soda vs. coffee

[E.L. Lambe]

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?

[Jeff]

"E.L. Lambert" <lambeth65@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:76b045c1.0402091341.2ba68337@posting.google.com...
> 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

[Eric Sloan]

lambeth65@earthlink.net (E.L. Lambert) wrote in message
news:<76b045c1.0402091341.2ba68337@posting.google.com>...
> 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.

[John 'The]

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 ...

>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
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_15411.html
"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 http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/abstract/140/1/1
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.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Health-with-Attitude/

[Tcomeau]

trackrunner1500@hotmail.com (Eric Sloan) wrote in message
news:<bf8b1f36.0402092004.56a47946@posting.google.com>...
> lambeth65@earthlink.net (E.L. Lambert) wrote in message
> news:<76b045c1.0402091341.2ba68337@posting.google.com>...
> > 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