Liquid diet

FOOD FIGHT

DarLucky sends the following along:

A sweeping [California] study released [Thursday] points to soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages as one of the main reasons why we are fat.

"For the first time, we have strong scientific evidence that soda is one of the—if not the largest—contributors to the obesity epidemic," Dr. Harold Goldstein, executive director of the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, said Wednesday.

I suppose this isn't too surprising if one considers that a supersize Coke at McDonald's contains 410 calories, but it's still noteworthy since people drink soda like (or instead of) water in some instances.

Actually, I'd go even further than that and lay a certain amount of blame on diet sodas in the obesity epidemic. Viz., I know many people who drink a lot (a lot) of diet soda and feel they have to have a snack with it. In fact, I know two women who've given up diet sodas for exactly that reason. (And, one of these days, I, too, will cut back on the quarts of Diet Mountain Dew I ingest daily for exactly that reason.)