2011-02-12&02-14 无糖汽水会致死？

The headlines this morning about a new study that says drinking diet soda¹ could be dangerous to your health. The study links diet soda to a 61% higher risk of heart attacks and strokes for people that drink it daily. Dr. Richard Besser is here and get a little bit of reality check because this is concerning for a lot of people. Should it be?

Well, you know, Robin², when I see a bad study out there, I usually say let’s not talk about it but when it captures headlines, it’s worth doing a reality check and I have to say this is one of the worst studies I’ve seen capturing headlines in a long time. It’s bad because of the science but it’s also bad because of the behavior that it can induce the fear that people have. I don’t think people should change behavior based on this study.

But this was presented at a major conference. We’re talking about the American Heart Association and the Stroke Association, so when that is associated with that, you…

That’s right. Let me tell you what they did here. They followed 2500 people over a long period of time but there were only 8% of them, a couple of hundred people who drink diet sodas³ every day. They asked about diet soda intake⁴ at the beginning of the study and then followed them for a decade and assumed that their behavior, the amount of soda they drink didn’t change. They didn’t look at how much salt they took in. They didn’t look at what other foods they ate. Those things we know are associated with stroke and heart attack. They didn’t even look at obesity⁵ over time. And so they can conclude from this. That it’s all from the diet soda just makes no sense whatsoever⁶. Now at a meeting, you know, national meetings are different than what’s published in a journal. A meeting is a place for scientists to talk about things, to talk about studies that are in their works. But what I’m finding over time is that there tends to be a desire to capture those headlines. So you see sensational⁷ things like this you know they just go wild coming out of a meeting.

Well, it certainly did capture our attention and it really did grab headlines, so give us the bottom line when it comes to our consumption of diet, because you know so many people this morning as we’ve been saying instead of a cup of coffee they are having a diet soda.

They are. Well, you know, first off, I’m not a big soda fan. The regular soda is worse. We know it’s linked to obesity. Diet soda is better than that because it doesn’t give those calories, but if you are drinking a lot of diet soda, it’s so sweet you are gonna crave⁸ that kind of sweet, develop you know a love for those sweets. You know the subtle sweetness of a carrot or tomato really won’t stand up to that really intense sweetness of a diet soda, so I think if you are gonna do it you know one a week, that’s not a big deal, but it’s not… (one a week?) Well, okay, maybe a little more than one a week, but you don’t wanna be having five or six in a day. (Well, okay.) You know, try and move towards those unsweetened beverages⁹, the plain water, carbonated water, unsweetened tea. You can add some lemons, some lime, jasmin. I’d love to hear from people what their favorite unsweetened beverages are.

And is there any difference… since George is asking about this ‘cause you see if I didn’t know there was a diet ginger¹⁰ ale, I won't try it, but if it’s a cola, uncola, if it’s a diet drink, is it all the same?

Well, what you may find a difference with some of those is whether or not they’ve got a lot of caffeine and you know the big caffeine joe that you will get from a lot of diet sodas. And you won’t get that with the diet ginger ale. So that’s a benefit there.

Ok, Rich. Thanks. I like your ideas. People should kind of weigh in and let us know they have a substitute for diet soda.

Yeah, send it to me on twitter Dr. Richard Besser.

Oh, there he goes again. He’s always looking for followers¹¹. Alright. Rich. Thanks.

1 soda   

n.苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
• I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。

2 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

3 sodas   

n.苏打( soda的名词复数 )；碱；苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• There are plenty of sodas in the refrigerator. 冰箱里有很多碳酸饮料。 来自辞典例句
• Two whisky and sodas, please. 请来两杯威士忌苏打。 来自辞典例句

4 intake   

n.吸入，纳入；进气口，入口

参考例句：

• Reduce your salt intake.减少盐的摄入量。
• There was a horrified intake of breath from every child.所有的孩子都害怕地倒抽了一口凉气。

5 obesity   

n.肥胖，肥大

参考例句：

• One effect of overeating may be obesity.吃得过多能导致肥胖。
• Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。

6 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

7 sensational   

adj.使人感动的，非常好的，轰动的，耸人听闻的

参考例句：

• Papers of this kind are full of sensational news reports.这类报纸满是耸人听闻的新闻报道。
• Their performance was sensational.他们的演出妙极了。

8 crave   

vt.渴望得到，迫切需要，恳求，请求

参考例句：

• Many young children crave attention.许多小孩子渴望得到关心。
• You may be craving for some fresh air.你可能很想呼吸呼吸新鲜空气。

9 beverages   

n.饮料( beverage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• laws governing the sale of alcoholic beverages 控制酒类销售的法规
• regulations governing the sale of alcoholic beverages 含酒精饮料的销售管理条例

10 ginger   

n.姜，精力，淡赤黄色；adj.淡赤黄色的；vt.使活泼，使有生气

参考例句：

• There is no ginger in the young man.这个年轻人没有精神。
• Ginger shall be hot in the mouth.生姜吃到嘴里总是辣的。

11 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。