Published: September 25, 2007 12:43 pm            

Putting a stop to so much pop

Too much of a good thing causes health problems

TAHLEQUAH DAILY PRESS — In the mid-20th century, soda pop was commonly purchased as a rare and special treat, a refreshing liquid that could highlight a trip to the corner drug store and bring delight to a small child's eyes.

But today, soda is much more commonplace -- a typical beverage consumed at breakfast, lunch and supper and all in-between meals. It's available at virtually any grocery store or restaurant, and a number of schools. And there are as many flavors of soda as there are kinds of people.

At the midpoint of the 20th century, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Americans drank four times as much milk as soda pop. Now, the trend has almost completely reversed.

"I remember it was cheap," said local resident Silas Sunday, who grew up in Welling in the '50s and '60s.

Or maybe, looking back now, it just seems like it was cheap.

"You could get a pop for a nickel," said Sunday. "I can remember working a whole day for a 50-cent piece, and I had to split that with another guy."

Back then, he recalls, RC Cola and root beer were mainstays, especially during a trip to downtown Tahlequah.

"Me and my brother would go to town, split a burger, have a piece of lemon pie and an ice-cold, frosty mug of root beer," Sunday said.

But things are different now. Consumers can still purchase those old-fashioned, glass bottles of root beer (though most are now capped with twist-offs instead of those requiring a bottle opener) or a can of RC Cola.

But even the makers of those sodas have changed with the times. IBC Root Beer is now available in diet form, and Royal Crown is sold in diet, cherry, diet lemon, and "RC Edge Maximum Power Cola."

As for the today's two major soda manufacturers -- Coca Cola, which lists upward of 30 available soda varieties on its Web site, and Pepsi Co., which lists nearly 20 on its Web site -- keeping up with the change is important for sales.

"Advertising may be a big reason for the change in the amount of soft drink that is consumed. In 2004, Coke, Pepsi, and Dr Pepper spent $562,659,000 on advertising," said Cherokee County Health Coalition Coordinator Carol McKiel. "This has a tremendous impact on everyone's behaviors -- in particular, young people. A child may see 150 commercials a week for food advertising. Few children understand the effect advertising has on their desires."

Soda -- termed "liquid candy" in a recent CNN article -- now contributes about 10 percent of the calories in Americans' diets, according to the U.S. government. Harvard endocrinologist Dr. David Ludwig told CNN soda is the only specific food directly linked to weight gain in clinical research.

"Highly concentrated starches and sugars promote overeating, and the granddaddy of them all is sugar-sweetened beverages," said Ludwig.

Since the late 1970s, the national obesity rate has more than doubled; for teenagers, it's more than tripled, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Researchers place much of that blame on soda.

"Our increased consumption of sodas may also be linked to part of our primitive brains that cause us to crave high-calorie foods," said McKiel. "In the past, this was a good thing, because foods loaded with calories kept humans from starving to death. Now we have plenty of food, and this craving is causing us health problems."

Michael Jacobson, head of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, told CNN that "soda pop is a quintessential junk food."

In an unscientific survey of 20 Cherokee County residents, each person indicated a belief that soda pop is major part of their unhealthy habits. Three women and one man stated they only recently cut back on soda intake because of health reasons, but all agreed it took too many years for them to make the switch.

"I was drinking probably two 2-liter Dr Peppers a day for years," said county newcomer Fred Workman.

On Thursday, Workman browsed the drink aisle at Wal-Mart.

"I had to make the choice to cut it out and wake up," said Workman. "After years of my doctor telling me pop was a big part of my obesity, it finally sunk in about two years ago. I didn't just stop drinking pop and that was that; I still drink a can a day, maybe even a 16-ounce or 20-ounce bottle. But in two years, I've worked to this point from those two 2-liters a day."

And, while Workman admits he simply takes a physician's advice, he does feel better now that so much of the liquid sugar has been cut out.

"Pop grabbed my life when I was a kid and never let go," he said. "I think my advice to anyone with kids is to use caution when allowing your kid to drink a lot of pop. It's addictive, just like drugs or alcohol or even food."

McKiel pointed out that researchers at Princeton University learned rats become dependent on a daily consumption of sugar. The rodents chose less of their food, and instead increased their sugar intake. In other tests, when the sugar was removed, she said, the rats showed symptoms of withdrawal, including increased anxiety.

And she agrees consumption of the sweet beverage should be closely monitored.

"People should know the sugar soft drinks have 150 calories in each 12-ounce can," she said. "That is 10 teaspoons of sugar. Besides problems with tooth decay, if someone drinks three cans of sugar soft drink, that is about one-fourth the amount of calories needed for the entire day."

Ludwig concluded that sugar in soda can trigger an enormous appetite.

"It's rapidly absorbed," he told CNN, "which raises blood sugar and in effect causes the body to panic."

In return, he said, the body releases insulin to break down the sugar, "but the body overcompensates, and blood sugar drops below the fasting level."

With blood sugar below what it was in the first place, he said, the body releases hormones that ultimately induce hunger -- people eat even more.

Knowing when to stop may be key, said McKiel.

"Soda is fun to drink, and the sugar provides a small increase in energy," said McKiel. "Unfortunately, people usually do not decrease their overall calorie intake in the amount of other foods they eat to compensate for these extra calories."



Josh Newton writes for the Tahlequah (Okla.) Daily Press.

        

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