...for a real post (a couple are in the works! I promise!), here are some more fun things I found out in cyber space:
First, a couple of my favorite "time-wasters"- Mental Floss.com (the site of the awesome magazine) and a site dedicated to Passive-Aggressive notes.
Speaking of Mental Floss, take their "Name that 80's video" quiz. It's kind of sad/scary how well I did on this quiz (8 of 10) - what's your score?
Fun with videos...
Check out this video of a 'magic bat'! One in a million chance this would happen and it's caught on video!
Planning on being a secret agent someday? You'll need these 8 essential gadgets.
Remember that cool Honda chain reaction commercial ages ago? The idea has been applied to a print shop - watch the chaos unfold!
And apropos of Wellington, the Wind tells how he was lonely until he found his purpose...
Finally, 8 reasons why people drink soda, and 16 reasons to give up drinking that crap.
7 comments:
Grr Dawn! I've been cutting back on soda here and there, but that article has me convinced to try getting away from it completely. We'll see how that goes... (Gem-Karen)
Wow. Is it just me, or did that soda article smell a little funny to you -- like it was sponsored by the tea industry? In paragraph 13, the article states: "Another advantage of avoiding sodas is that you will avoid the unnecessary caffeine. Soda drinks are a major source of caffeine in the American diet." Subsequently, the writer of the article advises readers that there "are so many healthy alternatives" to soda, including "any kind of tea - herbal, green or black." Brilliant. Please refer to THIS article, which indicates that tea contains substantially more caffeine than just about every soft drink on the market:
http://healthanthology.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=10
That's irresponsible journalism if I've ever seen it. I'm sure the drafter of the article would attempt to argue that the alleged antioxidant benefits of tea somehow mitigate the effect of its significantly greater central nervous system effects (i.e. increased caffeine = increased CNS stimulation), but that argument would be pretty hollow. Further, it's fairly common among tea drinkers to add sugar to their tea. So much for thhe obesity/diabetes arguments. I also have some difficulty with the "zero nutritional value" claim, but that's a discussion for another time.
Hmm..spoken like a true soda drinker, Jude. ;)
I think the point is that while soda has no redeeming values, tea does. There are heaps of teas without caffeine and even adding a natural sugar is better than whatever fructose or alternative sugar is automatically added to sodas. With tea, there is a choice.
There are also bad juices out there - but again, if you buy the right one, it can be a healthy alternative.
There are no healthly soda options. The best option is water, people!
While there are "healthier" forms of tea (as there are arguably "healthier" sodas), in practice, the tea that most consumers imbibe is laced with caffeine and/or sugar, so the comparative benefits are negligible. Yes, your "healthy" green tea typically contains caffeine, as do black tea and instant tea. Further, it's not entirely accurate to state that soda has no nutritional value. Soda contains simple sugars which are a necessary part of the human diet. A healthy individual who excercises regularly can obtain a health benefit by consuming soda in moderation. While there are certainly better sources of food through which to obtain these building blocks of energy, there are also more detrimental sources, such as WINE, which has no appreciable vitamin content (no, not even vitamin C), is loaded with sugar and calories, and contains alcohol, which has long been recognized as harmful to the liver, central nervous system, and kidneys. The purported benefits of drinking wine in preventing heart disease which are loftily touted by (of course) the wine industry may be equally obtained by simply drinking grape juice. See here:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/food-and-nutrition/AN00576
So I assume that your next post here will inform your readers that they should give up drinking that "crap" as well, right? RIGHT??
Oh, Jude - I have so many cool links in this post, and you have to focus on the soda article (which I didn't write)?
You can't trick me with your tricky lawyer arguments, though...
1) What tea most people inbibe is not the point. The point is, there are NO healthy soda options.
2) Simple sugars. Well, I guess that depends on what kind of soda you are drinking. Non-diet? If so, are you referring to the high fructose corn syrup as 'simple sugars'? Because that is the grossest stuff EVER and not natural at all.
And even if there is a soda out there with actual real sugar, all the other crap that makes soda soda (coloring, acid etc) is still horrible for your body.
3) Wine. Not sure why you brought wine into this, but again...didn't write the article. If one comes out about the reasons people drink wine (my first guess: to get drunk and/or the taste) and double the reasons they shouldn't (liver etc) I will post it.
However, I will point out that even wine is more natural than soda is and more likely better for you. Did your head explode yet? =)
I'm guessing soda hasn't affected you in many of the ways mentioned in the article because you are very very fit, a marathon runner, cyclist etc. I would take a guess that most of the people in the US drinking soda are not as fit. And so many of them are children.
There are no good arguments that children should be choosing soda over other healthy alternatives unless you don't like children. Wait a minute.... ;)
I brought wine into it because you offered suggestions as to where to purchase wine inexpensively in your subsequent post. Hence, you recommend wine, but censor soda. That's what really made my head explode.
And as to the alleged superior nutritional value of tea, you should read the following article, which states: "people would need to slurp 3-10 cups a day for maximum protection from common forms of cancer . . . Ingestion of large amounts of tea may cause nutritional and other problems because of the caffeine and the strong binding activities of tea polyphenols..."
http://www.webmd.com/news/19991202/green-tea-potect-against-cancer-heart-disease
I do agree with you firmly on one proposition: children should be offered healthy beverages, not as alternatives, but by default. But that's another battle that will be difficult to win. We are bringing up yet another generation of children who are brainwashed by media promoting the consumption of soda, coffee, iced tea, etc. Did you see the movie "Juno?" The pregnant teenaged main character spent most of the movie carting around giant Slurpees.
I brought wine into it because you offered suggestions as to where to purchase wine inexpensively in your subsequent post. Hence, you recommend wine, but censor soda. That's what really made my head explode.
Welcome to New Zealand, where people drink a lot of alcohol in the form of wine and beer.
What about those simple sugars you talked about were in soda? Wine definitely has sugar - and it's not in the form of high-fructose corn syrup. And all alcoholic drinks have alcohol in them! It's what they do. ;)
Finally, while wine does have some drawbacks (as it is alcoholic and does affect the liver), there are several studies that show real benefits of wine drunk in moderation.
The health benefits of soda drunk in moderation....?
And as to the alleged superior nutritional value of tea, you should read the following article, which states: "people would need to slurp 3-10 cups a day for maximum protection from common forms of cancer . . . Ingestion of large amounts of tea may cause nutritional and other problems because of the caffeine and the strong binding activities of tea polyphenols..."
For "maximum protection". And again, if you are drinking tea with caffeine....
And nope, didn't see Juno. I'm scared of watching movies about accidentally pregnant people in case it is 'catching'! :-P
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