WEBVTT - How much sugar do they really put in soda?

0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:03.800
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff from house stuff works dot com where

0:00:03.840 --> 0:00:15.160
<v Speaker 1>smart happens. Hi. I'm Marshall Brain with today's question, how

0:00:15.240 --> 0:00:19.000
<v Speaker 1>much sugar do they really put in soft drinks? This

0:00:19.079 --> 0:00:21.919
<v Speaker 1>question actually came in through email and it goes like this.

0:00:22.480 --> 0:00:25.840
<v Speaker 1>My friend and I are having a debate about soft drinks.

0:00:26.160 --> 0:00:29.320
<v Speaker 1>He claims that there are five or six teaspoons of

0:00:29.480 --> 0:00:32.159
<v Speaker 1>sugar in a soft drink, and I cannot see how

0:00:32.200 --> 0:00:35.479
<v Speaker 1>that is possible. No one, for example, puts five or

0:00:35.479 --> 0:00:37.839
<v Speaker 1>six teaspoons of sugar in a glass of iced tea

0:00:37.920 --> 0:00:41.080
<v Speaker 1>or a cup of coffee. It wouldn't even dissolve who

0:00:41.200 --> 0:00:45.159
<v Speaker 1>is right. This is hard to believe, but neither of

0:00:45.200 --> 0:00:49.360
<v Speaker 1>you is right. There's actually more sugar than your friends suggests.

0:00:49.400 --> 0:00:52.080
<v Speaker 1>Here are two ways to prove it to yourself. The

0:00:52.120 --> 0:00:55.680
<v Speaker 1>first way is to buy a packet of unsweetened soft

0:00:55.800 --> 0:00:59.400
<v Speaker 1>drink mixed like kool aid. They kind of add sugar too.

0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:03.160
<v Speaker 1>When you're making it, you'll be instructed to add one

0:01:03.240 --> 0:01:06.319
<v Speaker 1>cup of sugar and enough water to make two quarts

0:01:06.480 --> 0:01:09.520
<v Speaker 1>or sixty four ounces of kool aid. A cup of

0:01:09.560 --> 0:01:14.520
<v Speaker 1>sugar contains forty eight teaspoons of sugar. Therefore, a sixteen

0:01:14.560 --> 0:01:18.520
<v Speaker 1>ounce serving of one of these beverages contains twelve teaspoons

0:01:18.520 --> 0:01:21.119
<v Speaker 1>of sugar. For those of you on the metric system,

0:01:21.200 --> 0:01:24.039
<v Speaker 1>that's about fifty grams of sugar and half a liter.

0:01:24.360 --> 0:01:26.240
<v Speaker 1>The other way to prove it is to look at

0:01:26.240 --> 0:01:30.000
<v Speaker 1>the calorie count on any soft drink container. For example,

0:01:30.000 --> 0:01:33.920
<v Speaker 1>a typical carbonated soft drink will have two calories in

0:01:33.959 --> 0:01:38.200
<v Speaker 1>a sixteen ounce serving. All those calories come from sugar,

0:01:38.560 --> 0:01:43.560
<v Speaker 1>and sugar contains sixteen calories per teaspoon. By this measurement,

0:01:43.600 --> 0:01:47.080
<v Speaker 1>a sixteen ounce serving contains twelve and a half teaspoons

0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:50.080
<v Speaker 1>of sugar. So go down to the kitchen and get

0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:53.680
<v Speaker 1>out a sixteen ounce glass, a tea spoon, and some sugar.

0:01:54.320 --> 0:01:57.640
<v Speaker 1>Measured twelve teaspoons of sugar into the glass, it's an

0:01:57.680 --> 0:02:01.880
<v Speaker 1>amazing amount. Then multiply that by however many SODA's you

0:02:01.960 --> 0:02:05.200
<v Speaker 1>typically drink in a day. That's how much sugar you're

0:02:05.240 --> 0:02:09.200
<v Speaker 1>consuming through soft drinks. Do you have any ideas or

0:02:09.200 --> 0:02:12.400
<v Speaker 1>suggestions for this podcast? If so, please send me an

0:02:12.400 --> 0:02:15.680
<v Speaker 1>email at podcast at how stuff works dot com. For

0:02:15.760 --> 0:02:18.040
<v Speaker 1>more on this and thousands of other topics, go to

0:02:18.080 --> 0:02:21.000
<v Speaker 1>how stuff works dot com and be sure to check

0:02:21.000 --> 0:02:23.360
<v Speaker 1>out the brain Stuff blog on the how stuff works

0:02:23.360 --> 0:02:24.359
<v Speaker 1>dot com home page