Stop Drinking Soda Soft Drinks example essay topic

When a person is deciding what to eat and drink, they must always look at how it will affect them, regardless of how good it tastes. Every food is filled with things that are good and bad. Soft drinks are the most consumed beverage in the world today. Unfortunately, soft drinks are extremely toxic.

Whether soft drinks satisfy thirst and taste good, this should not be a good enough reason to drink it. We should all do our bodies a favor and stop drinking soda. By replacing soft drinks with healthier beverages, many toxins will be eliminated. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends that people eating 1,600 calories a day not eat more than six teaspoons a day of refined sugar, 12 teaspoons for those eating 2,200 calories, and 18 teaspoons for those eating 2,800 calories. To put those numbers in perspective, consider that the average 12- to 19-year-old boy consumes about 2,750 calories and 1 1/2 cans of soda with 15 teaspoons of sugar a day; the average girl consumes about 1,850 calories and one can with ten teaspoons of sugar. Thus, teens just about hit their recommended sugar limits from soft drinks alone.

With candy, cookies, cake, ice cream, and other sugary foods, most exceed those recommendations by a large margin. If these teens were to give up soda, then they could eat many more foods with refined sugars and not worry about breaking their sugar intake limit. It Goble 2 is true that these same teens could easily drink one soda per day and still not exceed their personal sugar limit. Though, it seems very obvious to me that besides drinking well, it is hard to eat well. It would be easier to give up the soda and keep the sugary food intake to a minimum, rather than giving up all sugar filled foods for one soda.

A lot of soda means lots of sugar, which means lots of calories. According to the USDA, "soft drinks are the fifth largest source of calories for adults. They provide 5.6% of all the calories that Americans consume. In 12- to 19-year-olds, soft drinks provide 9% of boys' calories and 8% of girls' calories.

Those percentages are triple (boys) or double (girls) what they were in 1977-78. Those figures include teens who consumed little or no soda pop. For the average 13- to 18-year-old boy or girl drinker, soft drinks provide about 9% of calories. Boys and girls in the 75th percentile of consumption obtained 12% of their calories from soft drinks, and those in the 90th percentile about 18% of their calories".

(USDA) As much as this world revolves around weight and looks, it seems that by giving up a soda or two per day would be a very smart start towards that "diet" that many of us are looking for. By giving up this one beverage, and not replacing it with something as sugary, it would be a big step in the right direction for people who are not happy with the way that they look. Many nutritionists state that soft drinks and other calorie-rich, nutrient-poor foods can fit into a good diet. In theory, they are correct, but, regrettably, they ignore the fact that most Americans consume great quantities of soft drinks and meager quantities of healthful foods. One Goble 3 government study found that only 2% of 2- to 19-year-olds met all five federal recommendations for a healthy diet. USDA's Healthy Eating Index found that on a scale of 0-100, teenagers had scores in the low 60's (as did most other age-sex groups).

Scores between 51 and 80 indicate that a diet 'needs improvement. ' It is very alarming to see how poorly many of us eat and drink. There are many surveys that show how badly we eat. According to the USDA, "only 34% of boys and 33% of girls consumed the number of servings of vegetables recommended by the USDA's Food Pyramid. Only 11% of boys and 16% of girls consumed the recommended amount of fruit.

Only 29% of boys and 10% of girls consumed the recommended amount of dairy foods. Most boys and girls did not meet the recommended amounts of grain and protein foods. Those surveys also found that few 12- to 19-year-olds consumed recommended amounts of certain nutrients, Including calcium, which was that only 36% of boys and 14% of girls consumed 100% of the Recommended Dietary Allowance. For vitamin A, only 36% of boys and 31% of girls consumed 100% of the RDA. For magnesium, only 34% of boys and 18% of girls consumed 100% of the RDA". As teens have doubled or tripled their consumption of soft drinks, their consumption of milk declined more than 40%.

Twenty years ago, boys consumed more than twice as much milk as soft drinks, and girls consumed 50% more milk than soft drinks. By 1994-96, both boys and girls consumed twice as much soda pop as milk (and 20- to 29-year-olds consumed three times as much). Teenage boys consumed about 2 2/3 cups of carbonated soft drinks per day but Goble 4 only 1 1/4 cups of fluid milk. Girls consumed about 1 1/2 cups per day of soft drinks, but less than 1 cup of milk.

Compared to adolescent non-consumers, heavy drinkers of soda pop (26 ounces per day or more) are almost four times more likely to drink less than one glass of milk a day. Not only is milk needed, but the USDA also states that every person should have an intake of eight cups of water per day. Yes some of this water can be found in soft drinks, but along with the water comes numerous unhealthy ingredients. After reviewing just some of the facts that the USDA has found through surveys and testing of soft drinks, something must be done to change these statistics. The most logical solution is to encourage teens to drink more milk, water, and fruit juices than the typical can or two of soda. We should all do our bodies a favor and quit drinking soda.