The Health Blog by Ryan Healy

No More Soft Drinks in California Schools

On September 1, California made a landmark decision to ban the sale of soft drinks in public high schools. This was just one day after they also banned the sale of junk food in all K-12 California schools.

The Governor is expected to sign both bills into law, which is great news for health advocates everywhere. You can read more about this legislation at the California Center for Public Health Advocacy.

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Heartburn Help

If you regularly experience heartburn or acid reflux, then you should think about cutting back on carbonated soft drinks. The Week Magazine reports:

"A survey of 15,000 Americans over the age of 40 found that those who drink large quantities of soda often experience heartburn while they're sleeping. Carbonated soda is acidic, can irritate the stomach, and promotes the opening of the muscle that usually keeps stomach acid from flowing upward into the esophagus."

I don't experience heartburn very often, but those times I have experienced it, I've connected it with eating too much. So there's another suggestion: if you experience heartburn, eating less at meal times may also help.

Diet Pepsi Needs a New Slogan

Diet Pepsi's current slogan is "Light Crisp Refreshing." But given the effects of aspartame, it seems it would be more truthful if they adopted a slogan like "Light Crisp Toxic." Or they could go a whole new direction with "Toxic Crispiness."

Sales would plummet, but I'd be happy.

I've written about the dangers of aspartame before (last October), and just a week ago Early to Rise carried a story about aspartame. They had received a question from a reader: "If NutraSweet is so bad for you, why was it approved  by the FDA?"

Long story short, Donald Rumsfeld, then part of Ronald Reagan's transition team, used his political clout to strongarm the FDA into approving it. Thanks, Rummy!

For the full story, check out the Early to Rise article about the approval of aspartame (scroll down to the Health section).

Coca-Cola's New Nutrition Facts

Coca-Cola recently announced their voluntary move toward enhanced nutrition facts labels that would list the nutrition facts for an entire 20 oz. bottle of soda instead of listing just the nutrition facts for an 8 oz. serving.

So now you'll get to see truly how many calories and grams of sugar are in a 20 oz. bottle of Coke without having to do math in your head.

Currently, you would have to take the calories and grams of sugar and multiply them by 2.5 servings to arrive at the totals you would consume when drinking the bottle all at once. (And who doesn't drink a 20 oz. Coca-Cola all at once? Nobody I can think of....)

You can read Coca-Cola's announcement on BevNET here.

The Soft Drink Dinosaur

I think it's somewhat humorous when an old way of thinking is dying or when a near-monopoly is losing its grip. Whomever it is—the person who holds the belief, the CEO, the spokesman for the industry—he lashes out in rage and defiance in a feeble attempt to prevent the inevitable from happening.

So is the case with the soft drink industry right now, and Derrick Z. Jackson of the Boston Globe does a great job of showing how Coca-Cola is trying to sell a fairy tale to keep its near-monopoly from destruction.

Here's my advice to Coca-Cola and the American Beverage Association: Get over it and get out of the way!

"Stop Drinking Sugar!"

That's the clarion call of Tyler Lackey's Kill Your Children, a 12-page manifesto against sugared beverages posted at ChangeThis.

Are you killing your children? Give the manifesto a quick read to find out....

Diet Coke Chicken, Anyone?

My wife recently joined a MOPS group. During this past week's meeting she received a handout that contained a recipe for "Diet Coke Chicken." When I heard the ingredients I was stunned. I really couldn't believe that anybody would eat such a meal. Here are the ingredients:

Raw chicken (boneless, skinless)
1 can Diet Coke
1.5 cups ketchup

The recipe says to mix the Diet Coke with the ketchup, pour it in a skillet, and simmer the chicken in the concoction until it is cooked through.

Yuck! Not to mention totally unhealthy (aspartame, lots of refined sugar, and more). Where do people dream up these recipes? Reminds me of the time my brother decided to make a homemade pizza with chocolate chips....