This is actually a good thing, and should be international. A lot of the drinks available in stores are absolutely terrible for you - some people consume such drinks on a daily basis, even multiple times.
And unlike food they don't make you feel full or sated. Instead in many cases they actually make you thirstier.
Their addictiveness and dangerousness is under-estimated. It isn't quite smoking tiers bad, but if it was ranked it would likely be the next one down below smoking/vaping in terms of having a negative larger social impact (with drug use being above smoking of course).
I'm unfamiliar with the topic. I know that sodas are loaded with sugar, but what about these energy drinks with 0 sugar? Wouldn't the only really bad thing about them is that they corrode your teeth like soda does?
> After reviewing the current studies surrounding the risks tied to energy drinks, researchers concluded that they might be associated with a wide-ranging slew of health problem. You might already know that energy drinks can screw with your sleep, make you gain weight, or even spike your blood pressure. But overarching evidence suggests they may lead to substance abuse, mental health problems, a higher diabetes risk, tooth decay, and kidney damage, too.
(Note that artificial sweeteners are probably worse for weight gain than sugar, not sure what you mean by 0 sugar...)
I was buying unhealthy amounts of Diet Pepsi so that I could drink something other than water when I was hungry. One Saturday I had like 10 cans, including two right before bed. No sodas left on Sunday... start having caffeine withdrawals and had to make myself a cup of coffee.
Also, when I really get deep in my "addiction" to diet sodas it's hard to break out, water becomes so boring.
Studies lately are showing that artificial sweeteners are just as bad if not worse for you than sugar.
Apparently aside from the nasty chemicals, they still trigger an insulin response which makes your blood glucose crash and makes you crave sweet, fatty foods.
I find that exceedingly hard to believe. Sources, please. And I don't want a single study concluding sweeteners might affect gut biome in rats or might provoke some insulin secretion. I want serious, reputable studies claiming sweeteners are worse than sugar, a substance arguably killing more people per year than tobacco.
To provide some real data to the discussion, a study analysing 36000 deaths and 3 million person-years (published by the American Heart Association) found a 21% increase in all cause mortality among those consuming 2 or more sugar sweetened beverages per day. Consuming 2 or more artificially sweetened beverages, on the other hand, was associated with only a 4% increase. And moderate consumtion of artificially sweetened beverages (< 2 per day) was actually, unlike sugar, associated with decreased mortality. [1]
The way sweeteners are discussed in relation to sugar is often fear-mongering and disconnected from reality. It's like equating a sewing needle to a gun because the needle might also theoretically be dangerous in some circumstances.
