Got your attention, didn’t I? Parents and health experts are outraged by childhood obesity, but kids aren’t the only ones suffering. I do a lot of workplace wellness talks and I keep noticing that soda pop and other high-calorie, sugary drinks are the most readily available beverages in most offices. How many of you have soda machines, sugary coffee creamers and other unhealthy beverages within 20 feet of your desk? I see many more soda machines than water coolers and this really drives me nuts.
Scientific data show that consumption of one or more sugary soft drinks during the day increases the chance of developing Type 2 diabetes by 67%. Non-caloric, diet soft drinks are no better. Artificial sweeteners not only turn on the sweet tooth for the day, thereby increasing daily calorie intake, but research shows that regular consumption of artificial sweeteners increases the likelihood of developing the metabolic syndrome by 40%.
Reality is most employees spend all day sitting at a desk. They’re not exercising and chances are they’re drinking sugar all day, whether as coffee creamer, soda pop or lemonade, causing constant spiking and crashing of the blood sugar and increasing disease risk. Business owners and managers bring me in to talk about health and wellness in an effort to improve employee health, but also to improve health insurance costs. Bottom line is employers themselves need to do a better job of getting healthy beverages (we’ll talk snacks later) into the workplace and employees need to ask for them.
Here are some healthy options for workplace beverages:
- Water: Learn to drink water again. Everything does not have to be flavored.
- Tea and Coffee (limit caffeine after noon and avoid sweeteners)
- Sparkling waters (we like LaCroix, Mendota Springs and Ice Mountain)
- Have access to ice and a water cooler and provide cups – getting water needs to be as convenient as getting a can of soda pop (and providing it free of charge helps).
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Tags: coffee and tea health benefits, cola, healthy alternatives to pop, healthy beverages, healthy drinks if you don't like water, healthy soda alternatives, soda pop, unhealthy, what not to drink, what to drink
This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 8th, 2010 at 3:25 pm and is filed under Diet, Forever Young Diet & Lifestyle, Healthy Living tips, Joan O'Keefe, Nutrition 101, cardiotabs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
[...] are some healthy options: (reposted from my June 8 blog, “Free Soda Pop Today: At Your Child’s School.” -Water: Learn to drink water again. Everything does not have to be flavored. -Tea and Coffee (limit [...]