Oh Cherry Coke, sweet nectar of the gods. How you have ruined my life for a period of years. During high school I, like any other kid, enjoyed soda, or pop, or whatever you want to call it. When I reached college I ballooned in weight and I place the blame primarily on soda. Sure, the dining hall food could have been a factor, since it did only come in two flavors: fried or with cheese, but the main reason was because of the copious amounts of carbonated beverages I consumed.
Let me break down the numbers. I went through an average of a 12-pack of soda that I bought every week, in addition to 12-24oz per meal that I had every day. Lets just say I drank an average of 3 12oz cans a day. That’s 252 fluid ounces per week, which equals almost 2 gallons. For the year, that’s
a little over 100 gallons of soda per year. I make myself sick just thinking about it. The aftermath was this: At the end of the year I ended up with 7 cavities in my teeth and became heavier than I ever was in my life. After the pain of getting my cavities filled, I realized that soda was killing me in more ways that one.
Americans and Soda: The Growing Facts
That was my experience with soda. Now let’s delve into the problem on a national level. American consumption of soda has doubled since 1971. In 2004, Americans bought $66 billion worth of soda. Here’s another staggering number: soft drinks are the single most consumed food in the American diet, accounting for about 7% of all calories consumed.
What are the reasons Americans are drinking so much more soda? For one, the size of average container sized rose from a 6.5 oz bottle in the 1950’s, to the 24oz bottle of today. That’s not counting the 64oz cup, also known as a half-gallon, available at 7-11’s and fast food places that super-size their portions.
October 1st, 2007 at 3:05 pm
Johnny Altman
I am 41 years of age, I do love food. I just wanted to say that I disagree with your comment about canned veggies are good for you. They are good but,they are very high in sodium,I suggest that we just stay with fresh or frozen. Maybe if you do try the…