Impact of Soda on Students
FRESNO, Calif – Soda is one of the most popular types of soft drink in the world, and in California in particular, 62.7% of people drink soda every day according to the CDC.
College students are, naturally, a part of this demographic.
History student and Smittcamp scholar Victor Martinez has a daily Dr. Pepper Habit.
“I drink soda, I think, at every meal. I think that’s what I would say,” Martinez noted. “Whenever I’m thirsty, I’ll drink soda.”
Martinez works as a director at Camp Kesem, a camp for kids whose parents have cancer, where his peers call him “Pepper.”
However, he doesn’t just drink soda.
“I do dabble in some water, I do dabble in some water. I mean, like, If I’m feeling really thirsty like after a workout or after, like when I wake up in the morning, I do drink some water,” Victor said.
So if you’re like Victor and only occasionally dabble in water, how can you reliably keep track of your sugar consumption?
Nutrition Science professor Dr. Erika Ireland says you can divide the number of grams by four. For example, in Victor’s beloved Dr. Pepper, there are 65 grams. Then divided by four, that evens out to around 16~ teaspoons.
“Typically the recommendation is anywhere from 12, to 18, to 24 teaspoons of sugar a day. So when we look at something we actually want to look at it in teaspoons rather than grams, which makes it hard for students because everything we see, and is on the labels, is in grams.” Ireland said.
Ireland also says the more sugar we take in, the more energy we need to use to burn it off.
“Because ultimately if we take in more sugar than our body needs and don’t use it for energy, it gets stored as fat. And no one wants fat.” Ireland said.
To avoid over-consuming sugar but still get that same fizzy feeling in the back of your throat, there are options like sparkling water and new low-sugar prebiotic sodas, like Olipop and Poppi.
The American Heart Association has a different recommendation than Ireland, as it recommends men consume no more than 9 teaspoons of sugar, while women should consume no more than 6 teaspoons.
However, Ireland said that we should not demonize sugar, and different things can work for different people.
“It’s what works individually for each person, is kind of my take on it. I’m not going to demonize one or the other, but I am going to say that it is important to be informed about what you’re eating and what you’re putting in your body.” Ireland said.
Watch the video story here:
