Say No to Soft Drink Calories, Sugar, and Much More
A 32-ounce soft drink has 400 calories, roughly one-fourth of the calories an average person needs per day. A recent CNN article quotes a variety researchers who detail other reasons to avoid soft drinks, some proven, some theoretical.
Scientists also say the body doesn’t respond to liquid calories in the same way it would if those calories came in the form of French fries or chocolate cake. Appetite is controlled by a complex mix of hormones. Some signal the brain that your stomach is getting full. Others, including a hormone known as ghrelin, signal it’s time to eat again.
If you eat a big burger, the level of ghrelin drops for a few hours. That drop doesn’t happen if you drink a Big Gulp soda, even if it has more calories than the burger, according to Wayne Campbell, a professor in the Department of Foods and Nutrition at Purdue University.
“We’re finding your hunger does not go down as far when you consume a beverage, as when you consume a solid,” Campbell said. The result: Even with 400 liquid calories in your stomach, you polish off the burger too.
It is worth noting that 32 ounce is one quart; an unthinkable serving size even as recently as 20 years ago. Antique Coke bottles are doll-like and quaint in comparison to today’s quart-sized plastic drink cups.
