An Expert Voice on Beverages and Human Health

As a nutrition professor with a Ph.D. in economics, Barry M. Popkin offers an unusual perspective on the factors that influence diet, exercise, and obesity.

Water and Health

Water is the healthiest option we have for the bulk of our beverage intake. There are also important benefits from consuming some other beverages such as low-fat milk, but water is the major beverage of preference. Water reduces the energy density of the overall diet and essentially replaces excessive calories consumed from other beverages.

Global caloric-sweetening of the diet, mainly from sweetened beverages

In the past 25 years, the world’s diet shifted markedly. One critical change is the increase in consumption of caloric sweeteners, particularly in beverages and especially carbonated soft drinks. For instance, in the USA during the past 40 years, the average energy from beverages has increased by 226 calories daily, 152 of which have come from calorically-sweetened beverages. Similar changes are seen in countries as diverse as Mexico, Australia, the United Kingdom, and many other countries throughout the globe.

Historical shift in the caloric contribution of beverages

Beverages have very weak satiety properties. Dozens of studies of appetitive sensations (e.g., hunger, fullness, prospective consumption) show that whether one drinks water, milk, soft drinks or other sugared drinks, or alcohol, there is virtually no reduction in the amount of food consumed. In modern times, higher calorie beverages have progressively replaced the water that was the basic source of hydration for humans for 200’000 years, thereby contributing to the increase in total calorie intake.

Beverage Guidance Panel assessment

The USA Beverage Guidance Panel systematically reviewed the literature on beverages and health to provide guidance to the scientific community and to consumers. The panel ranked beverages for persons aged 6 and older, and listed water as the most recommended beverage.

Barry Popkin From 20% to 100% of each person’s beverage needs can come from water. Water is necessary for metabolism, normal physiological function, and may provide essential minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and fluoride. Acute dehydration results in impaired cognition, moodiness, poor thermoregulation, reduced cardiovascular function, and impaired physical work capacity. Recent research has shown that having an increased proportion of beverages from water is linked to reduced energy intake, along with significant body weight and body fat reductions.