

It's only sugar. Do more physical labor or excercise and you may actually need it.

 

[Schadrach]

Sir, I respectfully dispute your claim about soft drinks. How, you ask?

Bleach

Bam. Something worse for you to drink than soft drink.
Seriously though, I can see that happening. I mean, its just sugar water. You know what you're getting into when you buy it.

...or a solution of NaCN. That'll do the trick *way* faster than bleach.

Of course CH3NCO (aka methyl ester of isocyanic acid, methyl isocyanate or MIC) will do the trick too, toxicity begins at 0.4 ppm and it can be fatal around 21 ppm. Exposure symptoms includes coughing, chest pain, dyspnea, asthma, irritation of the eyes, nose and throat, as well as skin damage. Higher levels of exposure, over 21 ppm, can result in pulmonary or lung edema, emphysema and hemorrhages, bronchial pneumonia and death. Those are for inhalation obviously, but it does roughly the same tings to your digestive tract on ingestion (swelling, scarring, and hemorrhages). Nasty stuff, it was the primary thing released in the Bhopal chemical spill in the 80s, and they make it fairly close to where I live. Evil, evil stuff.

Some people would argue that a quick death is better than a slow one =p

Herbal tea made from monkshood, then?

Progression of symptoms: the first symptoms of aconitine poisoning appear approximately 20 minutes to 2 hours after oral intake and include paraesthesia, sweating and nausea. This leads to severe vomiting, colicky diarrhea, intense pain and then paralysis of the skeletal muscles. Following the onset of life threatening arrhythmia, including ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation, death finally occurs as a result of respiratory paralysis or cardiac arrest.

That progression isn't terrifically fast (as in you get to "enjoy" the "intense pain" [which I've read described as being akin to being devoured by fire ants from the inside out] for quite a while).

 

[TehCookie]

If you're adding 200+ calories to your normal routine of course it will make you fat. You either need to cut out your intake somewhere you exercise more.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Bottle water all the way! Granted I still like soft drinks (I mean I still drink it when I get one in Mc Donald and KFC) but I am too sensible for my own good. I mean I work in a retail store which we got plenty of soft drinks and not once have I bought any so far (even when they got my favourite drinks that I haven't drank in years).
In saying so maybe I should get one since in the recent news in the Uk, they hare planning to raise the price of soft drink by 20% to tackle obesity.

Heh and I thought this thread is more about tooth decay than gaining weight.

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

I'll try to be nice here, but your post is a tad silly.

The fact is, plain sugary soft drinks have quite a few calories. If you add a couple hundred calories a day without changing anything else, you're going to gain weight. The same as if you went out and got an extra fast food meal every day or anything else that has calories in it.

If you really want to drink soda, just drink diet. Yes, there's some crappy chemicals in there, but there's crappy chemicals in literally everything we put inside us.

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

I stopped drinking soft drinks regularly in my late teens (over a decade ago, aaahhh). I occasionally will have a Fanta, if there is nothing else available, but I can't say I enjoy the taste. Soft drinks are just too syrupy, and sticky. I don't like my drinks to be sticky, that's just odd.

Can't say if it had any effect on my weight, but my teeth thanked me!

Pretty much the same for me. My parents never got me soft drinks... ever but not due to some weird health thing but purely because I never ever requested them over the tried and trusted OJ. I started drinking them a little when i was 13-15 but frankly i dont really enjoy it. Fanta is the only one I find remotely enjoyable. I think I drink about one soda drink a month tops? If that. Sometimes I mix it with vodka at parties but very rarely. Sticky drinks are a pain to spill, awful to get on your finger tips and more expensive than some milk or juice. Really not a lot of motivation for me to buy them.