[rant]
Diet. What an ugly word. For me, it conjures up images of painfully obese people being served comically small portions of something green and unidentifiable on tiny plates, and too-thin women in their 40s lifting weights and running on treadmills until they pass out. Oh, and of course, Diet Soda. Yes ladies and gentlemen, "diet" in my mind will always be inextricably tied to diet soda. This link has in some ways penetrated our entire culture; next time you go to a restaurant, ask for a diet. You won't get a doctor or nutritionist who sits down at your table and discusses your nutritional needs and goals. Hell, you won't even get a can of Slim-Fast. Instead, I guarantee your waitress will bring you a tall, cold glass of Diet Coke (unless you're north of the Mason-Dixon line, in which case it could be Diet Pepsi).
Blegh.
Now, I could spend the next three hours writing a post about how Diet Soda is terrible, it's killing us, it's making us fatter, it's turning our children into communists, whatever. If you don't believe that Diet Soda is inherently bad for you, nothing I have to say will change your mind. Let's instead assume that there are BETTER beverage choices on the market (because boy howdy, are there ever!). Instead of quitting Diet Soda cold turkey, what if we just substituted it for something else? Something that has proven health benefits? If I can make this simple switch, and not kill anyone from withdrawal effects, then maybe it's worth pursuing.
[/rant]
Ahem. Sorry about that. ^_^ I'd like to take some time and explain some of the benefits of my favorite non-carbonated beverages, and I'll be breaking it up into a few pieces to aid in digestion. If you have any requests, comments, or suggestions, please feel free to share with the class!
And now without further ado, here are my favorite things to drink!
#4: Coffee
Seriously? Coffee is health food? But what about all of the caffeine and the sugar and cream and fat and everything else that comes in a Iced Peppermint White Mocha from Starbucks? (for only 700 calories!)
Ok, let's be reasonable. Let's assume for the sake of this post that if you put crap in the cup, it doesn't matter what was in the cup to start will, you'll be drinking crap. Let's also assume this corollary: too much of anything is bad. It's obvious how too much caffeine can be bad, between the headaches and the jitters and the heart palpitations, but even too much water can be deadly (really! check out water intoxication, the bane of raver kiddies everywhere).
That being said, an interesting article on WebMD points out that there are some promising positive links between coffee consumption and lower incidences of:
type II diabetes
Parkinson's disease
dementia
certain cancers
heart disease
stroke
Not only this, but most Americans get the majority of their daily antioxidants from their morning pick-me-up! Now, it's worth noting that that article states that no official studies have been performed to test these links, and that this data was based on current levels of coffee consumption in those surveyed. However, it doesn't seem to make much of a difference whether or not the coffee was caffeinated. For those of you (like me!) that love a cup of decaf right before bed, this is exciting news!
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