For better health, can the soft drinks

The annual U.S. production of soft drinks exceeds 600 8-ounce servings per person. These bubbly beverages have become a fixture of our culture despite numerous studies correlating soft drink consumption with health problems.

Kelly D. Brownell, Ph.D., professor of psychology and epidemiology and director of Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, recently led a thorough analysis of 88 previous reports on the health effects of drinking soda.

In the March issue of the American Journal of Public Health, Brownell’s group reports that soda increases caloric intake and body weight, decreases intake of calcium and other nutrients and raises the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Moreover, the additional calories associated with soft drink consumption add up to more than those in the drinks themselves, suggesting that drinking soda may increase hunger or decrease a sense of fullness.