That's Fit

Contrary to what diet experts have now been telling us for over a decade, researchers from Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh reportedly found that it's not necessary to cut simple sugar (sucrose) from our diets in order to lose weight. In fact, the researchers posit that diets are more strictly adhered to when the dieter consumes small amounts of sucrose on a regular basis.

Writing in a 2007 issue of International Journal of Food Science and Nutrition, the researchers stated that the results of their study showed the greatest reduction in body weight and BMI loss resulted in dieters who included sugar in their diet. The researchers further stated that their results "contribute to the growing body of evidence that an effective way to lose weight is by adhering to a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet and by being physically active." They also added "it also provides evidence that the exclusion of sucrose, as is normally advocated in a weight loss diet, is not necessary to achieve weight reduction."

If you're a fan of soft drinks based on citrus-like flavors instead of the standard cola (like Pepsi or Coke), you're probably receiving more of a caffeine boost than your cola-drinking friends and family.

A recent study, not surprisingly, found that many citrus sodas contain a higher caffeine level than those cola cousins, and that caffeine amounts can vary widely between citrus soda brands and even within the same brand as well. Is there a difference between standard Mountain Dew and Mountain Dew Code Red? Probably, according to this study.

The research points to something important -- why aren't caffeine levels required on soft drink cans and packaging? Other ingredients are there in the Nutrition Facts label -- why not caffeine?

Soft drinks are very tasty on a hot summer's day -- that is, unless you prefer mounds of sugar filled with empty calories. Advice: drink ice-cold water instead.

But besides being nutritionally deficient in many ways, how about sodas being bad for heart health? According to WebMD, a recent study concluded that the folks out there with a "soda habit" (an addiction, in other words), have an increased risk of developing metabolic syndrome. Google that term and read about it -- it will make your head turn.

What to do, you might ask? Slowly wean yourself off of sugary soft drinks week by week, even turning to diet versions to help the transition. Slowly get to the all-natural fruit drink or water route, even though boring corporate afternoons may not have the "jump" you may be used to with a super-sugary soft drink. It's hard, but can be done.

Someone tried to tell me the other day that the tea I was drinking had more caffeine than coffee. I dismissed this statement because although I know regular tea has quite a bit of caffeine, it doesn't cause nearly as much of those nervous jitters that too much java leads to. But I decided to look in to it, and this is what I found -- Black tea has about half the caffeine of brewed coffee, and green tea has even less than that. Also: some soft drinks that you wouldn't think have caffeine do, including Mountain Dew, Cream Soda, Mellow Yellow and Sunkist Orange. So if you're watching your caffeine, cutting out the coffee might not be enough.

Another thing the article points out? A Grande-sized coffee at Starbucks has twice the caffeine of a regular-sized portion of coffee, so don't fool yourself into thinking that one cup actually counts as one.

Is it better to drink pure fruit juice or soft drinks? Both have loads of sugar and there are arguments that sugar content is pretty evenly matched based on the quantity and brand of soft drink or fruit juice you consumer.

But there is more to the picture than that. Natural sugars in all-natural fruit juices are not combined with high-fructose corn syrup (a cheap sweetener) or caffeine and other ingredients that are harmful when taken in large quantities.

Solution? I make whole-fruit smoothies on occasion but day-to-day, I like Naked Juice all-fruit smoothies. No mess to clean up!