Soda shocker

Dear Reader, Here's a shocker: It seems soda sales are on a downward trend in the U.S.. And apparently, the volume of carbonated soft drinks consumed has been in decline for a decade. Today per capita levels are lower than they have been since the mid-1980s. For instance, in 2007, once-per-day youth soda consumption was 34 percent. By 2013, it had fallen to 27 percent. This decline led one analyst to compare the soda industry to the tobacco industry. Now, I would be thrilled to see soda sales in this country take a nosedive the way tobacco sales have in recent years. But the fact is, even if soda sales plummeted, it still wouldn't solve the "drinking" problem we have in this country. To give you a better idea what I mean, let me just quote the analyst who made this comparison. She states, "To be sure, these are two entirely different products on many levels. Cigarettes have the mixed blessing of being dangerous, but addictive. Sodas, on the other hand, are widely enjoyed but can be easily substituted at no cost." This mindset is dangerous on a number of levels. First of all, let's just do away with this delusion that soda is somehow safer than cigarettes. It's every bit as dangerous. And equally addicting. But, unlike cigarettes, soda isn't the "lone gunman" of the beverage industry. Sugar is hiding in all sorts of drinks. We know from brain scans that nicotine and sugar (not JUST soda) light up the same parts of the brain that give us pleasure. (Which is why it's absurd that people are so in favor of the government stepping in to regulate tobacco-but so opposed to it doing the same for sugar.) And while I would love to believe that the decline in soda sales means people are drinking water instead, I know full well that would be wishful thinking. Just because more people recognize that "soda" is unhealthy doesn't mean they're making better choices. Take the sports drink category. They've become hugely popular. But they're riddled with sugar. Plus, I can't even begin to tell you how many people still consider fruit juices as a healthy alternative to soda. It's a classic rose-by-any-other-name situation...and it's a huge problem. I don't care if it's a can of Coke, a pumpkin spice latte, or a glass of orange juice. The fact is, sweetened drinks=sugar. And as I've said many, many times before, sugar kills.