soda vs. coffee

"E.L. Lambert" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Ok, I know neither of these are exactly "nutritious" or "healthy"... but most afternoons at the
office, I need a little caffiene pick-me-up. I was just wondering, which is the lesser of two
evils to accomplish this: Soda or cappucino?

I don't think either one is "evil." Which ever one you like better, I guess. Personally, I like
Diet Pepsi.

Just be aware that there is a lot of calories in regular soda. Look at the label before you
tip the can.

Jeff

[email hidden] (E.L. Lambert) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Ok, I know neither of these are exactly "nutritious" or "healthy"... but most afternoons at the
office, I need a little caffiene pick-me-up. I was just wondering, which is the lesser of two
evils to accomplish this: Soda or cappucino?

Since I'm not a nutritionist take my advice with a grain of salt. Maybe somebody can
substantiate this, I heard that those who regularly drink coffee are less likely to suffer from
heart disease. Now, if this is true coffee would be the lessor of the two evils. Though my
advice would be to switch to green tea, which is rich in antioxidants and also contains caffeine
if you need a pick-me-up.

Once upon a time, our fellow E.L. Lambert rambled on about "soda vs. coffee." Our champion De-
Medicalizing in sci.med.nutrition retorts, thusly ...

Quoted message said:

I need a little caffiene pick-me-up. I was just wondering, which is the lesser of two evils to
accomplish this: Soda or cappucino?

There was a recent paper published on that.

Subject: Diet: Coffee Associated with Lower Diabetes Risk Date: Tue, 06 Jan 2004 19:36:54 +0000
Organization: Natural Health Perspective website

Coffee Associated with Lower Diabetes Risk
nlm.nih.govfullstory 15411.htmlOpen ↗ "Reuters Health By Megan Rauscher
Monday, January 5, 2004

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Study findings released on Monday provide more evidence that
drinking coffee and other caffeinated beverages may protect against the development of type 2
diabetes. However, investigators warn it is premature to recommend increased coffee consumption
with this in mind.

The new findings stem from data on more than 42,000 men and 84,000 women in the Health
Professionals' Follow-up Study and Nurses' Health Study who reported on their caffeinated beverage
consumption every 2 to 4 years over a period of 12 to 18 years.

As reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine, Dr. Frank B. Hu from Harvard in Boston and
colleagues documented 1,333 new cases of type 2 diabetes in men and 4,085 in women."

SOURCE: Eduardo Salazar-Martinez, Walter C. Willett, Alberto Ascherio. Coffee Consumption and Risk
for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus annals.org1Open ↗ Ann Intern Med
2004 140: 1-8.

------------------------
This Article Concluded:

"In analyses that accounted for factors such as age, weight, cigarette smoking, and other dietary
and lifestyle factors a statistically significant inverse relationship emerged between drinking
coffee or other caffeinated beverages and the risk of diabetes in both men and women.

The risk of diabetes was 7, 29 and 54 percent lower, respectively, in men who reported drinking one
to three, four to five, or six or more cups of caffeinated coffee per day. The corresponding risk in
women was 1, 30, and 29 percent, respectively.

No such association was found for decaffeinated coffee consumption.

Commenting on the results, Hu noted that "last year, a Dutch study found that heavy coffee drinkers
had a substantially reduced risk of type 2 diabetes."

"That study set off a major controversy among researchers because it is known that caffeine
adversely affects (sugar) metabolism in short-term studies," he said.

"(Ours) is a much larger study with longer follow up (and) is more rigorous in measuring coffee
intake. Also, unlike the Dutch study, we looked at both regular coffee and decaffeinated," he added.

Hu emphasized that while caffeine is a main ingredient of coffee, coffee has many other substances
and compounds, such as magnesium and antioxidants, which may be beneficial for sugar metabolism
and diabetes risk. "More studies are needed to examine the effects of these compounds in coffee,"
he said. "
--
John Gohde,
Achieving good Health is an Art, NOT a Science!

Health-with-Attitude is a weekly newsletter for people
trying to follow a Healthy Lifestyle.
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[email hidden] (Eric Sloan) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (E.L. Lambert) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Ok, I know neither of these are exactly "nutritious" or "healthy"... but most afternoons at the
office, I need a little caffiene pick-me-up. I was just wondering, which is the lesser of two
evils to accomplish this: Soda or cappucino?

Since I'm not a nutritionist take my advice with a grain of salt. Maybe somebody can
substantiate this, I heard that those who regularly drink coffee are less likely to suffer from
heart disease. Now, if this is true coffee would be the lessor of the two evils. Though my
advice would be to switch to green tea, which is rich in antioxidants and also contains caffeine
if you need a pick-me-up.

What you are thinking about is probably a recent "study" that generated headline like "Coffee lowers
risk of diabetes". The study found that statistically people who drink 6 or 7 cups of coffee a day
have lower rates of diabetes. It becomes obvious why when you consider that people who drink that
amount of coffee are a different group than those who drink similar amounts of soda. The stats would
probably show a similar trend if you were to look at those who drink large amounts of water.
Conversely if you were to look at those who do drink large amounts of soda you would find that they
are at a higher risk of diabetes than virtually any other group.

It isn't that coffee lowers the risk of diabetes, it's that not drinking copious amounts of soda
lowers the risk.

TC