The Associated Press reports that "A huge, decades-long study involving more than 33,000 Americans has yielded the first clear proof that drinking sugary beverages interacts with genes that affect weight, amplifying a person's risk of obesity beyond what it would be from heredity alone." Full story here.
Are you hooked on pop? Here's a "baby steps" approach to weaning yourself off the sweet stuff. Try taking one or two weeks to adjust to each step.
- Switch to diet pop, same amount. Update, 9/28/12: If you have a serious sugar addiction, you may need to do this step in phases. See this article for info about sugar withdrawal symptoms and how to manage them.
- Replace one pop a day with coffee, tea or juice. No added sugar or artificial creamers. You may use other sweeteners. Do some research and experimentation to find a sweetener that you feel is healthy, and that doesn't cause any troubling side effects for you.
- Continue replacing servings until you are off pop completely.
- Replace one drink a day with water or green tea. Flavor with real fruit or a splash of juice, if you want. (Note: if you’re going off of coffee or strong tea, you’ll need to do the replacement slowly to avoid caffeine withdrawal symptoms such as headaches and sluggishness.)
- Continue replacing until water is all you drink all day (with fruit, if you like). Or green tea till 3 pm; water after.
