Myths About Drinks
WHAT ARE YOU DRINKING RIGHT NOW?
I’ve been thinking a lot about what kinds of drinks are good for your health, what are less good, and what tales around this are all kind of made up anyway. So, here goes:
Myth 1: Drinking diet soda makes you fat. No. No it does not. Things that have zero calories in them cannot make you fat. Read all about why it can’t make you fat here: https://www.webmd.com/diet/features/diet-sodas-and-weight-gain-not-so-fast#1. In short, though, people who drink diet soda in general tend to be heavier than people who don’t drink diet soda. That is what we call a correlation (i.e. two things, in this case, diet soda consumption and higher body weight, are related to each other), but it does not have anything to do with causation (i.e. saying that drinking diet soda causes people to develop higher body weights.
So should I drink as much diet soda as I want? Still not. Apparently, your brain can become accustomed to foods that taste sweet when drinking diet soda, and then in turn might make you more vulnerable to eating high calorie foods and drinks with real, not artificial sugar.
Is drinking diet soda better than drinking regular soda? Yes. Definitely yes. Regular soda (sweetened with regular sugar) is conclusively linked to obesity, tooth decay, and lots of other problems. If you are choosing a soda, choose the diet one. But you best option, honestly, is probably water, which brings us straight to myth #2:
Myth 2: Water flavored with lemons has all kinds of mysterious health benefits. No, it does not. This is true despite the fact that there are lots of internet sites that you can find that claim otherwise. This website, for example, claims that lemon is alkalizing (i.e. a base): https://getinspiredeveryday.com/lifestyle/5-reasons-to-add-lemon-to-your-water/. That is simply false. Lemon juice is acidic. Don’t believe me? Measure the pH yourself to find out! The article also claims that lemon juice can oxygenate your body. Also not true. Breathing oxygenates your body. Does it help flush out toxins? I mean, not more than drinking regular water makes you pee and helps your kidneys work properly.
Do I drink lemon water? All the time. Not because I think lemon juice has mysterious properties, but because making my water more interesting tasting has finally gotten me to the point where I drink enough not to be dehydrated and headachy all the time.
Drink up, readers! Enjoy!
