Feeling pudgey? Soda may be to blame!

New reports out today indicated that the biggest cause of the the "obesity epidemic" is soda (sometimes called "pop" by the unsophisticated). They are claiming that it is imperative to get sugar-drinks out of the hands of consumers (and especially children) ASAP.

One of every five calories in the American diet is liquid. The nation's single biggest "food" is soda, and nutrition experts have long demonized it.
Now they are escalating the fight.
In reports to be published in science journals this week, two groups of researchers hope to add evidence to the theory that soda and other sugar-sweetened drinks don't just go hand-in-hand with obesity, but actually cause it. Not that these drinks are the only cause -- genetics, exercise and other factors are involved -- but that they are one cause, perhaps the leading cause.
A small point? In reality, proving this would be a scientific leap that could help make the case for higher taxes on soda, restrictions on how and where it is sold -- maybe even a surgeon general's warning on labels.

While I think "warning labels" would be extreme, I think this definitely justifies the folks in my area who fought hard to get soda machines out of the schools. My own parents only let us have soda on "spcial occasions" (birthdays, christmas) and even then mixed it with milk, so that we got less sugar and more nutrients. It seems they were prescient of the dangers to my health.

Time to go back to cutting soda out of my diet completely. Luckily, I like water and crystal lite.