Mayo Clinic Health Manager

Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.

Free

E-Newsletter

Subscribe to receive the latest updates on health topics. About our newsletters

• Housecall
• Alzheimer's caregiving
• Living with cancer

• November 22, 2009 9:16 p.m.

  Hahahaha this is ridiculous, I dont mean to be offensive to people but c'mon 15 pound lost over the span of a YEAR, or like 5 pounds in about two months all from cutting down on sugary beverages. I'm 16 and im smart enough to tell you that if you work out YOU CAN STAY IN SHAPE AND EAT WHATEVER YOU WANT!!! I dont want to hear excuses like "i cant find the time" or something bogus like that. If you have 10 minutes in your day dont go watch tv go run a mile, do this every day, youll see yourself go to 15 pounds a month, if your like me and run about 4 miles a day and then do conditioning every day you'll start to see results, plain and simple if you wanna lose weight, look good, and attract members of the opposite sex GET RUNNING, put on some heavy sweats and run a few times a day.EVERYONE HAS 10 OR 15 MINUTES FREE TIME IN THERE DAY

  - Matt

• October 11, 2009 7:55 a.m.

  Two or three generations ago, people used to have unsweetened tea with their meals. Soda pop or cola was only an occasional treat reserved for special occasions. Over the years, sugar-laden sodas have replaced the good antioxidant-rich and calorie-free tea. The bottles of pop have also greatly increased in size …and so have we. Doing away with the sodas and re-acquiring the habit of drinking something like unsweetened tea may go a long way in helping us lose or maintain weight.

  - heartMonitron

• July 31, 2009 1:19 p.m.

  it really works. its been 5 weeks since i cut all liquid calories except water and 1%milk, i went from being 132lbs to 127lbs. p.s. I walk atleast 3 times a week. but I didn't drop a pound until I cut those liquid calories.

  - tish

• June 1, 2009 9:51 a.m.

  What about the calories needed to break down the solid food compared to the breakdown of liquid, based on amount of time?

  - john

• May 27, 2009 7:56 p.m.

  I wonder if the higher weight loss results from a more quantitative calorie deficit. Cutting calories from food can be difficult because sometimes we don't accurately estimate our intake. Therefore when we think we are taking in a certain number of calories, it could inadvertantly be significantly higher than that, thwarting weight loss efforts. On the other hand, reducing calorie dense liquids can be more quantifiable (for example, cutting back from 4 sodas a day to 2), making it easier to accurately decrease caloric intake. An interesting article though, I look forward to hearing more!

  - Elaine

• May 26, 2009 7:33 p.m.

  Jen, Thanks for your comments. Being a Texan, I drank sweet tea ALL my life! (It's the "drink of choice down here in the south ya'll know. LOL) Anyway, I don't remember when I stopped drinking it altogether -- possibly when the last of my children left home. (I never let them have sodas unless we ate out, and that was rare.) I love Luzianne brand tea! But again, here we go with the sugar. My mother, a type II diabetic, uses splenda and swears she can't tell the difference between it and sugar. We used to use sweet-n-low if we ate out and you had to sweeten your tea at the table. (I hate sweetening my tea with sugar by the glass.) I may go back to "tea-totaling" as they say. We use our coffee maker & tea bags to prepare it by the pitcher. (Or make sun tea - let "solar power" do the "brewing".) I have NEVER heard that caffiene is hard on bones! I know that my Dr Pepper sipping has caused much dental problems but I assumed that was from the sugar & probably is. I have rhuematoid arthritis (among many other health problems) and have taken more prednisone than I would like. It too weakens the bones, so I'm batting a thousand here I guess. I'm sorry to hear of your month stay in the hospital! That must have been serious, not to mention uncomfortable, nerve racking, and all that other which comes with being hospitalized. I hope you are "in the clear" from whatever you had to endure with the long stay in the hospital! Be Well!

  - J Spencer

• May 26, 2009 7:12 p.m.

  --K, I have heard (on numerous talk shows with health segments and I also read from an alternative medical site) that children should absolutely NOT drink diet sodas, etc because of the sugar substitute, "aspertaine" (not sure the spelling is correct but I spelled it like it sounds). Apparently it is a real health hazzard for children, not so much for adults but still not good for us. Hope my input helps.

  - J Spencer

• May 26, 2009 11:37 a.m.

  Slightly off topic, but what are the recommendations for children regarding sugar substitutes? The research indicates safety for adults, is this the same for children?

  - -k

• May 26, 2009 11:09 a.m.

  I always knew that sugary drinks contained calories, but as I hate drinking plain water EVERY DAY...I tried looking for other options to water that were healthy. I don't drink pop, but I do love kool-aid and fruit juice type drinks. Can anyone advise me on what would be the best to drink, based on which would be healthier with fewer calories, etc.

  - Hates Water

• May 21, 2009 1:52 p.m.

  Diets and diet aids do not help anyone. The only way to successfully lose weight and get the body that you want is by using the right information. This information can be found in the book Lose Weight Using Four Easy Steps which can be ordered through the website www.bbotw.com Everyone who has gotten a copy of this book is now healthier.

  - Todd29

• May 14, 2009 11:54 a.m.

  calories taken by liquid are not recognised by the body because salivary glands are not activated in the same way as when you are consuming solid food. Therefore, the digestive system doesn't behave in the same way i.e. in terms of breaking down food and burning up calories. The liquid calories go 'unnoticed' and are more likely to be stored and converted to fat than the calories from solids thereby making it easier to lose weight when you give up high calories liquid drinks.

  - bhav

• May 11, 2009 3:22 p.m.

  Thank you for that post, it was very informative to me. It helped me understand more the difference bertween the solids and liquids.

  - Valerie

• May 9, 2009 5:27 p.m.

  J. Spencer I too was a soda fan, and had been drinking diet pop since I was a teenager. I like Dr. Pepper too. An orthopedist told me to stop drinking caffeine, because caffiene is hard on bones, so I switched to diet caffenine free sodas. Unfortunately, Dr. Pepper does not make the caffeine free version. I mostly drank diet caffeine free soda, but drank diet Dr. Pepper occasionally. A month stay in the hospital ended that. My friend brought iced tea from Starbuck (Tazo) and after drinking that, sodas tasted almost too strong. Switch to tea, whatever brand you prefer (Tazo, Liptom, store brand etc.), and whatever tea you prefer (green, black or some other tea,) use artificial sweeteners (I use Splenda,) and maybe that will reduce your craving for soda. I make my own iced tea, far less expensive than sodas, or buying at a coffee/tea shop. Best wishes with your efforts!

  - Jen

• May 7, 2009 5:28 a.m.

  I have been drinking the Lo Cal Vitamin Waters that are sweetened with cane sugar as opposed to high frutose corn syrup... what are your opinions of these type of supplement drinks?

  - Tim Jung

• April 30, 2009 1:44 p.m.

  For me, just halting consumption of soft drinks led to a 15 pound weight loss over a year! I found that I drank more water, and more quickly; perhaps that reduced hunger at mealtimes.

  - Matt

• April 29, 2009 11:48 a.m.

  I'm embarrassed to say, I totally agree with the liquid vs solid intake where weight loss is concerned. Why am I embarrassed? Because I am a Dr. Pepper addict -- the real thing too, no diet drinks for this overweight gal. I'm 50 years old and I carry all my excess weight in my "tummy" so I look about 8 months pregnant! This is no exaggeration! Two summers ago I took an extended stay at our lake home. I worked out in the heat and drank LOTS of water but very little Dr. Pepper. I lost enough weight to tuck my shirt into my jeans and even wear a belt! (I'm sure all the hard, outdoors work attributed to some of the weight loss as well.) But I've been told by more than one relative that when they quit drinking soft drinks / sodas, they also lost weight. I just can't seem to kick the habit. I love my Dr. Pepper and chewing the crushed ice which I (heavily) put into each glass. This goes on from morning to night and sometimes "during" the night!!! (I'm more of a sipper than a drinker -- very bad for the teeth!) Maybe I just need another "extended stay at the lake house"! Any suggestions?

  - J. Spencer

• April 29, 2009 6:41 a.m.

  There has been some research recently suggesting that high fructose corn syrup sweeteners are more likely to be implicated than "sugar" (cane sugar, beet sugar, etc.) in weight problems. (Of course, we are now seeing corn syrup industry pushes to say 'sugar is sugar,' which isn't surprising given the size of the industry and the public's newfound skepticism of HFCS.) It would help if your discussion indicated what "sugared drinks" were sweetened with, exactly. Thanks.

  - Greg Korgeski