How fattening are soft drinks and other sweetened beverages?
More fattening than I realized, according to a panel of experts organized by Barry M. Popkin, PhD, head of the Center for Obesity at the University of North Carolina. Popkin talked with consumer oriented Nutrition Action Health Letter and is featured in the June 2006 issue. Professor Popkin says soft drinks are a major culprit in the ongoing obesity epidemic. The basic problem is that our bodies are not designed to consume calories in liquid form. When you consume calories from beverages, you dont compensate by eating less food later on, Popkin told the Health Letter. Liquid calories dont register with our appetite controls. Paleolithic man got his calories from food. The only beverage our ancient ancestors consumed was water (and breast milk for babies). From an evolutionary survival-of-the-species standpoint, it would be dangerous if people were no longer hungry after drinking water, because they wouldnt consume enough food, Popkin explained. We were built to have separate thirst and
