The problem of soft drinks

I’m a reasonably strong soft drink addict–I have to make an active effort to keep my consumption of said drinks to reasonable levels–but lately an awful lot of studies seem to be pointing to the dangers of consuming sodas of any sort, sugared or sugar-free.

Found this recently, various places: Sugar-Free Drinks May Cause Weight Gain. Research (admittedly in rats) suggests that those who drink artificially-sweetened drinks may stop linking sweetness to calorie content, and thus have more trouble instinctively regulating calorie content.

Sugared soft drinks have problems of their own–the (unfortunately subscriber-only) Science News version of the story says the researchers also found that rats gained more weight when they received their sugar as a liquid than when they received it in something closer to pudding consistency.

About a month ago, another study showed sodas of all sorts weakens tooth enamel. This as a thing in addition to the affect of the sugar on cavities.

And soft drinks account for seven percent of the calories we consume.

All of this, combined with anecdotal evidence that soft drinks are acidic enough to clean cars and bicycles with, really does suggest that, save for addiction, there’s no good reason to keep drinking the stuff.