The Evils of Pop/Soda (Read 1198 times)

Perhaps there's some specific "soda slows you down" old wives tale circulating among XC coaches.

Partly that. The carbonation and acidity can cause upset stomach, especially when coupled with the jostling from running 5k all-out over rough terrain. I've seen it happen, and the end result was on display for all....

i've seen the bone density thing debated back and forth for years (first time i encountered the issue was in 8th grade, reading Diet for a New America i think?), and i think most people who argue that soda negatively impacts bone density cite the phosphoric acid changing the pH of the blood to the point that calcium is leached from the bones into the blood to rebalance the pH. that is the argument; i have no idea if it's valid (trent? bueller?) i have had coaches/chem teachers/profs/fire safety reps/etc advise against any carbonation before exercise b/c red cells favor carbon dioxide & monoxide over oxygen (or rather, carry it more readily), so oxygen will be displaced by carbon dioxide taken in through soda before a run and the blood running through your muscles will not be as oxygen-rich, and will fatigue more quickly. (trent? bueller? please chime in if my coaches were miserable liars...!) the only thing i know for sure is that folks who tend to drink more soda are folks who tend to need more dental work*. w/ high school students, this usually means more appointments after school (if parents value academics over athletics) and this means more missed practices. *what Run2Win said about coke being an excellent cleaning agent is true-- every year during our dental hygiene study, we drop a dirty, tarnished penny into a shot glass of coke, cover it, and leave it for a week. by the end of the week, the penny is all clean and shiny as new. so that the kids don't come away with the very mistaken idea that they should use coke as mouthwash to get their teeth shiny, we also drop a tooth in with the penny (you can get mammal teeth from science supply catalogs) and take it out at the same time and look at the damage done. coke** is like CLR-- great at removing rust, lime... and calcium. ** that said, i still think coke the most satisfying non-alcoholic thing in the world to drink with pizza, fries or mac & cheese (anything salty, really).

Well, I must admit I drink my fair share of tasty caffeinated beverages (Soda), but than again I am a geek and love them. Whats the big deal, everything is bad if you are not smart about it. My diet may not be the greatest but I can freely admit that I am healthier than a 90% of my fellow Americans, (cant say that about the running ahead community though ;-) I really think that the body is FAR more capable that we excuse driven humans want to admit. With the right balance of exercise whats the big deal?

I concur.

So F'n funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, on an off topic note, I just found the first person that was really ripping me off and claiming my work as his own. He had stolen 40+ of my articles, which gave me my first reason to have to actually send a cease and desist letter. Blah.

Did he at least remix it? (Agreed, it's bad someone stole your work.) Drinking Soda Can Make You Fat. Boy, There's a Surprise.

But about the diet pop, I hear (don't know too much about it) that diet is actually worse for you than regular because it has aspartyme (I think that is what it's called), which is apparently not good for you???

There are plenty of reasons to be wary of aspartame. The fact is, nobody knows for sure what aspartame will do to you in the long term, because in the grand scheme of things it's still brand new. Personally, I stick with foods that people have been eating safely for hundreds of years...

If i really wanted a bottle of pop i would take the regular sugary one over the lite aspartame alternative (thats just my opinion btw)...

Same here. I'd take HFCS over Splenda, aspartame, or saccharin.