Sodium Benzoate: The Next Great Health Threat?

After blogging in December 2006 about an ongoing cover-up since 1990 by the Food & Drug Administration over cancer-causing amounts of benzene found in some popular soft drinks, now this Belfast Telegraph story highlights a new UK study on sodium benzoate causing damage to DNA bringing that whole controversy back into the limelight again.

Lead researcher Peter W. Piper, professor of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at the University of Sheffield, wanted to know what impact a food additive known as E211--the scientific name for the common preservative sodium benzoate used in most soft drinks to prevent molding--has on cells in the body. The cancer connection has already been established when benzene is mixed with vitamin C.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA), which is the British version of the FDA, has already removed four brands of soft drinks from store shelves last year for having excessively high levels of benzene. Piper says the concern is worse than first believed.

In a test conducted on living yeast cells in his lab, the sodium benzoate in the soft drinks sampled actually caused damage to the mitochondria--the important "power station" in DNA.

"These chemicals [in the soft drinks] have the ability to cause severe damage to DNA in the mitochondria to the point that they totally inactivate it: they knock it out altogether," Piper exclaimed.

Yikes! Is this really as fatalistic as he's making it out to be?

Piper continued: "The mitochondria consumes the oxygen to give you energy and if you damage it--as happens in a number of diseased states--then the cell starts to malfunction very seriously. And there is a whole array of diseases that are now being tied to damage to this DNA--Parkinson's and quite a lot of neuro-degenerative diseases, but above all the whole process of aging."

Okay, so let me get this straight. Sodium benzoate found in many soft drinks and various food products has been found to damage the mitochondria in DNA which then leads to new brain diseases and premature aging. You got all that? Are you buying it? This blogger sure isn't!

Of course, the soft drink manufacturers point to their trust in the approval of sodium benzoate by the Food Standards Agency as their evidence of the safety of this ingredient. However, like the FDA here in the United States, can we REALLY trust that information? The European Union doesn't think so as evidenced by their emergency investigation into Piper's claims.

A representative from that group said they now need to reevaluate the long-term consequences of consuming sodium benzoate since the findings by the World Health Organization in 2000 which found it was safe are likely outdated.

Additionally, Piper said the FDA-approval of benzene needs updating.

"The food industry will say these compounds have been tested and they are complete safe," he said. "By the criteria of modern safety testing, the safety tests were inadequate. Like all things, safety testing moves forward and you can conduct a much more rigorous safety test than you could 50 years ago."

Hmmm. This is the same corrupt FDA which refuses to admit they were wrong about the high-carb, low-fat diet being a healthy nutritional approach despite the lack of long-term studies to back that claim up. And let's not forget about their role in the current scandal over the diabetes drug Avandia! What makes Piper think the FDA is gonna start a fact-finding mission on sodium benzoate now?

As you know, I love my Diet Coke with Splenda and I notice it does not contain sodium benzoate, but rather potassium benzoate (aka E212). There was nothing in Piper's study about this similar preservative, so the jury is still out about it. I'm not gonna stop drinking it just yet.

Piper says he hopes parents are cautious about allowing their children to be "drinking large amounts" of sodas sweetened with sodium benzoate. Which ones would that be? Diet Orange Crush, Vault Zero, Fanta Pineapple, Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, and the new Diet Pepsi Max, among others. The Coca-Cola Company has already settled their lawsuits by agreeing to change the formulations of their beverages containing sodium benzoate.

PepsiCo still has legal action pending against it and a U.S. District judge denied a motion to dismiss filed by the defendants in the case despite the fact that they have already reformulated the offensive products. Stay tuned for more information about these lawsuits.

You can e-mail Professor Peter Piper about this study at Peter.Piper@sheffield.ac.uk.

Read more information about the soft drink/benzene connection in this excellent blog post about it as well as the Wikipedia page on this topic. What say YOU about this controversy?

Study: Sugar Increases Pancreatic Cancer Risk

In just the past two weeks, we have learned from scientists that it can lead to cancer in the kidneys and also in the esophagus. But now there is new evidence from Swedish researchers that a diet high in the refined carbohydrate sugar can actually bring about an elevated risk in the development of pancreatic cancer as well.

Pancreatic cancer currently accounts for 2 percent of all new cancer cases and 6 percent of deaths from cancer annually. The development of pancreatic cancer results from the release of high levels of insulin when glucose metabolism is disturbed. One of the most common reasons for this is the introduction of excessive sugar in the body. Researchers have only now realized for the first time that there is a connection between sugar intake and the development of pancreatic cancer.

Lead researcher Susanna C. Larsson from The Department of Environmental Medicine at the Swedish-based Karolinska Institute and her research team observed data from 77,797 men and women ages 45 to 83 from 1997 through 2005 to see what impact sugar from soft drinks (mostly high fructose corn syrup) and other sources had on their risk of developing cancer in the pancreas. This study gathered information from two large population-based studies--the Swedish Mammography Cohort and the Cohort Of Swedish Men.

The study participants answered a 96-question food-frequency and lifestyle survey for the researchers to come up with the data used to analyze the correlation between sugar consumption and cancer of the pancreas. By the end of the study, the researcher found that there were a total of 131 cases of pancreatic cancer that they say can be traced directly to the "consumption of added sugar, soft drinks, and sweetened fruit soups or stewed fruit."

For those in the study who consumed five or more servings of added sugar daily, there was a 90 percent (nearly DOUBLE!) increase in their risk of developing pancreatic cancer. Even more startling is the fact that it only took two servings of sugary sodas daily to bring about this higher risk.

"Consumption of sugar-sweetened soft drinks, which contain large amounts of rapidly absorbable sugars, induces a rapid and dramatic increase in both blood glucose and insulin concentrations," they wrote.

As for the coffee and tea drinkers who add sugar to their favorite beverage at least five servings per day, the risk jumped 70 percent. Keep in mind the study considered a serving of sugar as one teaspoon or lump although many people often use much more than that in their beverages.

Other sources of sugar intake from fruit soups and stewed fruits with extra sugar increased the risk of pancreatic cancer by 50 percent. The American equivalent of these foods include any canned fruit packed in heavy syrup or other frequently consumed food products with high amounts of added sugars.

"The researchers have now been able to show that the risk of developing pancreatic cancer is related to the amount of sugar in the diet," the report showed.

The results of this study appear in the November 2006 issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

What about this survey connecting a high-carb, high-sugar diet with pancreatic cancer? We have already seen evidence that sugar leads to heart disease, obesity, addiction, and many other physical and mental ailments. Now we can add cancer to the mix. What more proof is it going to take before we consider sugar the real health threat that it is?

This is why I have described sugar as "rat poison" from day one of my low-carb lifestyle because it can quite literally make you sick and even kill you. Anyone who thinks that sugar can be part of a healthy lifestyle should begin to question the logic of that kind of thinking. That conclusion certainly doesn't make any sense in light of the latest scientific evidence.

Larsson stated that pancreatic cancer could possibly be avoided with a few minor changes in the diet.

"It is perhaps the most serious form of cancer, with very poor prognoses for its victims," Larsson explained. "Since it's difficult to treat and is often discovered too late, it's particularly important that we learn to prevent it."

Somebody tell me what the difference is between cigarettes and sugar? Both are highly addictive and lead to various forms of illness, including cancer. They are easily available for purchase by the consumer and many people use them. But there's one distinction--cigarettes have been given a stigma by those who have lobbied to warn people about the dangers of smoking them. In fact, that warning is placed right there on every single pack of cigarettes sold in the United States.

What about sugar? Not that I'm advocating warning labels, but where are the public service announcements, the real-life stories of those who have been negatively impacted by consuming sugar, the outcry from the public? It's nonexistent because people have not been given the information about what sugar can do to them. Even with studies like this one today linking sugar consumption to pancreatic cancer, most people will just shrug their shoulders and go on about their lives eating a honeybun and a Super Big Gulp full of sugary soda without thinking twice about it. Have people gone insane?

The researchers said it as clearly as they possibly could that there is too much evidence pointing in the direction of a progression of illnesses, specifically those conditions present in the ever-growing population of people with metabolic syndrome, caused by eating and drinking too much sugar which then leads to the increased risk of pancreatic cancer.

"Evidence is mounting that abnormal glucose metabolism and hyperinsulinemia may be involved in the development of pancreatic cancer," they wrote. "Conditions such as diabetes mellitus, a high body mass index (BMI, in kg/m2), and physical inactivity, all hallmarks of insulin resistance, have been directly related to the risk of this malignancy."

While the incidence of pancreatic cancer is still miniscule, Lasson reminds people that it is "important to learn more about the risk factors behind the disease" to best prevent it from happening in the first place.

Will the world take heed to that warning or will more people need to die before we take it seriously? Sugar is very bad news for anyone attempting to live a long and healthy life, but nobody seems to care. We go on about our lives as if there are no consequences to poor decision-making regarding our health and then we wonder what went wrong when we are afflicted with a devastating and deadly calamity like cancer. What's it gonna take to wake people up from their intellectual hibernation?!

You can e-mail Susanna C. Larsson about her study at Susanna.Larsson@ki.se.

Havey: Coke, McDonald's Need To Continue Being Sued For Making Americans Fat

Julia Havey offers plenty of weight loss motivation in my interview

One of my favorite people in the whole wide world joins us today at the "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog for an interview. It's Julia Havey and she's a very special woman who has taken her amazing weight loss story and turned it into a career built around motivating people to make changes in their life to lose weight and overcome the problems that plague them. You WILL be motivated and inspired by Julia as she shares her thoughts on what's making us fat and unhealthy in America today.

1. Joining us today is Julia Havey, life coach and author of the book "The Vice-Busting Diet." Julia is a friend I met when I first started this blog and I was attracted by her amazing weight loss success story and what she is doing to help people now. Tell my readers a little bit about yourself and how you got involved in helping others lose weight and get healthy.

Jimmy, I lost 130 pounds and it changed my life for the better, forever. That could have been the end of it but I shared my story with Women's World magazine in 1997 and they were flooded with letters and calls asking HOW did I lose so much weight and get the fairy tale happy ending to my story (married a younger handsome doctor, won the title of Mrs. Missouri...happily ever after stuff). I tried to answer those women, and those who kept writing and calling. TV shows, the National Enquirer all seized upon my story and gave me my "15 minutes of fame," I decided that rather than talk about "me" that it would be much more rewarding to talk about the woman out there who was struggling with her weight, her unhappiness and to try to help her get motivated to change and improve her circumstances.

I never in a million years dreamed that I would have 2 acclaimed books (Awaken The Diet Within, Warner Books #2 Amazon.com health ranking and The Vice-Busting Diet, St. Martin's Press--Oprah's Dr. David L. Katz and Dr. Mehmet Oz endorsed!) but it is the most rewarding life that I can imagine leading, yet I spend my days getting to speak to groups of people who are looking to improve their health, personally coach women to their dreams and goals, writing for a major weight loss web site as their "Master Motivator" and I sincerely feel like I have grown into who I was meant to be.

2. You describe yourself as a "master motivator" and the articles you write (which appear at LowCarbNewsline.com and at Julia's blog) bear that out. Were you always as confident as you are now or did you blossom into the fireball of energy and excitement that you are today following your amazing weight loss experience.

I am so proud of that title, but it was bestowed upon me by my editor. He will tell you, he didn't hire me for my amazingly poor grammer skills but rather my knack for motivating the reader and my personality! He saw in me what I hadn't yet seen in myself and helped me to grow into the role of Motivator that I now have. My husband also saw in me what I did not and encouraged me to use my experience with Obesity to help others to empower their lives.

So, NO, I was NOT always the confident "ball of energy and excitement" that you see me as, that confidence grows each day from the knowledge that I am right and that my message must be told as loudly, passionately and repeatedly as necessary because lives literally are at stake. Obesity killed 2.6 million people prematurely last year and it is only getting worse. My message isn't sexy, it isn't a fad but it is the truth--you can't consume soft drinks, eat fast foods and lay around watching TV and expect to be healthy. We have got to bust the 3 biggest/worst vices in our society that are the biggest contributors to the Obesity Pandemic--Coca-Cola (and Pepsi a close 2nd!), McDonald's and TV viewing for hours on end without having gotten any exercise that day.

3. There's a lot of debate over the various diets that are out there today. People are desperate to lose weight and keep it off, but very few of them are able to do it. How did you finally overcome your obesity once and for all? Describe what kinds of foods you ate and the methodology you used to shed the pounds. Do you still eat this way today?

I lost 130 pounds over a 15-month period. When people hear this, they usually say, “That’s so fast!” However, the reality is that I lost my weight at the recommended 2 pounds a week rate. Basically, I was consistent over the entire 15 months. This enabled me to lose 8 pounds a month, each and every month.

Here are the small changes I implemented:
- The first small change I made was to give up eating my #1 vice: ice cream.
- Then, I started drinking 64 ounces or more a day of water.
- After that, I stopped eating fast food.
- The next hurdle was giving up Coke.
- Eventually, I added exercise.

I tackled each small change gradually until it was second nature to me. That’s when I’d add another change to my regime. If a person is consistent with their health resolutions, it is just a matter of time until all their excess weight comes off! I do continue to abstain from my biggest/worst vices and I will never consume them, not even a nibble! There will never be a picture of me in the "National Enquirer" licking on an ice cream cone!

4. Let's talk about sugar and its evil twin high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) for a moment. You have been very outspoken against companies like Coca-Cola for promoting a product that is decidedly unhealthy. With people like Dr. John Foreyt from Baylor University defending Coke consumption as part of a healthy diet, what message are we sending the next generation about the impact of sugar on the body? What can we do to emphasize how harmful sugar is to people?

Dr. John Foreyt is a hired gun and most likely has trouble sleeping at night because his PAID supportive comments about HFCS make it sounds like drinking the CRAP is healthy for the human body, and thus helped Coca-Cola assist in the "beverage consumption assisted suicide" of 2.6 MILLION people! He won't return my calls or emails asking him about how he can possibly tell an Obese society that HFCS is a good thing to consume. I can't image why!

We can keep talking about the problem and keep spreading the word. It's a HUGE uphill fight because I don't have a few million dollars laying around to spend on advertising and Coke spends that much a week! Recently studies showed that advertising to children does impact their eating/drinking choices and is a contributor to childhood obesity.

Coca-Cola tries to say they are the good guys and are helping SOLVE Obesity, yet they won't take their soda out of schools EVER. They are taking COKE out, but putting "energy" drinks in (they have MORE calories and sugar) and drinks like Monster that are basically liquid speed (yeah, we need teens more strung out than they already are?!) AND they are keeping DIET versions that are filled with cancer causing embalming fluid like chemicals. I don't want my children influenced by this marketing machines tactics, but you can't go ANYWHERE without being slapped upside the head by it.

Today at the new Cardinals Stadium, HUGE Coca-Cola cafe area, signs EVERYWHERE for Coke, McDonalds, Hardees, and one little tiny Ice Mountain sign. Everyone around me had plates piled with nachos, hot dogs, beer, soda, for God's sake a 2 year old behind me had a 12 ounce bottle of COKE.

I just sat there with my bottle of water and wanted to cry. Perhaps I should have streaked onto the field, assaulted Fred Bird and poured a Coke on the Umpire......then, in the holding cell of the jail, I could have maybe, MAYBE gotten a reporter to quote me as saying Coke is unhealthy for us, but it is more likely that I would be called crazy and misinformed--just what Coca-Cola called me for suing them over their contest that encourages DRINKING enough Coke to KILL a person to win a used couch among other such wonderful prizes.

5. Refined carbohydrates are a big problem and it's getting bigger as the days go on in the United States. Fast food is another industry taking a lot of heat for obesity which recently led them to donate $2 million towards childhood obesity for the first time in their history. Are companies like McDonald's, Burger King, and Taco Bell responsible for making people fatter? If so, then what needs to be done to hold them accountable?

Yes, they are the #2 reason that people are getting fatter. Their "food" is high in calories, high in salt and high in FAT!

I think continued litigation is the only way they will ever come around and make healthier foods. I take that back. More litigation might make them actually serve FOOD to us.

For anyone interested in learning just how disgusting McDonald's food is for human consumption, do this:

BUY a happy meal. Take it home and do NOTHING with it. Leave it untouched in the box and come back to it in ONE MONTH, then Open it and LOOK in side.

At the same time, take an orange, an apple, a banana, a grilled chicken breast, some whole grain bread and put them in a bag, do nothing with them and come back in ONE MONTH and see what happened to them.

Keep the Happy Meal for one year........two years.......open it up from time to time and see how it is aging. I can tell you this, the damn things are aging better than me, they don't change, there is not ONE change in 2 1/2 years in my happy meal! It looks like the day it was bought!

YOU want to eat that? you want your kids eating that?

It isn't food.

6. Your book "The Vice-Busting Diet" was quite entertaining and informative to read. You note in the book that we all have our vices and overcoming them is the secret to not only weight loss but many other aspects of our lives. Discuss some of the top diet vices that people struggle with and what they can do to defeat them for good.

The top diet vices in our nation are fast food, soft drinks, chocolate, pizza, cookies, candy, donuts and ice cream.

The only way to defeat them is to give up thinking you can "have the foods you LOVE in moderation", if we could handle the foods we LOVE in "moderation" we wouldn't be Obese and overweight. It's like.....duh! If we can't have just ONE, we are better off having NONE!

What is wrong with dieting is that it requires a person to totally transform how they live overnight, which is a very steep slope of change to scale in one day. The word “diet” means the food indicative to the species; it does not mean a reduced calorie, food group restrictive program. Yet we keep trying to change our ingrained habits by following a menu plan filled with foods we aren’t familiar with and perhaps don’t even like.

Most people eat both healthy and unhealthy foods within the course of their day. It’s the unhealthy foods that must be addressed. That’s what Vice Busting is all about. It’s much more effective to start out eliminating unhealthy foods from one’s diet than to start following a completely different menu overnight.

Without a doubt the #1 worst food habit or “Vice” of the average American (and humans around the world for that matter) is the consumption of soft drinks. There is a direct correlation with the introduction of high-fructose-laced beverages and increase in obesity rates. Recent studies also show that diet soft drinks do not positively affect weight loss. Water should be the beverage of choice.

The #2 Vice would be unhealthy, fatty and high calorie “fast food." I can tell you hundreds of stories of readers who simply vow to not eat anything from a restaurant that can hand them a bag of food through a window/drive up and have gone on to lose at least 50 pounds! Eating fast food is a fast way to obesity.

7. You and your husband Dr. J. Patrick Havey are involved in a business that involves a juice product that you believe needs to be consumed by anyone and everyone on a healthy lifestyle. What is this product including all the nutritional information (sugar and carbs especially!), why do we need it, and how can people get it if they are interested?

My friend, the leading breast cancer radiologist in St. Louis, a VERY respected doctor, tried to get me to listen to her about a fruit and vegetable whole food product for over a year. I turned a deaf ear because of my very negative preconcieved opinion of "multi-level" marketing "scams." She was relentless and kept telling me that for my health, I needed to take this.

Finally, I asked her point blank, "Look, you make a lot of money as a doctor, why are you peddling this junk?" Her answer is why I now take it, read all of the research about it and recommend it to everyone who will (and won't!) listen to me: "Each year, I see patients who are younger and younger coming to my office with breast cancer. I never knew that nutrition played a role in the risk of developing cancer. Knowing what I know now, I think every man, woman and child needs to eat 9-13 servings of raw, fresh fruits and vegetables a day and if they can't, won't or don't--they need to take this product!"

It is so simple really, it is just 17 vine rippened fresh fruits and vegetables and some oat and barley in capsules--very "Jetsons"-like, but very real, very affordable and very important for prevention of disease.

Is it a miracle, cure-all "drug" or solution? NO, there is NO such thing. BUT, I sincerely believe that coupled with a healthy diet, water consumption and exercise, it is the best available support tool for our health that we have.

It isn't just my "opinion", there is research and a lot of it, from some of the most respected institutions in the world. Anyone can, and should learn more about it by visiting JuliaHavey.com. I recommend taking the Garden/Orchard capsules and if you like protein shakes, the Complete is excellent. I have one every morning for my breakfast, my husband, Dr. Havey has one before he works out and our children have one most days disguised as a "milkshake."

8. As a weight loss success story yourself, you have a unique position for someone who talks about weight and health issues because you have lived it yourself. What do you think about these so-called health "experts" like Sally Squires at The Washington Post who are overweight and dishing out advice? Are they being hypocritical or what?

You know Jimmy, that's a very tough question. I think they care, I think they are trying to share what they have learned, if not what they have necessarily applied to their own lives. I bashed Dr. Phil when his first book came out and said "he is overweight, who is he to spout advice" and someone emailed me very upset and said that a great and effective counselor need not be a drunk to help a drunk get sober, or that a teacher need not be an F student to guide an F student to better understanding and learning. So, I was humbled that day and realized that ANYONE who sets out to help another person, does so with the best of intentions in their heart and in mind, so hypocritical? No, not really.

BUT, I still think that you can have a more empowering effect and successful outcome when you lead by example than if you ask for others to follow you on principle.

9. Does the government have a role to play in correcting the obesity epidemic? If so, then what should they be doing differently? If not, then how do we go about encouraging individuals to make changes in their life to improve their weight and health?

Another good question. I think that we already have too much goverment in our society and people would rebel if the government got too involved in this matter. It is more of a question of responsibility from a governmental, corporate and personal perspective.

Government should subsidize the soda earnings that schools make so they can kick Coke and Ronald McDonald out of schools. Government should put a high tax on fast food, soda, Twinkies, etc. so that those who CHOOSE to eat them will have some money set aside to care for them as their obesity related health care bills soar to unmanagable amounts. Corporations need to realize that the very shareholder to whom they have fiscal responsibility to, is also a human and that if they die due to obesity and being overweight brought on by the marketing tactics and products of such companies that it isn't right and they must change for the sake of helping better mankind and improving the lives of people rather than focusing on fattening their stock portfolios.

Advertising needs to be honest. SHOW obese people eating at McDonald's, let the TRUTH show and then people will make informed decisions rather than thinking if they "love it" they will look like Justin Timberlake or drinking Pepsi will give them Britney or Christina's abs! Personal responsibility overall, tell these products to stuff it and to stop stuffing us!!

Obvious answer......anyone wanting to lose weight needs to bust their vices, drink water and get some exercise regularly. In my opinion, there is no better way to transform from the life that they are living today that supports excess weight to one that supports health and fitness than mine, learn more about it at ViceBustingDiet.com. You have my personal guarantee that if you use my program for the full 26 weeks and don't lose at least 25 pounds, I will refund your money in full!

10. THANKS so much for joining me for an interview today, Julia! I admire what you are doing to help people and wish you continued success with all that you do. Being the great motivator that you are, would you like to share any closing thoughts or words of wisdom with my readers who are struggling with weight loss?

Thanks Jimmy! I think you are my male counterpart in the "ball of energy" weight loss and healthy living journey!

Psychiatrist: Drinking Coca-Cola Is Healthy

Dr. Foreyt says Coke adds 'balance and variety and moderation' to diet

As the 10th International Congress on Obesity commences this week in Sydney, Australia, the nearly 3,000 health experts participating are trying to figure out why obesity rates have gotten completely out of control worldwide. This meeting of the minds, which happens every four years, is supposed to help bring about changes that would start to bring obesity rates down (ironically, though, since the first meeting in 1970, obesity has exploded to astronomical rates in virtually every country in the world with no sign of slowing down anytime soon).

One of the people attending this year's obesity conference is Dr. John Foreyt, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Houston, TX-based Baylor College of Medicine, whose role there is to convince attendees that sugary soft drinks such as Coca-Cola are not responsible for making people get fat. That's right, the Coca-Cola company has actually paid Dr. Foreyt to attend this event on their behalf to plead the case that soft drinks are not the reason for obesity.

In a radio segment on ABC Australia's "The World Today", Dr. Foreyt explained why he believes the criticisms of products like Coke are unwarranted and that sugary soft drinks have become an unfair target and scapegoat in the obesity debate.

"I think the answer to really looking at a healthy lifestyle is balance and variety and moderation, and any time you pick out a single culprit you're going to really be in trouble, because, you know, obesity and health risks are all associated with multiple factors," Dr. Foreyt told ABC.

While I agree that there are many different reasons for obesity, that doesn't give companies like Coca-Cola a free pass on their distinct role in making the problem even worse with their products. Dr. Foreyt is making the argument that drinking sugary Coke is indeed a part of a healthy diet when he states that it is all about "balance and variety and moderation."

But the reality is there is no room for the excessive amounts of sugar, in the form of the absolute worst food ingredient ever invented--high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), that they put in Coca-Cola to be consumed by most people. The idea that drinking Coke to "balance" your diet and then expecting people to eat in "moderation" (can you say calorie-restricted portion control diets that may be unhealthy and ineffective for many?) is just more of the same old garbage and meaningless dietary advice we've always heard.

When is somebody going to muster up the guts to say sugar is NOT a part of a healthy lifestyle because your body doesn't need it?! When I weighed over 400 pounds before I started livin' la vida low-carb in 2004, I was drinking Coke like it was going out of style. In fact, it got to the point that I was mindlessly drinking about 16 Coca-Colas A DAY! EEEEK! I know, I know, that was pretty stupid on my part. But my story is probably not all that uncommon among the obese.

For people like Dr. Foreyt whose job is to analyze human behavior, I wonder if he can adequately explain why people guzzle so much Coke that it makes them fat. Oh, but wait, he's got an answer that explains why you can't point the finger at the Coke for people consuming too many calories.

"Well, calories are calories are calories, so you want to look at balance, and if people are getting their calories from one source, too many calories, people can get in trouble, but that caloric source can be anything," he exclaimed to ABC. "So you really have to look at your overall diet. I think that's still the bottom line."

Oh, now this is getting good. So, Dr. Foreyt is saying that as long as you are counting the calories consumed in those cans of Coke and keep the number low enough to induce weight loss or weight maintenance, then you should be okay in terms of controlling your weight. Does he think we're a bunch of morons or what?

The calories consumed in a can of Coca-Cola have no nutritional value whatsoever, Dr. Foreyt. Even in these ridiculous 100-calorie foods that are on store shelves today (like the Coke can at the top of this blog post), the idea that people have the ability to control themselves enough to only drink one or two of these pint-sized overpriced sodas is irrational. If the overweight and obese had the innate ability to control their calorie intake, then they wouldn't be dealing with a weight problem in the first place, would they?

Furthermore, if "calories are calories are calories" is so true, then why don't we hear the same kind of message regarding eating high amounts of fruits, vegetables, juice, rice, pasta, bread and other high-carb foods which can pack a lot of calories, too? If it's truly all about calories, then what makes these food widgets any different from the calories in Coca-Cola? Hmmm?

When I started the Atkins diet in January 2004, I did not suddenly begin counting calories. Nearly three years later, I still haven't and yet my weight has remained stable. How could this be? Well, for one thing, I stopped drinking those 16 sugary Cokes I used to drink per day and replaced them with tons of water and diet soda. Permanently distancing myself from the devastating effects of sugar on my body has been undoubtedly one of the best things I could have done not only for my weight, but also my overall health.

This is a cold hard fact that is completely lost on these "experts" like Dr. Foreyt who are too closely tied to companies like Coca-Cola and the big bucks they flash to anyone gullible enough to become an apologist for their sugar-loaded products. Sugar IS responsible for obesity in a lot of people and that extends well beyond soft drinks. Candy makers, doughnut shops, bakeries--the list goes on and on--all bear some responsibility along with soda companies to warn people about the negative impact overconsumption of their products will have on their weight and health. But there are just too many interest groups involved for that to ever be allowed to happen.

When Dr. Foreyt was asked about how his links to Coca-Cola might be skewing his conclusions about the high-sugar products he is endorsing as part of a healthy lifestyle, he responded with incredulous laughter.

"Oh, absolutely not," he retorted to ABC. "No, No. I think the bottom line for most people, they're very reasonable, they have good judgment and common sense, which means balance and variety and moderation in all things, including diet and physical activity."

Nobody else is laughing, Dr. Foreyt. We're not buying anything you are saying about this because it doesn't make any sense whatsoever. While I am not one of the fanatics calling for warning labels to be put on soda cans, I don't think anyone with any semblance of credibility can say with a straight face that drinking Coca-Cola or any other soft drink with upwards of 50g of sugar per 8-ounce serving can be a part of a healthy lifestyle. IT IS NOT and saying otherwise is the most ludicrous and damaging thing you could do to a world dealing with an obesity epidemic. Shame on you, Dr. Foreyt! SHAME ON YOU!

You can e-mail Dr. John Foreyt your thoughts about his support for Coke consumption as part of a healthy lifestyle at jforeyt@bcm.edu.

9-4-06 UPDATE: Fellow health advocate and weight loss success Julia Havey writes about this subject in an article at LowCarbNewsline.com today.

The Verdict Is In On Diet Coke With Splenda...

A few days ago I told you about the new Diet Coke with Splenda. Ever since then I have searched and searched for this product at every store I could think of.

I went to Ingles and Publix grocery stores on Thursday, but they didn't have it and nobody knew when they would get it. I went to Eckerds and Walgreens on Friday, but they didn't have it yet either and also didn't know when they would have it. I gave up my search yesterday frustrated that I couldn't find this product I've seen advertised prominently on television just a few days ago on "American Idol."

Finally, this morning on my way to church I stopped by the local corner convenience store to see if they had it in stock and I was in luck! I asked the sales clerk how long they've had it and he said they just put it out this morning. WOW! What great timing! I asked him if he had tasted it yet and he said he had not. I told him I would give him a full report about it after my taste test. At $1.69, this 20-ounce bottle had better be worth it!

Well, the verdict is in on Diet Coke With Splenda...ME LIKE ME LIKE! As someone who used to regularly drink about 200 ounces of Coca-Cola per day before I started livin' la vida low-carb, I could not believe my taste buds when I took my first few swigs. It was just like the Coke I remembered drinking and not the nasty flavor of the aspartame-poisoned regular Diet Coke. In fact, there were a few times I felt guilty about how much I was enjoying the full flavor of this new version of Diet Coke. But it has ZERO CARBS and ZERO SUGAR and ZERO BAD SWEETENERS! Why in the world did Coca-Cola even mess with their idiotic experiment with C-2, bragging about it having half the carbs and half the sugar of a regular coke? This Diet Coke with Splenda tastes so much better!!!

The only knock I have on this new Diet Coke with Splenda is that it still has caffeine (something you try to avoid when you are on a low-carb lifestyle) and sodium (which if you are susceptible to high blood pressure can cause you some problems). Other than that, I would say this arguably the best-tasting diet soft drink on the shelves today. I'll still drink my Diet Rite and Diet Cheerwine, but I will occasionally drink Diet Coke with Splenda, too.

I hope it does well so they can expand it into their other flavors, such as cherry, vanilla and lime. AND hopefully they'll make a caffeine-free version, too.

But, as with anything on low-carb, don't overindulge on these. It's still best to drink water first and foremost. Let your diet soda be your treat after downing a gallon of water. Your body will thank you for it and you will feel absolutely fantastic!

After church, I went to BI-LO, but they didn't have it. Then I went to Wal-mart to see if they had Diet Coke With Splenda yet, but all I saw there were the 20-ounce bottles on sale for $.78. Where's the 12-pack of cans and the 2-liter bottles? Don't you hate it when companies advertise a new product but they don't get it to the stores until weeks afterwards?! I guess I'll have to be patient and wait for it to come in. I'm sure EVERYBODY will have it by the end of the month.

ENJOY and post your thoughts about Diet Coke With Splenda. I'd love to know what you think!

Coke, Pepsi Finally Get It...Maybe

Well it's about time! The Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc., two companies I have long complained about for using aspartame to sweeten their diet soft drinks, finally got on the Splenda bandwagon after using aspartame exclusively for years.

I was watching television last night and saw a commercial for Diet Coke and about fell out of my seat when I heard the quick promo at the end of the commercial that blared, "And look for new Diet Coke now sweetened with Splenda!" I couldn't believe it! In fact, it's funny because now I will have to rewrite part of my book where I ranted against the big soft drink companies for not realizing those of us who are livin' la vida low-carb want and need Splenda in our diet sodas. Oh well, that's a good thing I guess.



Of course, to keep their customers happy, Coke says it will not be changing the regular Diet Coke that is currently flavored with powdered paint thinner, or Aspartame (brand name of Nutrasweet). Have you noticed how every company who uses Splenda in their products proudly displays their symbol on their packaging, but you are seeing less and less of the Nutrasweet symbol? Me thinks there's a backlash against the latter because people are realizing how harmful it is to their health.



Diet Coke with Splenda will have a unique packaging with a yellow streak on it for consumers to distinguish it from the regular Diet Coke. As for Pepsi, they will add Splenda to their one calorie diet soda called Pepsi One. Regular Diet Pepsi, sweetened with aspartame, will not be offered with Splenda, though. Both of these products are expected to be widely available to consumers over the next month.

You know, I really hope Diet Coke with Splenda does well because maybe they'll branch off and put Splenda in my favorite flavors, including Diet Cherry Coke and the new Diet Coke with Lime, which I think is the most incredible-tasting diet soda on the market today. But I'm sure the demand will dictate whether they will begin putting Splenda in their other products or not.

The jury is still out on the taste of these new products for me. Plus they still have caffeine in them, which is also not very good for you while you are livin' la vida low-carb. I have gotten so used to and enjoy drinking Diet Rite (which also doesn't have any caffeine it it, by the way!) that changing brands may take some time. The taste will have to be a lot better than Diet Rite for me to switch.

(As a quick aside, though, what's up with Diet Rite changing from a 12-pack to a 15-pack recently. Besides the new packaging looking awkward and costing nearly a dollar more, it's just strange. Maybe they're trying to start a new trend in the soda industry. I buy a lot of Diet Rite anyway, but the packaging and pricing is just odd to me. If you have any thoughts on this, leave a comment below.)

Speaking of Diet Rite, have you registered to win a free year's supply at their web site. It takes less than a minute to enter and you could be well-stocked for the next 12 months on the best-tasting diet soft drink on the market today!

I'll probably buy Diet Coke with Splenda when it's on sale and at least once just to say I tried it. I'll let you know what I think in a future blog entry once it hits the shelves.