Anahad O’Connor, the New York Times short-answer man for questions about health and fitness, takes on the myth that sugary soft drinks can boost energy levels. Perhaps so, O’Connor tells us, but if they do, they don’t do it for long. The Times cites a recent study published in the journal Human
Psychopharmacology that gave group of healthy adults a 90-minute mental
test after eating a small lunch on various days. On some days, about
an hour after lunch, they drank a soft drink that had 42 grams of sugar
and about 30 to 40 milligrams of caffeine. On other days, they drank a
similarly flavored drink with no sugar or caffeine.The Times reports that with the
high-sugar drink, the subjects’ test scores were lower and they had
more delays in reaction time and lapses in attention. After a 15-minute
rush of energy, they became tired and less alert. Read more in the New York Times.
Health, fitness and lifestyle tips for people over 50 who still like to play hard
Saturday, May 31, 2025
People eat and drink sugar because they like it; all else is b.s. And anyone intelligent enough to tune into this board certainly reads labels and knows that sugar’s in practically all processed foods.
I say, if you’re going to eat candy, eat candy. (I’m headed down the hall to the office kitchen to the Hershey’s Kisses in the post-Halloween bowl….See ya later.)