By: Royd Guyon
Have you ever wondered what is the nutritional value of a can of soda? A single can have 39 grams of sugar. For reference, a person should consume less than 40 grams of sugar every day. All the food we eat is also converted to glucose, a simple sugar, which our body uses to produce energy. All the extra sugar that we are unable to use is converted to fat and stored in the liver and muscles. Each can of soda has 140 calories and it will take15 minutes of intense workout to get rid of the calories. Sweetened drinks also make a person eat more. It is one of the reasons why it’s mostly offered as a drink when dining in some fast-food restaurants.
Knowing these nutrition facts about soda, we must be aware of the health risk that it causes to our health. Sweetened drinks like soda can cause obesity and diabetes. According to the World Health Organization, there are 412 million people worldwide who have diabetes. The good news is that it can be prevented. Having a healthy lifestyle, choosing not to eat unhealthy food or sweetened drinks and engaging in regular exercise can do the trick. Cristiano Ronaldo pointed this out in one of his interviews when he said, “Drink water, not soda”.
References
- Guideline: Sugars intake for adults and children. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2015 (http://apps.who.int/iris/ bitstream/10665/149782/1/9789241549028_eng.pdf).
- https://www.who.int/health-topics/diabetes
- https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/drink-water-ronaldo-removes-coca-cola-bottles-euro-press-conference-2021-06-15/