1. Obesity. Regular consumption of soft drinks make you fat. A 12 oz Coke a day for a year will add 18 pounds to your weight compared to water consumption!

2. Tooth decay. Slowly sipping on cola, iced tea, or a sports drink coats your teeth with sugar, phosphoric acid, malic acid and/or citric acid. These compounds directly damage tooth enamel.

3. Money. A family of 4 can save $150 by switching to tap water.

4. Taste. Soft drinks diminish the taste of food. Of course, if you define food as a quickie meal at Taco Bell, there’s not much to detract from, but eat a decently perepared meal at home or at a good sit down restaurant, and you will not want to spoil the taste with sugary water. Better have the sommelier pair a good wine with your steak.

5. Refined Sugars. High fructose corn syrup (or sugar) is the usually the #2 ingredient after water in soft drinks. For example, a standard single serve 12fl oz can of Coca Cola has the equivalent of 10 teaspoons of sugar! If you drink one Coke a day for a year instead of water you’ll have had 32 pounds of sugar!

6. Artificial sweeteners. OK, the FDA has approved them all, but enough studies have suggested that some artificial sweeteners may cause cancer. Until the scientists sort this out, why take the risk? The UK isn’t taking any.

7. Artificial Colors. Yellow #5 (Tartrazine), present in Mountain Dew, has been linked to hyperactivity in children.

8. Ecology. Billions of empty plastic bottles and cans are contaminating the earth. Recycling barely touches the tip of the iceberg.

If you’ve taken a college psychology course or have any interest in personality, you’ve more than likely come across the term “Big Five” personality dimensions or personality traits. These have been gathered through the result of decades’ worth of psychological research into personality. While they don’t capture the idiosyncrasies of everyone’s personality, it is a theoretical framework in which to understand general components of our personality that seem to be the most important in our social and interpersonal interactions with others.

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Orange juice is no better for you than soda pop. So say a growing number of health professionals, who are trying to undo more than half a century of consumer mindshare captured by the citrus industry. A fascinating article in the LA Times brings us the “juicy” details:

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We’ve all heard the excuse from people who are carrying around a little extra weight: it’s my metabolism!

But can this be true? Can difficulty losing weight really be due to a slower-than-average metabolism? And are there legit ways to get a faster metabolism? Yes! Here are some medically-proven tips to speed up your metabolism:

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