Almost an entire month has passed since our final dunk for the Nutrition Challenge. While I’d love to wrap things up and announce winners, I want to give one last chance to those who have not yet submitted essays to me. Honestly, I’m a little disappointed in the poor turnout for this final hurdle. You’ve already done the hard work, been dunked twice, gutted through the benchmark workouts and earned some PRs, so why not cross that finish line? I will allow essays to be submitted through this Friday, June 14th. This is your last chance!

Following on the heels of my post last week about sweeteners, today I want to mention a few recent studies about diet soda. This beverage creeps its way into many otherwise relatively “clean” eaters’ intake via an alcoholic mixer or a quick fix for a sugar craving. Others may prefer the caffeine hit from a soft drink to coffee or just have a lingering soda habit and have been lazy about trying to switch to drinking water during the day.

The first study showed that the acids in diet soda can be as harmful to the enamel of your teeth as meth or crack cocaine! From the article:

The study referenced a woman in her 30s who drank 2 liters of diet soda every day for three to five years.   When her teeth were compared to a 29-year-old methamphetamine addict and a 51-year-old crack cocaine user, the levels of tooth rot and decay were very similar.

The next study demonstrates how even artificial sweeteners can potentially mess with your hormones in a bad way. Take a look at a study out of France that showed:

Both diet and sugar-sweetened beverage consumption was linked with a higher risk of developing diabetes, researchers found. But interestingly enough, when comparing diabetes risk between the diet soda drinkers and regular soda drinkers, the diet drinkers had an even higher risk of diabetes.

The article points out that you should keep in mind, this is merely correlation and not causation. However, the findings are definitely thought-provoking.

Reminder: Tonight at 11pm is the deadline for J&J Grassfed Beef orders for the month of June. Don’t be left out!

WOD 06.12.13

Deadlift 1×5

3 rounds, not for time:

• 3 Push Presses
• 5 Good Mornings
• 10 Front Squats

(use the same weight for all three)