Diet Sodas, Juice, and Water

                Ok, I have no doubt that as you read the title of this article that you have deduced the answer to my question.  Which one is best for you?  Obviously water is the clear winner, but why?

Allow me to explain.

                Water, and when I say water, I mean city water, not the stuff that is bottled, is a great way to ensure that you stay hydrated, it's calorie free, no carbohydrates, no sugar, and no chemicals that are foreign to your body.  Now, I know what you're thinking and yes, chlorine and fluoride (commonly found in municipal water sources) are naturally occurring chemicals.  As a matter of fact chlorine is essential for the formation of most life forms, including humans! 

                A word on bottled water.  There are no regulations on bottled water so, some (many in fact) companies simply bottle water straight from the city taps and call it spring water.  Dasani, a Coke product, was doing that very thing until an employee told the rest of the world.  As a result, they then began purifying the city water through reverse osmosis to prevent a worldwide boycott.  Again, not because it was illegal, good for their customers, or sound science but because they wanted to ensure folks kept buying their product. 

                There is a marketing story surrounding the sale of bottled water, I don't know if it's true or not but it certainly is interesting.  Is goes something like this.  One marketing genius is having lunch with another marketing guru.  During their conversation one says to the other, I'll be you could bottle water and sell it!  (As a joke)  The other marketing genius says, wow, that's a great idea!  The first bottled water was sold by Evian, the word naive spelled backwards.  By the packaging and marketing alone, they sold the image of health and purity, meanwhile they were insulting their customers, and laughing all the way to the bank. 

                True or not, it makes a good point, we are buying and idea, an image; not the reality of a truly healthy product.  Additionally, the waste produced to make RO (Reverse Osmosis) water is significant.  The chemicals used to activate the filter and the concentration of toxins in the unusable water is flushed right back into the lakes and streams that it's taken from.  Not only that but the empty plastic bottles are filling up the landfills at alarming rates.  There is even a guy that has used nylon mesh to hold together 250,000 empties, placed ply-wood on top of them added soil on top of that and has his own floating island.  Here is a website with his story - http://ecoble.com/2007/11/18/250000-bottles-amazing-recycled-mexican-island-paradise/

                The point is this.  Bottled water is bad for the environment on every level, the PCBs used to make the plastic is highly toxic, the caps and bottles that are left over is an absolute waste of resources, the runoff of the RO units making the water is polluting the remaining water sources, and lakes and rivers are drying up because of the companies that are shipping the bottled water all over the world which disrupts the natural global water vapor distribution.  Let's face it, city water is healthy, cheap, and better for the environment on many levels.

                Now that we understand the negatives of bottled water let's use the tap water that everyone one of us have access to. 

                Now let's compare that water resource to juice and diet sodas.

                Let's start with the diet sodas.  Taken from LiveStrong.com " Five artificial sweeteners have been tested and approved by the FDA as safe for consumption. They are acesulfame potassium, neotame, saccharin, sucralose and aspartame. Of these, only aspartame can be digested by the body, and all but neotame are used to make brand name grocery products. Diet sodas may contain more than one of these sweeteners. For example, Diet Pepsi contains acesulfame potassium, but Pepsi Max and Diet Sierra Mist have both acesulfame and aspartame. Pepsi One has acesulfame potassium and sucralose, as does Diet Montain Dew, which also contains aspartame." - Read more at: http://www.livestrong.com/article/408129-sweeteners-in-diet-sodas/#ixzz1z7AHktjy

                There have been many studies done on the ill effects of artificial sweeteners and in NY there is one that states that "if you drink one diet soda a day you increase your risk for a stroke or heart tack by 61%".  From a soda, just one per day!  -  This article can be found at: http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/health/Daily_diet_soda_tied_to_higher_heart_attack_risk-115659744.html

                The point?  Diet sweeteners are as dangerous and toxic as anything that we could ingest.  They are unnatural and our bodies are simply not designed to deal with these chemicals.  If you MUST have a soda, and I'll be the first to admit, I need to get my Mountain Dew on from time to time, go with one that is flavored with natural sugar, not corn syrup or the like.  Natural is ALWAYS better!

                Now let's look at juice.  When I mention juice, I am not talking about squeezing your own juice from your own organically raised fruits.  I'm talking about store bought juice, those from concentrate and those that are not from concentrate.

                All juice is pressed using a mechanical press.  In and of itself, no big deal.  However, the reality is that most juice is made from fruit that has already started rotting and is already on the ground.  Once the apples or oranges or whatever you're drinking is harvested from the trees/bushes, the fallen fruit is then gathered and processed into juice.  So straight away you are dealing with a subpar product where nutrition has already begun the degrading process.  Once pressed, the juice is placed in holding tanks for months on end.  While in storage, the juice continues to lose its nutritional value due to oxidation and temperature variance. 

                To keep the juice stable and to prevent it from fermenting an additive is added.  This additive is not on the list of ingredients.  Why?  Great question!  The FDA does not require it.  Why?  Another great question!  The FDA is made up of former agribusiness CEOs and they make the rules for their previous employers and business associates. 

                By the time the juice is deposited into the plastic bottles it is mixed with other batches of juice that has been stored for sometimes a year or longer.  This it is sent to your local grocery store and placed on a shelf that is berated with UV light until whatever nutritional value that remains is utterly depleted.

                So when we think of fruit juice, we normally think that it's healthy for us than water because of the antioxidants and nutrients.  Unfortunately, that is far from the truth.  Not only that, but there is so much sugar in juice that it contains hundreds more calories than you would imagine.  A single serving of orange juice contains 28 carbs, and over 110 calories not to mentions the additional sodium. 

                I'm not knocking juice entirely.  There are some decent organic stores that do carry good organic juice that is very good for you.  However, if you are thirsty for orange juice, eat an orange.  The pith is what contains most of the vitamin C and the fiber is great for your digestive tract.  All of which is lost in the pressing and storing process.

                At the end of the day, the human body is between 75% and 50% water (Depending on age, body mass and gender).  We are designed to consume water, not chemicals.  If you were to cut out all sodas, diet or regular, for 6 months, drink 1 serving of REAL fruit juice a day and 8, 8oz glasses of water per day, you'd be amazed at how much better you feel, how easily your body heals and loses weight.

                So, stop buying bottled water, stop buying the regular store juices, eat fresh fruit, and drink lots of water.  It's good you and the environment.

Chef Pat @ CFL