Sugary Beverages Fuel Obesity Epidemic, Prestigious Harvard Health Letter Says

I just got wind of an important article about how addded sweeteners such as high-fructose corn syrup may be one of the factors fueling the obesity epidemic. The piece appears in the October 2006 issue of the Harvard Health Letter.

Interestingly, the publication makes a number of points that I also make in my upcoming book, SUGAR SHOCK!, which Berkley Books is officially releasing Dec. 26, 2006. (But, of course, given that I’ve written a book, I offer more details than those offered in this article. FYI, I do disagree with some of the piece’s conclusions — for instance, my research shows that Americans consume way more sweeteners than that cited in the Harvard Health Letter.)

But the Harvard Health Letter article makes some very important observations. For instance, it singles out sports beverages and juice drinks, noting that "many people think those drinks are healthful. But studies have shown that people don’t cut back on their overall calorie intake to offset the extra calories from such beverages."

The article also cites a revealing, recent study (which I also write about in SUGAR SHOCK!) in which Harvard researchers found that women who drank one or more sugar-sweetened soft drinks (or other sugary beverages) per day were 83 percent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than women who drank less than one a month. As the Harvard Health Letter puts it, "Not surprisingly, they were also more likely to gain weight." (Pretty mind-blowing information, eh?)

Moreoever, the Harvard Health Letter article helps people to understand the deceptiveness of drinking sugary drinks. It notes that high-calorie, sweetened beverages are low-viscosity (thin) and therefore "may deceive us by preventing our bodies from `reading calories,’ a capacity that depends, in part, on the thickness of a liquid." (Next time you want a soda or fruit juice, it can help if you bear this in mind!)

The intriguing Harvard Health Letter article also cites a 2004 editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association which notes that reducing the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages "may be the best single opportunity to curb the obesity epidemic."

In addition, the Harvard Health Letter piece cites the recently created six-level Beverage Guidance Panel, which offered a proposed "guidance system for beverage consumption." The panel recommends drinks with no or few calories, especially water, over those with more calories. And it suggests drinking no more than 8 fluid ounces of sweetened sodas, juice drinks or energy/sports drinks per day.

Sounds like sound advice to me although I would go one step further: If you absolutely have to have a sugary drink, could you at least limit it to 4 ounces per day and water down the rest of it?

For more info on the Harvard Health Letter, you can subscribe here or call 1-877-649-9457 to order a year’s subscription for $28.

Frazzled and overwhelmed by a soda habit? If you’d like some help conquering your reliance on sugary beverages, check out my article, 8 Tips to Lose Weight Easily: Just Cut Out Soda & Sugary Drinks.