In all of my years as a health professional, teacher and consultant,  I’ve been telling patients, clients and students the same thing about what to drink.  It’s really simple. Drink water.

As a dentist in private practice, I worked hard to convince parents of young toddlers to stay away from juice and drink water instead. Some of those toddlers were already hooked on juice, I supported those parents in making serial dilutions until their kids were drinking 100% water. Without a doubt, water is the  best drink for their teeth and for their bodies. I worked to convince the pediatricians in my community to stop recommending juice for toddlers. There is absolutely no health benefit gained by drinking juice. It creates a  sweet tooth and can be the catalyst for picky eating behaviors.

As a nutritionist and school food advocate, I’ve given many presentations that make the argument against soda, diet soda, sports drinks, “flavored waters” and juice. None of these products are good for our kids teeth, minds or waistlines. Water is the best drink for students.

Two giant multinational corporations, Coke and Pepsi, have shifted from just selling brown colored sugar water over the years. Coca Cola now own brands like  Minute Maid, Capri Sun, HiC, Nestea, Monster Energy, Odwalla, Powerade, Vitamin Water.  Pepsi owns Tropicana, Gatorade, Izze, Propel Fitness Water, SoBe.

I’m betting that you’ve seen some or all of these brands in your child’s school cafeteria or in your local market.  You may have been tricked into buying these products. They are heavily  promoted as “healthier for you” beverages. I wish they were healthier, but they really are not! My mom switched to “light” cigarettes in the 1970′s. Mom, along with millions of other smokers, thought light cigs were “healthier” for her than the full strength ones. It seems like the beverage companies are playing the same game.

Water is the best drink to drink. Eat fruit, drink water. Contrary to what you might believe there is no health benefit in drinking fruit juice. Pediatric endocrinologist, Robert Lustig, MD makes this point very clear by demonstrating that fructose is toxic in large quantities, because it is metabolized in the liver in the same way as alcohol, which drives fat storage and makes the brain think it is hungry.

As the years have gone by, I’ve learned more and more about the environmental impact of what we eat and drink. It should be no surprise that if something is harmful for the environment, its harmful to human health as well. After all, we are all connected.

When considering the bigger picture, the planet we’re living on, we’ve got to think beyond the drink and consider the container.  It’s time to take a stand against bottled water.  Movies like Flow and Tapped explain why we need to be concerned about this issue. Today Annie Leonard released a simple 8 minute movie, The Story of Bottled Water that tells it like it is.  Have a look:

Last night while most of the country was watching the Super Bowl, I was learning about fructose metabolism. A lecture by Dr. Robert Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist held my attention for over 90 minutes as he explained how fructose, present in both fruit juice and most soda can act as a poison in our livers. This revelation makes loads of sense to me, both personally and professionally.

Since the popularity of Atkins and South Beach diets, many of us have understood how refined carbohydrates can lead to high trigylcerides and fat accumulation. But many nutritionists and health professionals  continue to believe that  a calorie is a calorie and all sugars act the same in the body.  Dr. Lustig proceeded to blast those theories out of the sky with his lecture, demonstrating that fructose metabolism is eerily similar to alcohol metabolism in the liver.

High levels of fructose do not just appear in our diets in the form of High Fructose Corn Syrup. Most people, with the exception of employees of Coke and Pepsi, now agree that our increased soda consumption plays a role in the obesity epidemic.  Fructose is also abundantly present in fruit juices, which have been promoted as a healthy beverage since the Nixon administration.

According to Dr. Lustig, fructose acts as a toxin in the liver resulting in a non alcoholic fatty liver and leads to gout and hypertension by creating excess uric acid. Not only are we seeing fat kids, we have increased incidence of hypertension and gout in young patients. Bottom line: we were never meant to be able to metabolize these abnormally high amounts of fructose.  By eliminating all forms of sugary beverages and adopting a water or milk only strategy, you can be on your way to reversing weight gain and other metabolic damage.

It will be very hard to pull fruit juice out of schools, now that the soda industry owns brands like Tropicana (Pepsi) and Minute Maid (Coca Cola), but after watching this lecture, many will agree its an important next step. Personally, I’ve never been a fan of juice thanks to the damage I’ve seen it create in children’s teeth. I’ve always advised parents to eat the fruit instead to get the entire benefit that Mother Nature intended: fiber, micronutrients all in the right proportions.

Don’t take my word for it. Watch this lecture yourself and see if you start to re-think your drinks. Warning: some complex biochemistry will be shown, that a science nerd like me loves. Just breathe and go with it, you’ll be glad you did!

photo ©Nancie Battaglia

Bill McKibben is one of my heroes. He’s an author, educator and environmentalist who has done more than just about anyone I know to engage and inspire people to take a stand on climate change.   The world has tapped Bill for a big mission and he has stepped up beautifully. Thanks to Bill,   350.org has become a world wide phenomenon.  (If you don’t already know why 350 is the most important number on the planet, then click here to learn more.)

This guy is a powerful writer. After reading Deep Economy , my world view changed dramatically. His words hit me deep in my gut that we’ve got to change the way we’re doing things.  I’m currently reading The End of Nature (written back in 1998) as part of  a book group on Food & Capitalism.

Yesterday he wrote a very moving post, No Time for Tears in Copenhagen but the last paragraph caused me to see red.

So no more tears. Not now, not while there’s work to be done. Pass the Diet Coke, fire up the laptop, grab the cellphone. To work. We may not have done enough, but we’re going to do all we can.

Do you see the red I’m talking about? My green hero drinks Diet Coke. The Coca Cola corporation, known for it’s red containers filled with colored sugar water, has been working non stop lately to portray itself as a green company.  The products that this multinational corporation sells are not good for our health or the health of our planet.

Coke and Diet Coke negatively impact your health. Here are a few ways:

High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has been correlated with obesity, high triglyceride levels which in turn impact LDL cholesterol. HFCS also decreases your feelings of fullness, so you’re more likely to eat and drink more.

Phosphoric acid found in soda tends to leach calcium from bones which results in decreased bone density. It’s acidic pH also accelerates tooth decay.

Aspartame is an artificial sweetener found in Diet Coke what has been linked to some significant health issues including migraine headache, ADHD, vertigo and even brain tumors. This chemical creates sweet cravings and many people have found it to be addictive.

In addition to being hazardous to your health, Coca Cola wrecks havoc on the environment, not just here in the US but around the world.  Mark Thomas’s book, Belching Out the Devil illustrates the real story behind Coca Cola. I highly recommend this book for further reading on Coca Colas misdeeds globally.

Let’s take a peek at the environmental impact of a few ingredients in a can of Coke

Corn grown for High Fructose Corn Syrup requires loads of  petrochemical derived fertilizer and pesticides. Nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas 200 times more damaging than CO2, is liberated when those fertilizers are used.  Let’s not forget the dead zone resulting from fertilizer runoff in the Gulf of Mexico. Watch King Corn and Big River to learn more about this.

Aluminum cans require a huge amount of energy to create. While recycling is great and saves energy, less than one third of all aluminum cans come from recycled sources.

Water is 99% of Coca Cola’s product. This corporation has  gone all out to manufacture an image of itself as a global leader in water conservation. The water that goes into making soda comes from streams and aquifers. This water could be better used to irrigate sustainable agriculture or to hydrate thirsty people around the globe.  Also think for a minute about all that water that we are trucking  around in those big red Coca Cola trucks,  burning oil and creating exhaust that is adding more carbon into our atmosphere.

Bill, please re-think your drink! Your health is important, we all need you in tip top shape.  I’m sure you need some caffeine, after all, you’re working tirelessly to turn 350ppm CO2 into something as instantly recognizable as a Coca Cola logo.  But how about some green tea instead? In addition to a caffeniated boost, you’ll benefit from anti-oxidants. Tea bags are very portable, you just pop them in your re-usable stainless steel tea mug and add water. You can even enjoy it cold or room temperature.

Switching from soda to tea is a simple green strategy, one that we all can do, that will help to make the world a better place.