What Are You Eating August 24th

A new review of available research pinpoints exactly how much soft drinks and other sugary beverages contribute to weight gain and obesity in the United States. Just one extra can each day can add as much as 15 pounds to your weight over the course of a single year.
The review of 30 nutritional studies conducted over the past four decades also revealed a number of other facts, including:
Soft drinks contribute about half of the additional sweeteners in the average American diet, and that amounts to a third of all carbohydrate calories consumed.
Limiting a child's intake of soft drinks over a year lowered his or her risks of obesity.
Consuming more sugary drinks led to higher weight gains and greater obesity risks.
The dangers of consuming soft drinks are many and varied; one can of soda has about 10 teaspoons of sugar, 150 calories, 30-55 mg of caffeine, and is loaded with artificial food colors and sulphites. I can't think of any good reason to drink one. And that doesn't begin to take into account diet soft drinks laced with harmful artificial sweeteners like aspartame and Splenda.
If you and your family drink soft drinks regularly, the best thing you could do for your overall health is to quit this pernicious habit and make the switch to clean fresh water.
http://www.mercola.com/2006/aug/24/how_many_pounds_does_one_extra_soft_drink_add_to_your_body.htm