It's Not What You Eat, It's What You Drink

When it comes to calorie intake, researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that liquid calorie intake has a stronger impact on weight gain (or loss) than solid calorie intake. As you might suspect sugar sweetened beverages are the leading source of liquid calories.

Consumption of liquid calories from beverages has increased in parallel with the obesity epidemic. Earlier studies by Bloomberg School researchers project that 75 percent of U.S. adults could be overweight or obese by 2015 and have linked the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages to the obesity epidemic, which affects two-thirds of adults and increases the risk for adverse health conditions such as type 2 diabetes.

“Among beverages, sugar-sweetened beverages was the only beverage type significantly associated with weight change at both the 6- and 18-month follow up periods,” said Liwei Chen, MD, PhD, MHS, lead author of the study and a Bloomberg School graduate.