To Your Health
October, 2012 (Vol. 06, Issue 10) |
|
|
Sugary Drinks and Obesity: The Link
In recent months, officials in New York have focused their efforts in a soft drink ban that limits the size of sugar-sweetened beverages sold in movie theaters, restaurants, and street vendors to no larger than 16 ounces.
The effort has been approved by the New York City Board of Public Health leaving many to wonder if other cities will soon follow the lead.
The move was in part to help people avoid the trap of obesity, since sugar-sweetened drinks have been linked to the growing bulge in many people.
With the latest research, it is hard to argue that sugary beverages don't have a connection to weight gain. A recent decades-long study involving more than 33,000 Americans has yielded the first clear proof that drinking sugary beverages interacts with genes that affect weight, amplifying a person's risk of obesity beyond what it would be from heredity alone.
The results published by the new England Journal of Medicine strongly suggest that sugary drinks cause people to pack on the pounds, independent of other unhealthy behavior such as overeating and getting too little exercise.
And since, sugary drinks are the single biggest source of calories in the American diet, they should be a cause for concern. If you are trying to lose weight, or would like to steer clear of the possibility of obesity, opt for healthier beverages such as water, sugarless drinks and steer clear of adding on the pounds.
