Being healthy is relative. 4 Chicken McNuggets have about 12 grams of fat, which makes it slighlty unhealthy but not too bad. BTW, you completely lost me on diet sodas being unhealthy. Zero fat, zero sugar, zero calories. What's not to like?
The chemicals that may or may not give you cancer. Artificial Sweetners are another debate entirely. Somebody else take this one, I'm busy.
LINK No calories, same taste (and heart risks) Diet soda linked to same health problems as sugary drinks in bubbly puzzle Sodas — even diet ones — may be linked with increased risk factors for heart disease and diabetes, researchers said on Monday. They found adults who drink one or more sodas a day — diet or regular — had about a 50 percent higher risk of metabolic syndrome — a cluster of risk factors such as excessive fat around the waist, low levels of “good” cholesterol, high blood pressure and other symptoms. “When you have metabolic syndrome, your risk of developing heart disease or stroke doubles. You also have a risk of developing diabetes,” said Dr. Ramachandran Vasan of Boston University School of Medicine, whose work appears in the journal Circulation. Prior studies have linked consumption of sugar-laden sodas with multiple risk factors for heart disease, but Vasan and colleagues also found the link extends to diet sodas. The results surprised the researchers who expected to see a difference between regular and diet soda drinkers. It could be, they suggest, that even no-calorie sweet drinks increase the craving for more sweets, and that people who indulge in sodas probably have less healthy diets overall. The finding comes from a massive, multi-generational heart study following residents of Framingham, Mass., a town about 25 miles west of Boston. The new study included about 6,000 middle-aged men and women who were observed over four years. They all started out healthy, with no metabolic syndrome. Mystery weight gain Those who drank one or more soft drinks a day had a 31 percent greater risk of becoming obese. They had a 30 percent increased risk of developing increased waist circumference — which has been shown to predict heart disease risk better than weight alone. They also had a 25 percent increased risk of developing high blood triglycerides as well as high blood sugar, and a 32 percent higher risk of having low high-density lipoprotein or ”good” cholesterol levels. The researchers then analyzed a smaller sample of participants on whom data on regular and diet soft drink consumption was available. Those who drank one or more diet or regular sodas per day had a 50 to 60 percent increased risk for developing metabolic syndrome. “The part about diet soda is more intriguing,” Vasan said. He said people who drink soda, whether diet or sugar-sweetened, tend to have similar dietary patterns. “On average, soda drinkers tend to eat more calories, consume more saturated fat and trans fat, eat less fiber, exercise less and be more sedentary,” Vasan said. The researchers adjusted for those factors and still observed a significant link between soft drink consumption and the risk of developing metabolic syndrome. Vasan said there are several theories about how diet sodas could increase a person’s metabolic risk. Sweet tooth may be to blame “One possibility is that diet soda is sweet. Maybe drinking something sweet conditions you in such a way that you develop a preference for sweet things,” he said. “Also, diet soda is a liquid. When you take liquids at a meal, they don’t satiate you as much (as solids),” he said. Poor overall health habits among diet soda drinker could be partly to blame. Barry Popkin, of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, who has called for cigarette-style surgeon general warnings about the negative health effects of soda, says that much of the market for diet sodas are people who have unhealthy lifestyles and know they need to lose weight — with the other portion being thin people who want to stay that way. That means many people drinking diet sodas have unhealthy habits that could lead to increased heart disease risks, whether they drink diet soda or not. Another theory holds that the substance that gives soda its caramel color promotes resistance to insulin, which is needed to process calories. The coloring has also been associated with inflammation in animal experiments. “These are all theories which we have not studied,” Vasan said. “We’d like to see these data tested and replicated or refuted. We’d also like nutrition scientists to conduct additional research to help us understand why diet soda is associated with metabolic risk.” Susan Feely, president of the American Beverage Association, said the notion that diet drinks are associated with bulging waistlines defies common sense. “How can something with zero calories that’s 99 percent water with a little flavoring in it ... cause weight gain?” she said. Without a more definitive explanation, Vasan offers only this advice to diet soda drinkers: “consume in moderation and stayed tuned for more research.”
At best, diet sodas make you crave sweetness, and at worst will cause cancer. Unfortunately there is no proof that diet soda has a terrible effect on you, but we do know it gives you no benefit. You are better drinking water regardless. And I'd say kids meals aren't really that unhealthy. I see tons of skinny children running around McDonalds, including myself when I was a kid. The problem is eating habits don't change, but exercise disappears. If you really think about it, poor nutrition has been around for decades. Child Obesity is a more recent problem. Video Games and ever expanding television channels are more recent and I think have had an even bigger impact on childhood obesity. I'm trying to get back into running, so hopefully my son will run with me when he is older and it will help keep him fit along with other sports.
Mcdonalds is awful as far as nutritional and waistlines are considered, as are most all fast food places... BUT I believe the main culprit is the soda. That sugary, syrup high fructrose crap that these poor kids ingest along with this high fat, non-nutritious meal is where the problem really is IMO. I'd like to see the guy who did that fast food documentary, super size me or whatever it was called..... I'd like to see him do the exact same thing, but substitute the large cola's for water and then see what his results would have been. I predict they would have been drastically different. If you really look into obesity and what triggers our bodies to store fats, you have to look at combinations. High fat combined WITH high sugar and carbs (which is basically what you have when you eat fast food and a soda) causes an absurd spike in insulin and is a recipe for fat gain. High fat with protein and NO sugar/carbs will make you lean (similar to atkins). People overlook this so much when talking about gaining/losing fat.
Do you not understand that being healthy/unhealthy has NOTHING to do with fat intake? Do you not realize that our bodies NEED fat intake? Fat is not the culprit here. Hell, what about monosaturated fats? The fats in almonds? walnuts? Fish/Salmon? Is that unhealthy? Absolutely not. We need fat. Yes, we should stay away from trans fats and limit our saturated fats to a point, but damn, it amazes me how most americans are obsessed with fat intake. Yes diet sodas are unhealthy. The carbonated beverage factor, and all of the man made chemicals that go into them that make them even remotely tolerable to drink. Aspertame, sucralose, etc... all garbage and we don't know exactly what these man made substances actually do to our body long term.
you know, the problem isn't that there is too many McDonalds. The problem is that too many people go there for a meal regularly. There is absolutely nothing wrong with McDonald's being everywhere as long as we the consumers have self control. Of course, it wouldn't hurt if McDonald's menu was healthier but honestly, how healthy can you make fries without making them baked or burgers without all the toppings? That would defeat the purpose, no?
But if so many people didn't go there for regular meals, then McDonalds wouldn't have the money to expand to all of their current locations.
I have drunk diet sodas for 25 years. I do not crave sweats and have not died of cancer. BTW if you drink 4 gallons of water in one sitting, you will die of water poisoning. Thus, water must be unhealthy. I am just saying ...
There isn't enough conclusive evidence IMO about the long term effects of artificial sweeteners. Personally, I think the best way to avoid the problem is to avoid the source. I switched from Diet Sodas to only water a few months ago, haven't really missed them at all. Now Beer on the other hand...
You know diet sodas are unhealthy, since you are sure that scientists will eventually find them so. What is that saying about a cart and a horse ...
Sometimes I'll cave in to a glass (8 oz max) of soda with pizza or something like that, otherwise my only other soda intake is crown/jack and cokes. Otherwise it's all water, juice, and beer.
Beer gives me a headache It sucks. I enjoy a beer, but after 1, I pretty much instantly get a fairly severe borderline migraine headache. It sucks really bad.
If you didn't crave the sweetness, you wouldn't drink soda. Water can certainly be dangerous in extreme quantities as can anything. The dangers about diet soda are uncertain, and may or may not exist. I don't drink them any more because I never lost weight when drinking them, then switched to water and amazingly started to lose weight. not the case for everyone, but it was for me.
