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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: slacker711 who wrote (111475)	5/20/2009 1:26:35 AM
From: Sam	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 541376

Well, there are reasons why soft drinks are singled out. If they have negative externalities, shouldn't the users help to pay for them? Here are a few articles on the topic. Excerpt: ... The empty calories of soft drinks are likely contributing to health problems, particularly overweight and obesity. Those conditions have become far more prevalent during the period in which soft drink consumption has soared. Several scientific studies have provided experimental evidence that soft drinks are directly related to weight gain. That weight gain, in turn, is a prime risk factor for type 2 diabetes, which, for the first time, is becoming a problem for teens as well as adults. As people get older, excess weight also contributes to heart attacks, strokes, and cancer. Frequent consumption of soft drinks may also increase the risk of osteoporosis—especially in people who drink soft drinks instead of calcium-rich milk. Dental experts continue to urge that people drink less soda pop, especially between meals, to prevent tooth decay (due to the sugars) and dental erosion (due to the acids). Frequent consumers of soft drinks may also be at a higher risk of kidney stones and a slightly higher risk of heart disease. More research is needed in both of those areas. ... more at cspinet.org Adults Drinking Soft Drinks At Increased Risk of Developing Metabolic Syndrome Right Click to Download MP3 File Brief Description: Are you a middle-aged adult? Do you drink more than one soft-drink per day? It doesn't matter if it's diet or regular. According to a study by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health, you may have a more than 40 percent greater rate of either having or developing metabolic syndrome-that's a cluster of conditions that increase the risk for heart disease. Transcript: Akinso: Are you a middle-aged adult? Do you drink more than one soft-drink per day? It doesn't matter if it's diet or regular. According to a study by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health, you may have a more than 40 percent greater rate of either having or developing metabolic syndrome—that's a cluster of conditions that increase the risk for heart disease. While the increased risk of metabolic syndrome associated with high-calorie, high-sugar regular soft drinks might be expected, the similar risk found among those drinking diet sodas may cause a few raised eyebrows, according to Dr. Caroline Fox, co-author of the study. Fox: What's very intriguing about this study's finding is that it was both regular and diet soft drinks that were associated with metabolic syndrome. And what these results suggest is that soft drink consumption whether diet or regular maybe a marker for increased metabolic syndrome risk. Akinso: Dr. Fox said the findings point to the importance of long-term observational studies, which allow researchers to take a closer look at how aspects of diet are interrelated with health risks. The results are from the Framingham Heart Study's, "Soft Drink Consumption and Risk of Developing Cardio-Metabolic Risk Factors and the Metabolic Syndrome in Middle Aged Adults in the Community," which was published online in the Circulation in July. This is Wally Akinso at the National Institutes of Health Bethesda, Maryland. ^ top Date: 08/10/2007 Reporter: Wally Akinso Sound Bite: Dr. Caroline Fox Topic: Metabolic Syndrome Institute(s): NHLBI This page was last reviewed on January 28, 2009 . nih.gov (CBS/AP) People who drank more than one diet soda each day developed the same risks for heart disease as those who downed sugary regular soda, suggests a large but inconclusive study. The results surprised the researchers who expected to see a difference between regular and diet soda drinkers. It could be, they suggest, that even no-calorie sweet drinks increase the craving for more sweets, and that people who indulge in sodas probably have less healthy diets overall. The study's senior author, Dr. Vasan Ramachandran, emphasized the findings don't show diet sodas are a cause of increased heart disease risks. But he said they show a surprising link that must be studied. cbsnews.com