You are what you drink: New Yorkers urged to cut back on sugary drinks

Health crusades are getting a little more in your face these days, not shying away from the hard sell. Take the latest public awareness campaign from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

"Are you Pouring on the Pounds?" reads the poster as a bottle of soda pours into a glass. But as the soda hits the glass, it turns into a huge gob of yellow fat. Ew. The campaign draws attention to sugar-sweetened beverages such as sodas, sports drinks, iced teas, coffee beverages and fruit drinks that contain more sugar than many people realize. According to the department, a 20-ounce cola has 250 calories and 16 1/2 teaspoons of sugar, and a 16-ounce iced white chocolate mocha has 340 calories and 13 teaspoons of sugar. The poster also admonishes people "Don't drink yourself fat," and reminds them to cut back on sugary beverages, and instead substitute water, seltzer or low-fat milk.

"One common theme in addressing the issue of obesity for all ages is the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages," says Cathy Nonas, the department's director of physical activity and nutrition programs. "As time goes on, not only are portion sizes getting bigger, but the variety of beverages is getting larger too," she adds. "More and more people of all ages, from preschool on up, are consuming sugar-sweetened beverages, and it's an important piece to educate people on." Research studies have shown that more people are consuming an increasing number of calories from sugary drinks than in previous years.

In New York, 1,500 posters will be put in subways, and the message will get out via the department's health bulletins and the New York City Health Department's blog. Although Nonas says her budget is limited (and she wouldn't mind a grant or two), man-on-the-street interviews will be conducted to see what impact the campaign is having.

"We've been successful with this type of campaign on tobacco," Nonas says, "and we're definitely hoping this does shock people and make them think twice before spending money on empty calories."

Photo: The poster aims to discourage New Yorkers from imbibing sugar-sweetened drinks. Credit: New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

Comments

[Tim Miltz]

I'm surprised this article made no mention of the 4 EPA doctors in January 2009 who went to the grocery to buy products that have highest content of High Fructose Corn Syrup to their surprise to find mercury.

Granted, Obama prior to being elected did pass a bill that said of the 50% of HFCS produced in the US that DOES have mercury from a process that uses 1800's technology using caustic soda ? Will be banned and illegal by 2012 ?

These last 3 years, I just find it puzzling the CDC, FDA or EPA hasn't taken a more pro-active role in educating consumers that there IS a real serious threat neurologically to this. Young children and the elderly are especially susceptible to mercury. You can watch videos for yourself on what a neuron looks like after mercury exposure. Why you'd EVER drink a coke or pepsi knowing this ? or give an HFCS product to a child ? I can only guess it was lack of educating yourself, OR is this something we should expect from the Federal government to be on the watch for regarding out neurological health.

There is no question HFCS is a gamble if you're consuming the 50% side that has the mercury in any given product.

Google it for yourself, it's real, Heinz BBQ had the highest mercury - way above healthy levels- I tossed all HFCS products until 2012.

Which is worse ? Getting FAT from HFCS ? or Getting FAT AND Mad as a hatter.

I'll take NEITHER please.

[Tim Miltz]

For anyone that is interested in seeing what mercury does to neurons ?

http://commons.ucalgary.ca/mercury/

Also

Here is a starter link from mainstream media:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/26/AR2009012601831.html

regarding the EPA findings.

Products I have found that are HFCS free for cola ?

Pepsi Natural - $3.99 for 4 tiny bottles
Pepsi Throwback- they canned it, er, wrong word, cancelled it.
Boyden's soda
Jones Soda
Red Bull Cola (BUT Red Bull Cola has been found to have traces of cocaine in it according to Germany's FDA equivalent). I imagine it's probably just alkaloid's from the coca leafs.

Bottom line is- after watching the videos above from University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine Department of Physiology and Biophysics ? No one in their right mind would consume a product that will ADD mercury to their system.

Myself ? I've researched a bit and found Great Plains Bentonite to be favorable at removing heavy metals- very inexpensive.

I do not own stock in any of these companies !

I've also done my own research in taking Woods Hole carbon sink data that just came out this spring, showing the densest bio-mass areas in the United States, thinking that it is the methyl-mercury that gets produces when mercury enters an ecosystem that is what really can lead to neurological deficit ? And to my surprise, I found higher autism in those areas. I also checked the stacks of TXU, who has changed their name I noticed, in Texas, after learning that Bush had grandfathered some of their stacks so as to not require the mercury capture on release from the coal plants ? And to my surprise, higher autism in areas surrounding the stacks in Texas from former TXU. I wrote professor at Univ. of Southern California who specializes in neurological diseases of the young and elderly sharing these insights, he responded, oh, without question mercury is detrimental to neurological development in humans, and that he's been working on this subject for some time, unfortunately is not funded, or was not at the time to expand the research.

Myself ? I just leave anyone with moderate dietary intelligence to weigh these facts, and data.

The real problem I see is the report from the EPA two weeks ago where they state, THIS time, EVERY single fish tested from US streams, rivers and lakes has levels of mercury from coal plants spewing it into the air.

And yet ? Coal lobby wins in Washington, under Bush, the EPA was all but paralyzed. In fact, the former head of the EPA - Christie Whitman QUIT after Cheney pulled a fast regarding regulation on coal plants.

http://www.albionmonitor.com/0305a/epawhitman.html

Coal plants have been on the rise since the late 1950's. We're just starting to see the ill effects of mercury. Dr. Patterson completed the isotope on lead, which led to unleaded gasoline, a feat hard to pull off, that is - forcing the petro sector to change their ways against profit lines, however, there exists a Dr. Blum I follow who is NEAR completing the mercury isotope, to which I THINK can lead to decent prosecution and civil liabilities from those coal plants which don't seem to 'mind' just what mercury DOES to the brain. Especially of the very young and old. Every neuron counts at those extremes.

Virtually every single soda product in the supermarket aisle is HFCS. Good luck folks - and read those labels, it's your own neurological health you need to be on the look out for. Might not hurt to check out the EPA's maps showing highest concentrations of mercury in the country, and consider moving.

And our government has national security issues while the FDA sits paralyzed on this, where the EPA can just report it - but we can't stop it. A real shame.

China is aware of this, China is taking the lead on co2 AND mercury and working to clear coal OUT for energy production. Odd, they have a totalitarian government and proclaim global warming from co2 is real, and seek to reduce mercury spewing across their continent (and California, for California gets China's exhaust), and yet in the US ? we have a coal lobby so strong ? I probably shouldn't tag my name to this article.

[Jerrod Libonati]

Non-health professionals are spending endless hours and energy trying to treat obesity as if was a simple non environmental, social, and genetic issue. It’s like trying to reduce the prevalence of heart disease by urging Americans of all ages to cut back on total fat. I’m quite sure when we did institute a low fat and fat free policy, not only did we gain weight as a nation, our rates of heart disease increased.
As a Registered Dietitian (RD) and consultant to the food and beverage industry the public required further information and education on ways to increase calorie expenditure, rather than trying to use reductionism or isolation of a single food group or nutrient to show adverse health effects.
We shouldn’t be worried about “drinking ourselves to death as portion sizes of meals and snacks have increased significantly and pricing wars between “fast food” companies have made nutrient poor, calorie rich foods sincerely affordable! By the way, pouring fat into a glass will likely convince consumers that they’ll have to begin cutting back on fat, leading to an increase in calorie consumption of other nutrients.

[bonnie]

hi matt, this New York City public awareness campaign sounds well-intentioned, but we can only imagine that it will be overpowered by the non-stop ubiquitous Coke/Pepsi/ Gatorade/and latest McCoffee crap ads. And we can guess which will have the greater impact; this country is known for its junk food, it's the American Way. On a personal note, we are glad your pill count is going down as you stated in an earlier blog.......take care and know everyone is thinking of you every day....God Bless. Your family in Virginia

[Dr. Steven Chang]

It’s true - so many of us don’t often think about how many calories and how much sugar we’re consuming when we pick up a drink. Generally most things in moderation are not a problem. But people often drink several servings of sugary drinks on a daily basis, downing hundreds of empty calories and often as much sugar as a pile of donuts. This post makes a great point about portion sizes. An 8-ounce can of soda might sound reasonable, but today’s sodas are often consumed in much larger sizes. Based on the math in the article, consider the sugar content and caloric impact of a typical large soda (32 ounces) from a fast food establishment: 400 calories and 26 teaspoons of sugar. And you haven’t even had a bite of your sandwich yet!

Obesity and overweight have become serious problems in America, with the associated increased risks of developing heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, gallstones, breathing problems and even some types of cancer. We all need to pay closer attention to what we put in our bodies – even the drinks we consume – and train ourselves to spot acceptable portion sizes.

-Dr. Steven Chang, family medicine physician and author of the Daily Dose blog on RightHealth.com