How Much Soda or Tea Do You Drink

[MarkII]

OK, it varies with the season, but on average I probably drink the equivalent of at least 4 cans of diet soda (often more) each day and I have done so for many years. I always have some with me, from the moment I get up in the morning. I like coffee but I rarely drink it anymore. I never drink tea, iced or hot. I also drink zero calorie flavored/fortified water (Lifewater, Vitaminwater) from time to time, especially after workouts, when I can get it on sale. These are the only things I drink throughout the day. I don't care for sugared drinks because I don't need either the extra calories or the tooth decay. I have no health issues that would prevent me from consuming sugared drinks; I just don't care for them. On rare occasions in recent years I have had both cane sugared soda and HFC sweetened soda, and honestly, I cannot taste any difference between them. I take a medicine that gives me a very dry mouth, so I always have something to drink right at hand.

Caffeine has only a very mild effect on me. Most of the soda that I drink contains some caffeine, but it doesn't bother me and I have no trouble falling asleep each night and sleeping through the night.

I drink perhaps 3 or 4 bottles of beer, and a similar number of glasses of wine, over the course of a year. We buy beer when friends or family from out of town come to visit, and then finally get around to pouring out the remaining bottles several months later. My wife uses the leftover wine, and occasionally a little bit of the beer, in some of her recipes.

I am well past the age of 35, and I can prove it.

 

[MarkII]

No sir, the biggest health problem in the first world today is the "healthy food" companies and the prices they charge. The biggest problem is the fact that it costs an arm and a leg to eat healthy while the crap that is bad for you is cheap.

The biggest health problem in the United States today is the large number of people with no health insurance.

 

[luke strawwalker]

Soda's--almost never--Tea--iced in the summer months--more of a treat than a regular thing--sugar or no sugar , does'nt matter--a couple cups of java in the morning-black, used to be a couple pots !!

Yeah same here...

Mostly drink tea when I eat out at a restaurant, water at home... sodas maybe once a week at most, usually when I eat fast food.

Maybe 2-3 glasses of tea a week, maybe 1 soda.

Later! OL JR

 

[MarkII]

This thread was started regarding just how much caffeine you guys were taking in. OH, did I forget to mention chocolate? Caffeine is the bottom line here and I had to curb my indulgence with it. Frankly I don't miss it at all anymore. If I had to weigh in whether or not I wanted to "pep it up" and deal with the obvious, I choose the latter and do without. Caffeine is a minor addiction but can be the root of some serious issues.

A friend of mine is very sensitive to caffeine, too. He can drink regular coffee (and he does), but only in the morning. Noon is his cut-off time. Caffeine has a mild stimulant effect on me, but it is very short-lived. (Gone in a matter of minutes.) For awhile when I was younger, I used to drink a small cup of regular espresso after dinner as a night cap. It helped me to relax and get to sleep after a hard day at work.

 

[MarkII]

Diet Cherry Coke or Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi, Diet Vanilla Coke or Vanilla Pepsi, and Diet Mountain Dew are my favorite drinks any time of the year. I usually drink them at room temperature.

 

[JStitz]

A LOT of us are watching more closely what we ingest from these responses.
I guess it also reflects the maturity level of this forum.

To Gary..I had noticed that Caffeine hasn't really given me any motivation other than clear speech in the morning. I couldn't get amped anymore...even with espresso. sooo..just gave it up except for morning cup.(not exceeding 20 oz)

 

[luke strawwalker]

I have given up soda (or "Pop" if you are a mid westerner) at least 10 years ago...about 20oz of coffee milk and no sugar then no caffien the rest of the day.
I HATE HIGH FRUCTROSE CORN SYRUP! this crap forced on us is like 5 times sweeter than table sugar.uke:
I wait till there is a special on Celestial Seasonings and buy a few boxes at a time,but only drink this when I feel like it.Both hot and cold.
I will drink an occasional real sugar Mexican Dr Pepper...maybe every 3 month's or so.
I also will drink a high end Ginger Ale that some micro breweries will create.
(My friend finds these and treats them like fine wine..and some are sharp!)
Ginger Beer if it has only sugar. I do like Jamaican made "TING" grapefruit soda!
I probably piss off waitresses by ordering water,but include a generous tip in the end.
I have several Micro breweries within blocks of me! but they also have beers that are too sweet for my tastes.

I think I know where this thread is going and a High Fructrose thread will get a response from me!...I know a few facts about this vile invention and have stories.

Also....how fair is it to people with corn allergies...now they can't drink soda.
The Florida Crackers I see drink GALLONS of Sweet Tea a day. (diabetics galore!)
I have actually seen resturants pour KARO SYRUP from the bottle into that vile tea fountain we have all seen!:y:

Water with lemon or lime juice..real fruit juice..or beer for me....Oh Gatorade when I'm dying from heat and dehydration in a normal 97 degree Florida summer day.

Agree... HATE HFCS... If I want a soda, I drink the Mexico sodas with REAL sugar in them... HFCS is CRAP!

I did pick up a couple cases of "throwback" sodas (Mountain Dew and Dr. Pepper) when they were making them with REAL sugar, but when they quit offering them, I haven't bought any sodas since.

Stupid WTO/NAFTA had the corn syrup companies (big stinking multinationals here in the States) trying to FORCE Mexican companies to buy imported HFCS from the US to make their domestic sodas in Mexico... Basically the Mexicans told them to go pound sand! (Thank goodness!) Apparently, NOBODY south of the border wants their STINKING HFCS and the Mexican bottlers can get domestic cane sugar cheaper, so they have NO plans to pay more for HFCS and see their sales drop because of it. RIGHT ON MEXICO!!!

Too bad the companies in the US won't take a hint and kick HFCS to the curb as well... or at least OFFER real-cane sugar drinks in parallel with the HFCS crap... instead they spend boku bucks on advertising to convince us we're all idiots because we don't like the stinking HFCS as much as pure cane sugar... :eyeroll:

I don't actively avoid caffiene but I don't go looking for it either. My sister became a coffee-holic when she graduated college and started teaching-- all she ever drank, with all those fancy "flavors" you could add to them. I sorta got into the habit when we visited her at her apartment (quite frequently) but then her ulcer and migraines convinced her to drop her coffee habit. The acidity was getting to me, and I was having gerd really bad (acid in the esophagus) and indigestion and stomach acid really bad, so I quit and it went away.

My wife NEVER touched ANYTHING caffienated until this past year... her old college buddy (who's a nursing instructor) convinced her that coffee prevents cancer or some latest "medical fad" finding that a few cups of coffee a day are good for you, so she's been on a coffee kick for about a year now... :eyeroll: She gets headaches if she doesn't have her coffee and her stomach seems to be bothering her more... I'd rather take my chances on getting sick later than being mildly sick all the time... :confused2:

I only drank twice a year at the bus driver parties... out for Christmas, out for the summer, don't have to deal with other people's d@mn kids for awhile, h3ll ya I'll drink to that! Don't have to worry about that anymore since I'm not at the school but I don't drink hardly ever anyway... too expensive, and I HATE the taste of beer... mixed drinks are ok, wine coolers, stuff like that. Otherwise I don't touch the stuff.

Later! OL JR

 

[luke strawwalker]

I will NOT drink any "DIEt" drinks. The man-made sweetners will kill you.

I don't like NONE of that crap that comes out of a lab... Splenda, Equal, Saccharin, HFCS, whatever... it's ALL crap...

Every time my Dad asks me to pass him the packets of the crap at a restaurant, I say, "you mean the DEATH POWDER??"

Later! OL JR

 

[luke strawwalker]

I cave up drinking Cokes and all other dark sodas over two years ago to reduce the level of caffein I was taking in. I stayed with Sprite and Tea for the most part and but I have added the occasional Mountain Dew in the mix. I need to cut it out all together and only drink the tea I brew. I drink it unsweetened so apart from staining my teeth a bit, I don't think there are any downsides. I have put on way too many pounds at 140 calories a can! Gotta cut the gut.

Mountain Dew has more caffiene than any other soft drink out there... at least it USED to...

Later! OL JR

 

[JPVegh]

The biggest health problem in the United States today is the large number of people with no health insurance.

I know quite a few ppl with no insurance that see a doctor way more often than I do. I got a buddy who's diabetic and has had several heart attacks he sees a doctor at least once a month, has had two angioplasties and gets all kinds prescriptions, he never pays a dime. Sure the rest of us are paying for it but he's never wanted for medical attention. Meanwhile my wife pays $300 a month to add me to her insurance and I hardly ever use it. Atleast I get a "free":eyeroll: pair of glasses every other year.

 

[MarkII]

Mountain Dew has more caffiene than any other soft drink out there... at least it USED to...

Later! OL JR

Pepsi Max contains appreciably more caffeine than Mountain Dew. Orange Crush is also notorious for containing an unusually large amount of caffeine. None of these sodas has anything more than a fraction of the caffeine per fluid ounce that is present in a cup of regular coffee.

 

[MarkII]

I know quite a few ppl with no insurance that see a doctor way more often than I do. I got a buddy who's diabetic and has had several heart attacks he sees a doctor at least once a month, has had two angioplasties and gets all kinds prescriptions, he never pays a dime. Sure the rest of us are paying for it but he's never wanted for medical attention. Meanwhile my wife pays $300 a month to add me to her insurance and I hardly ever use it. Atleast I get a "free":eyeroll: pair of glasses every other year.

I haven't seen a doctor for a check-up in the past five years, because I can't afford it. Fortunately I am in good health and hey, I'm only 58, so I'm still young. A couple of years ago I got my first new pair of glasses in 15 years.

 

[StefanJ]

There's another way than going to Mexico to get Coke (and probably other sodas) sweetened with sugar.

During Passover, observant Jews avoid having ANY unsanctioned grain products in the house. Only unleavened bread is allowed. High-fructose corn syrup is a grain product at heart, and having it in the house is problematical.

So, bottlers make up special, sugar-sweetened Kosher of Passover coke. You're only likely to find it in certain neighborhoods in the week or so leading up to the holiday.

I've had it, at an office with lot of Orthodox co-workers. It was pretty good! Less of an aftertaste than the corn syrup coke.

 

[BABAR]

I'm at 6 diet cokes/dr peppers a day average.

 

[luke strawwalker]

I haven't seen a doctor for a check-up in the past five years, because I can't afford it. Fortunately I am in good health and hey, I'm only 58, so I'm still young. A couple of years ago I got my first new pair of glasses in 15 years.

Only way I'll go to a doctor is carried in feet first...

I don't trust sawbones...

Later! OL JR

 

[jd2cylman]

Well,

I have a 7Up at lunch every day. So depending on work schedule that's 4 to 5 a week. Then a Pepsi at the GF's sister's house when I pick up the boy. So that's 2 more every week. Then on the weekend, Pepsi Max. Maybe 4 or 5 per weekend. Never got past the nasty taste of beer or (God forbid!) coffee (nasty vile disgusting stuff). I even have a hard time kissing the GF after she's had a drink of coffee. Now a Seagram's Wild Berry cooler or a Mikes Hard Lime is all good

Adrian

 

[modeltrains]

Answered 1 or 2 a month based on that for me it is a random and irregular thing of maybe none for several months and then 2 two liter bottles in one week.

It is good for a couple health things going on, is not diabetes, to not drink it at all. Usually it is simply bought for the caffeine as for some reason tea and coffee have, oh, let's call it "collateral damage".
This past week have had 4 pizzas and 2 two liter bottles of RC cola - purely comfort food and caffeine - I am better off when I do not eat cheese, breads, sugar - and I thought it out and decided to go with the comfort food.

What's funny is that when it has been several months I've gone without soda pop a lot of brands taste nasty.

 

[JPVegh]

There's another way than going to Mexico to get Coke (and probably other sodas) sweetened with sugar.

During Passover, observant Jews avoid having ANY unsanctioned grain products in the house. Only unleavened bread is allowed. High-fructose corn syrup is a grain product at heart, and having it in the house is problematical.

So, bottlers make up special, sugar-sweetened Kosher of Passover coke. You're only likely to find it in certain neighborhoods in the week or so leading up to the holiday.

I've had it, at an office with lot of Orthodox co-workers. It was pretty good! Less of an aftertaste than the corn syrup coke.

There are a few sodas available that are sweetened with pure cane sugar. Pepsi throwback comes to mind right off the bat.

 

[JStitz]

Beer!

Hey.The Japanese believe in public Beer freedom...you can get beer on the street.

 

[Gillard]

about 2 to 4 litres of coke aday,so thats about 6 to 12 cans!
i am an addict.
you do not want to be around me when i have to go cold turkey.

 

[RocketT.Coyote]

I usually have a can of Cherry Coke with lunch as pick-me-up during the work week, but drink 2% milk at breakfast and chocolate milk as a treat with dinner.

 

[Gary Byrum]

Diet Coke was a favorite of mine during a time when I had been swayed into thinking sugar was my enemy. These "sweetener wars" have been going on forever and ever and I finally came to the conclusion that all of these freaking chemicals we ingest can't possibly be good for us. So I don't use artificial sweetener in anything and I rarely almost never buy anything with it in it. Same goes for the caffeine. I'll get a lemonade instead.

Regarding the chems in our foods, I now buy eggs from a farm that doesn't use antibiotics or byproduct feeds. I get my milk straight from the dairy farm, I make my own butter (with the help of a Kitchen Aid mixer) I make my own sausage (wish I had an outlet for real farm raised pork and beef) because I also grind my own hamburger. It's amazing how much better and better tasting these foods are when you prepare them yourself. And NO, I never drink the "Kool Aid"

 

[MrGneissGuy]

I gave up the "big name" sodas...I use a SodaStream machine now and make all my soda at home. It's so much better for you, doesn't have all the artificial sweeteners that the big guys have and has less than half the calories....plus I save a TON of money using it.

The only problem I have with it is figuring a way to get the cans closed again.

+1 for the SodaStream. I got one for Christmas and love it. I find that my favorite flavors tend to be the ones without caffeine, the diet grapefruit is surprisingly good.

I have even found a couple of places online to order some of the old fashioned soda fountain flavors that I can use with my SodaStream. The ones I've tried so far (orange dream, red cream soda, and sarsaparilla) were great, though with quite a bit of sugar (you can substitute Splenda or something else if you want).

 

[Jiffycoil]

To use a quote from Pulp Fiction with a few changes:

"Me, I can't usually get sodas myself because my wife's a vegetarian which pretty much makes me a vegetarian. But I do love the taste of a good soda."

Tea, yeah but y'hall wouldn't really call it iced tea. It started from dried leaves, add herbal sticks and some green power that used to live in the ocean and you have it.

I'll take water, oh and "Free Trade" roasted at home coffee.

I know, I know, "Damn son you sure are _ _ _ _ Y whipped".

 

[THier]

I drink 140oz of Crystal light during work hrs,, I leave at 6:15a and get home no earlier than 4pm,, Ever since my RNY I had to give up my Diet Coke,, which I would drink 20 2L bottles a week,, plus the Three or four Super Big Gulps during the day,

Tom

 

[Astro-Baby]

Hey I am a Brit - of course I drink tea - and lots of it. Its what got us through two world wars you know

Strangely enough the SAS even carry the makings of a mug of tea in their survival kits and I swear that if nuclear war had happened most Brits would be fine afterwards if they could get a cup of tea - theyd just squirm out from under the rubble, have a cuppa and then start sweeping up

I drink about 5-6 cups a day of what used to be called Nato standard - ie strong tea, lots of milk and two sugars.

I almost never drink fizzy drinks though.

 

[dmjung]

Haven't had a soda in over a year that I can remember. I do drink tea periodically. I drink lots of coffee, water, Propel and Vitamin Water.

 

[modeltrains]

The biggest problem is the fact that it costs an arm and a leg to eat healthy while the crap that is bad for you is cheap.

That's been demonstrated not to be.

https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/...all&adxnnlx=1329919200-oZxueLpWiFeby48Zsw4N8w

This is just plain wrong. In fact it isn’t cheaper to eat highly processed food: a typical order for a family of four — for example, two Big Macs, a cheeseburger, six chicken McNuggets, two medium and two small fries, and two medium and two small sodas — costs, at the McDonald’s a hundred steps from where I write, about $28. (Judicious ordering of “Happy Meals” can reduce that to about $23 — and you get a few apple slices in addition to the fries!)

In general, despite extensive government subsidies, hyperprocessed food remains more expensive than food cooked at home. You can serve a roasted chicken with vegetables along with a simple salad and milk for about $14, and feed four or even six people. If that’s too much money, substitute a meal of rice and canned beans with bacon, green peppers and onions; it’s easily enough for four people and costs about $9. (Omitting the bacon, using dried beans, which are also lower in sodium, or substituting carrots for the peppers reduces the price further, of course.)

Another argument runs that junk food is cheaper when measured by the calorie, and that this makes fast food essential for the poor because they need cheap calories. But given that half of the people in this country (and a higher percentage of poor people) consume too many calories rather than too few, measuring food’s value by the calorie makes as much sense as measuring a drink’s value by its alcohol content. (Why not drink 95 percent neutral grain spirit, the cheapest way to get drunk?)

Besides, that argument, even if we all needed to gain weight, is not always true. A meal of real food cooked at home can easily contain more calories, most of them of the “healthy” variety. (Olive oil accounts for many of the calories in the roast chicken meal, for example.)In comparing prices of real food and junk food, I used supermarket ingredients, not the pricier organic or local food that many people would consider ideal. But food choices are not black and white; the alternative to fast food is not necessarily organic food, any more than the alternative to soda is Bordeaux.

https://grist.org/food/colonel-of-truth/

How I beat KFC’s ‘family meal’ challenge
By Kurt Michael Friese
31 Oct 2008 6:04 AM
The fast-food joint argues in its latest commercial that you cannot “create a family meal for less than $10.”

https://www.forbes.com/sites/moneybuilder/2011/09/27/does-healthy-food-have-to-be-more-expensive/

I’m more curious about why cooking at home is given the rep of being more expensive (clearly it’s not) and why cooking healthier food is considered out-of-reach for the working poor.

https://hotdorkage.hubpages.com/hub...e-generally--more-expensive--than-normal-food

Definitions of terms

There is a perception that "health" foods are more expensive than "normal" foods. It's easy to see why people think that if they just take a casual stroll down the aisles of Wild Oats. If you do a straight across the board comparison, say "normal" tortilla chips vs. "health food" tortilla chips, then the "health food" version is clearly more expensive. Bit I would like to make a distinction between "health foods" and "healthy foods." And I also have to state from the get-go that there is absolutely nothing "normal" about so-called "normal" foods. And finally, the answer I will give may surprise you: Truly healthy eating is cheaper than what you may regard as "normal."

https://cooktraineatrace.com/is-eating-healthy-expensive/

Is Eating Healthy Expensive?
October 5, 2011 By CTER 23 Comments
junk_food_expensive

Is Junk Food Cheaper?

I have had my fair share of discussions (ok arguments) about the cost of eating healthy. I find it utterly ridiculous and absurd when people tell me they cannot afford to eat healthy. I would break down the cost of eating in SERVING SIZES and show them that it is not expensive. The problem with that theory was that people would have had to read the side of a box or can to understand serving sizes. In today’s bigger is better world people feel ripped off if they don’t get a 16oz steak for $4.99. I mean really, what kind of quality are you getting for such a large portion at such a low price anyway?

I tried reasoning and rationalizing with them but to no avail. I showed them that a pepper cost $.99 or that you could shop the sale items only and walk away with a meal for the same cost as the Value Menu at McDonald’s but with twice the nutritional value. Today my response to the notion that it is too expensive to eat healthy is to go to the ridiculous since that seems to be the only way to resonate with some people. I simply ask them what it costs for open heart surgery. When they look at me dumbfounded I simply and calmly tell them that open heart surgery is the byproduct of poor eating habits. Now this may not be a direct correlation but it does ring a bell in their heads. It does say to them that if they don’t change how they go about their eating that they COULD end up in the hospital getting surgery.

It is the simple things that we need to do to change the way people view healthy eating. Next time somebody tells you that eating healthy foods is more expensive than eating junk food just ask them if they saved enough to pay for the surgery they will inevitably need. Might make the conversation a short one but it will also allow them to think twice about their choices which is all I can ask for.

Now, one last reference, Mom graduated MU as a Nutritionist then went on the get her Masters as a Dietitian and she's verified the above for multiple decades before the above existed.

 

[modeltrains]

If nothing else, common sense should, should, tell people, "Hey, ya know what, it costs money to do stuff to the junk food after the company buys the raw ingredients, and the company's going to want to get that money back from somewhere - why don't I cut out the middleman and buy the ingredients myself so's they don't get it from me."

 

[Tronman]

I voted one a day, but that means about one quart a day of loose, Chinese green tea (not that stuff that comes in bags :no. The nice thing about good green tea is that you can use the same leaves all day; just keep pouring almost boiling water over them. The bad thing is it's really expensive. Grade A Hangzhou Longjing tea is about $500 a kilo.