Soft drink is the worst possible thing to be drinking
- Thread starter DalekJaas
- Start date
Are you absolutely sure it isn't any other factor, such as a drop in metabolism?DalekJaas said:
In any case, it isn't unexpected that it would have that effect on some people. Still, I'd avoid acting as if this applies to everyone, especially common soda drinkers, which are likely already partially aware of its effects on their bodies in that regard. I drink soda and energy drinks every day, and regardless of having no serious workout routine, I still have an athletic build. This comes regardless of everyone saying it will make me incredibly fat. People's bodies simply react differently to things, so a subjective experience with soda, especially one of this nature, is hardly reason to comment on how dangerous it is for everyone.
Honestly, though, I expected you to talk about the caffeine or acidity. At least those, regardless of how false the scares are, have some universal application. At the very least, talk about the dangers of drinking excess soda and/or the sugar problems, which are real problems associated with it.
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.
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.
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.
The drinks aren't the problem, the diet is.
Still not as bad as cigarettes.
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.
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.omega 616 said:
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.
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.Story said:
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.
Bodybuilder here. Reality check.DalekJaas said:
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.
Some people would argue that a quick death is better than a slow one =pPorygon-2000 said:
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]
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.Yan007 said:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.Dirty Hipsters said:
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)michael87cn said:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
