Facts, Figures and Life’s Toughest Questions

Did you know?
“According to the research firm Productscan Online, the food industry introduced 2,225 sugarless or sugar-reduced products in the United States last year. This is more than double the amount of two years ago and represents 11 percent of all new products introduced in 2004.”
- Melanie Warner / The New York Times - May 2005

Do you know?
With so many “diet” products out there, why haven’t they come up with a low-calorie chocolate bar yet? Where are the good for you gummi bears? Who overlooked my zero-cal French fries? With all the innovation we are capable of these days, why are we focusing on making watermelons seedless and peppermints calorie-free? Do those foods even matter?!

Did you know?
Women generally have smaller stomachs and slower metabolisms than men of similar sizes.

Do you know?
How it’s possible that (hormonal excuses aside) I can eat an entire half-gallon of ice cream, yet my boyfriend can’t?

Did you know?
That birds eat quantities of food that are multiple times their body weight every day. Using energy at the rate of a hummingbird, a human would have to eat 340 pounds of potatoes every day.

Do you know?
How I can become a bird?

The Titanic of Soft Drinks

Learned some interesting info today during a Web search. Joel Achenbach of Washington Post fame explains how a can of Diet Coke floats in water, while a can of regular Coke sinks.

Wha-what?! Am I living in the Stone Age here? I never knew this. The wonders of diet soda never seem to cease…

So how does this seemingly miraculous event occur? Why I’m glad you asked! Allow me to share in Achenbach’s words:

“Not since Galileo dropped weights off the Leaning Tower of Pisa has an experiment proven so brilliant. Yes, the Diet Coke bobs right to the surface. Definitely the more buoyant of the two. We must note, though, that the Classic didn't exactly sink. It seemed to have trouble making up its mind whether it could float. (No doubt both cans were buoyed by the air pocket inside).

“The explanation from Coca-Cola: Diet Coke contains aspartame, which is less dense than sugar and also much sweeter, so less is needed. We would imagine that the second half of that is what really matters here. Aspartame is 200 times sweeter than sugar; if it takes 9 teaspoons of sugar (sucrose or high-fructose corn syrup) to sweeten a Coke, then it takes less than a 20th of a teaspoon of aspartame. Check out the ingredient label: There's less sweetener in a Diet Coke than there is caramel coloring. So the dissolved sugar make Classic denser than either water or Diet Coke. But if you drop both cans off a building simultaneously, they hit the ground at the same time. We'll take Galileo's word for it."

I’m going straight home and whipping out the old chemistry set and doing an experiment of my own! And by chemistry set, I mean a diet soft drink. And by “experiment,” I mean I’ll drink it. I just love science!

Lipo in a Can – Who Knew?!

Today’s inspiration comes from a Star Tribune (Minneapolis) writer named James Lileks. I’m impressed, because not only is he on to something, he’s not afraid to make people laugh while reading a (semi) major U.S. Daily.

We’re all familiar with diet soft drinks. It began with one-calorie varieties. But then someone decided, oooh… sorry just not diet enough! They eventually gave way to “zero” calorie options. As the author notes:

“You thought you were so cool, with your one-calorie drink, but little did you know that [someone] had managed to eliminate even the final, stubborn calorie, the one that always hung on the side of the can and wouldn't let go. You can almost imagine the moment they perfected the formula, and the lone calorie squirted out of the test tube like a watermelon seed…”

I mean, what can be less than zero? Before you go fact checking with your pre-Calculus teacher on the absolute values of calories in your diet sidekick (there’s a rumor I have mine on speed-dial), consider the future. The uncharted frontier! Forget curing cancer and solving the world’s energy crisis, this is what needs our devoted and immediate attention…

Are you ready for this?

Diet Minus-Forty. That’s right – the new era of diet soft drinks are not just “no-calorie” they are negative calorie -- “liposuction in a can.” Better than a trip to the gym, because you could get rid of 200 calories just by drinking 5 cans! And hey – that can be done at the office, while driving, even while sleeping if you’re lucky enough to have access to IV equipment.

I won’t be sharing the news with my current diet drinks that they may one day be replaced. I wouldn’t want them to become upset and leave me. But I’ll certainly continue holding on to a thin sliver of hope that maybe, just maybe, my future holds a soul mate that is more diet drink than anything I have known before. To cola infinity and beyond!

Hail to the Blue

So you think I’m a step behind the times just because I like the blue…

Well listen here buddy -- I’ll have you know that to me, blue is refreshing. It tastes better than the “other colors.” I may be a lot of things, but I am NOT old… yet. So I live alone, taking companionship from a cat. So what if I choose to wear the same brand of hairpins that my grandmother does. And who cares that I consider the Music Man a fine piece of musical theatre?

According to you I’m no rebel, nor am I trendy. But I’ll be damned if I’ll sit here and let you call me “behind the times.”

What am I ranting about you may ask? Apparently a Mr. De La Cruz that works with the Sun-Sentinel (in the retirement state of Florida of all places) thinks which sweetener people use says something about them: “You see, in my sugar-overcoated mind, I swear each sweetener has its own personality. Pink is old school. Blue used to be cool. But now yellow is the rule,” says De La Cruz.

Then he goes on to say: “For example, when I go into a restaurant and all they're offering are little pink Sweet 'N Low packets, I immediately recognize I'm dealing with a rebel establishment. A restaurant or coffee shop that's either too cheap, or too stubborn, to change. Either way, a rebel. Go into a bistro that offers only blue and you know you're dealing with a place that's a step behind the times. Yellow means they're actively trying to stay trendy.”

Yes I may begin a lot of stories with, “Back in my day…” but blue just tastes better in my coffee! It’s crisp and clean in my Starbucks dark roast. It’s refreshing in my southern sweet tea. And who are you to imply that I am uncool for not using Splenda? Ok fine… I admit it – I like aspartame! It tastes better in my drinks. And just because I don’t want to be like everyone else racing through the local coffee shop every morning, doesn’t mean I’m stuck thinking big bangs, stonewashed jeans and mullets are hip items.

However he did state one piece of truth in the entire article – “It's like anything else that's such an integral part of our lives. We take our pastel packets personally.”

You got that right buddy. Hail to the blue.

Yes… It Will Make Me Crazy

Since I scoffed at the news of the Texas study that suggests that diet soft drinks are making people more prone to gain weight… I’ve gotten some interesting feedback from some buddies of mine who read my blog, but are “above” publicly commenting on it. So instead they call me up and bug me while I’m trying to be a productive adult at work.

In a nutshell, they are telling me that with the “proof” of this research, it must mean that diet soft drinks do make people gain weight. They turn a deaf hear to my lecture of bad science vs. good science… the former describing the Texas study. When I defend my precious diet soda, they tell me it’s because I’m addicted.

So now they’ve accused me of twofold:
1) I need to seek help for my addiction – anyone know of an ATL chapter of diet drinkers anonymous?
2) If diet drinks make people gain weight… they must think I am looking pudgier lately.

I’ll have you know I have not gained ANY weight since leaving college! In fact, I have actually lost 5 lbs since graduating. Consider this me sticking my tongue out at them. Excuse me if I repeat myself with the following info, but calories are calories!! I drink diet drinks not because I am addicted, but because I can save calories from my overall diet. Also let me preface this by saying that I have no problems consuming sugar. I consume sugar throughout my day, and even consume full-calorie drinks every now and then. But on a regular basis I would rather consume a diet soda of zero calories, rather than a regular soda with 150 calories. It allows me to save the calories for other foods (ahem… beer) or allows me to create a calorie reduction if I so desire (to watch my girlish figure).

I am not addicted to diet drinks, rather, I enjoy them. When I began drinking wine, I did so because my parents drank it, and it was new and interesting. But now, as an adult, I have developed a palate for wine and truly enjoy the taste and texture that wine brings to dining experiences. When I began drinking diet drinks, it was so that I could save calories throughout my day. I knew I needed the nutrition in that banana or container of yogurt, so I “spent” my calories on nutritious foods and allowed myself the freebie of a zero-calorie drink. But again, I have truly come to enjoy the taste and refreshment of drinking diet drinks.

And another thing, I truly dropped seven pounds over the course of my senior year in college, with the only change in my diet and exercise regimen coming from switching to diet drinks as opposed to full-calorie ones. I was doing the same number of workouts, had the same number of rowing practices, was eating the same types of foods, and drinking the same amounts of beer as I had the year before. Granted, it may have been copious amounts of beer, but I digress.

Regardless, I still feel that Texas study is bunk… no matter how many times my friends feel the need to bug me while at work.

Diet Soft Drinks Won’t Make You Fat But This Talk Will Make Me Crazy

A recent story out of the University of Texas has been pushed into the diet and nutrition spotlight as of late. The researchers from Texas’s Health Science Center presented their findings at the annual scientific meeting of the American Diabetes Association. The findings suggest that drinking diet soda in middle age increases a person’s chance of gaining weight.

However, when most people read that sentence all they will read is this: “drinking diet soda will make you fat.”

And when I read that all I see is this: “There are a lot of ridiculous presumptions in this world.”

Correlation is distinctly different from causation. Confusing the two can be very dangerous, especially when people take information and assume there is cause and effect involved, when the two variables simply happen to co-exist. I was born on the coldest day in recorded Atlanta history. However, I was born because I had come to full term, not because of the weather. No doubt the two events are correlated, as in the variables do happen to coexist. But there is no cause and effect relationship there.

Just because someone drinks diet soft drinks and gains weight does not mean that the weight gain is caused by drinking diet soft drinks. Perhaps it wasn’t the diet soda… perhaps it was the huge hamburger and large order of fries ordered with the diet soda and eaten 5 times a week that is to blame. This study does not take into account or control for the other foods the participants ate or how many overall calories were consumed.

Eating more calories than your body needs to perform daily activities is what makes you gain weight. Case closed. Honestly… how can we gain weight from something that doesn’t have calories? We consume too many calories and/or we don’t exercise enough. We have a love affair with food. I am guilty just like the rest of you… but own up to it! Don’t blame it on diet soft drinks as an easy way out, as a scapegoat, as an excuse. This is McCarthyism at its finest.

London Bombing

Explosions rocked through London this morning. Reports are still coming in, and the only sure thing is that no one knows for sure. Well at least those below optimum level security clearance. However there is great speculation the blasts are the work of terrorists... possibly Al-Qaida... and are connected to the G8 Summit in Scotland.

And all of this happening in the wake of London's winning Olympic bid and a Summit meeting that should act as a forum for solutions and peace.

My heart goes out to those involved... and the as of yet unnamed victims, currently confirmed at 33 dead and over a hundred wounded. But moreso, this makes me very angry. I will never understand the complete disregard for the sanctity of human life. It is a horrible feeling -- that of powerlessness against certain evils in the world.

We have been here before, we will be here again. In the meantime, my best to you, Mr. Blair, in handling this situation in your homeland.

This is so depressing. I think I'll need to head out with coworkers for Mexican lunch to cheer up.

Finished!

I made it! Finished the Peachtree in about 49:00 mins... even on only 4 hours of sleep. It was a faster clip than I was planning on, but my buddy that I was running with was in a mood to get moving. I was expecting to jog it easily, but we pushed it just a tad through the hilly course. Another buddy of mine actually finished #213 out of 55,000 runners. Wow. Just a bit humbling. :o)

We were all welcomed to the finish line with a t-shirt, bottled water, free powerbars, powerade and coke zero. Nice. Though I will admit... after running through all that heat and humidity, especially at a faster pace than I was expecting, I pretty much stuck with water afterwards.

Finished off the day with food, drinks, friends, a WINNING Braves game and spectacular fireworks.

Had a great time, and a great Fourth!

Celebrate the 4th - 10k Style

So here it is once again... time for my annual jog through the city that I have called home for 23 years. This coming Monday, July 4th, I will participate in the 36th Peachtree Road Race, running 6.2 miles through the ATL from Lenox mall to Piedmont Park.

People ask me why I choose to get up at 5am on a holiday every year and go sweat and struggle through a course made difficult by the intense hills, heat and humidity, and throngs of other race participants...

[from the PRR Web site]
"Not one of the runners who drifted up to Sears for the inaugural run in 1970 could have foreseen he would be among the founding fathers of an event which would, 31 years later, attract 60,000 applications on the day it opened, four months before the event itself. Nor would have they foreseen the 150,000 spectators, the scores of elite runners from around the world, and the three hours of live coverage on TV. One thing they would have understood, however, is how the race represents Atlanta. In 1970, it was a gathering of people from all parts of the City coming together to enjoy their sport and celebrate Independence Day. It still is."

July 4th is the Peachtree RR for me. I run it to see amazing male and female athletes who have no legs overcome adversity and cover the course in the wheelchair division. I run it to hear the Chariots of Fire theme song blasting from an elderly man's boombox as I near mile 2. I run the Peachtree to see the groups of Marines in uniform running with the American Flag. I run it because there are men and women stationed in Irag, Kuwait and Afghanistan running their own version of the Peachtree because they can't be home in Atlanta to do so. I run it because what other opportunity will I have to run through a sprinkler of holy water to cool off?

Oh yeah... and when I'm finished, I get a coveted t-shirt and free Diet Coke!

See you guys Monday morning... with 54,999 of my closest friends.