We established in earlier blogs that commuting by bicycle is energy and time efficient. 

But just how safe is it?

According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Association (NHTSA), bicyclist deaths accounted for two percent of all traffic fatalities and traffic injuries in 2006. That translates to 773 deaths and 44,000 people injured that year. Clearly, bicycle riding has some risk. But so does being sedentary.

You can maximize your calorie burning and health benefits by regularly using your bike to get to work. Learn how to minimize your injury risks at www.bicyclinginfo.org. Also, www.commutebybike.com offers a wealth of information including how to get started (“Commuting 101”), articles, bike reviews, and a really cool gas savings calculator.

Another great resource is a bikeability checklist from NHTSA.  You rate your local area on things like intersections, surfaces, and driver behavior.  If you end up with a low bikeability score, you can move to one of these top 10 bikeable cities.  Or you can follow the recommendations given on the checklist for actions you and others can take to advocate for improving the bikeability in your community. 

The picture at the top of this blog at the central train station in Amsterdam.  Obviously the Dutch are big into bike commuting.  Is your local area bike commuter friendly?

In an earlier blog posting, we described the energy efficiency of biking instead of driving a car.  But what about time efficiency?  Here’s a fun video clip that pits a bike, a car, and mass transit against each other in a New York City commute.   Guess who gets to the destination first? 

In addition to saving time and the environment, commuting by bike helps the body burn more calories which is essential for effective weight management.  Of course, you know that there a gazillions health benefits associated with regular exercise and fitness. 

Is your local area fit for bike commuting?  Check back for the next blog entry to see how to make bicycle commuting easy and safe in your community.

We queried readers in the last blog for ideas on how to reduce excess daily calories from sweetened beverages such as soda, fruit drinks, and sweetened tea and coffee. “Switch to diet versions of these products” would be a logical answer, right? Well, it may be logical but it appears not to be accurate.

In a study published in the December 2007 issue of the Obesity, researchers reported that in a weight loss study of 118 overweight women, replacing sweetened caloric beverages with drinking water was associated with an average decrease of about 200 calories per day. In the statistical models used to test this study’s data, replacing sweetened caloric beverages with diet beverages did not yield the same caloric reduction.

Huh? This counterintuitive finding likely occurred because the women who used diet drinks compensated for the reduced beverage calorie intake by getting more calories from solid food. Not so for the women who drank water instead of sweetened caloric drinks. Though not fully understood, it may be because diet beverages actually stimulate appetite whereas water does not.

Bottomline:  If you want a simple way to cut out excess calories in your diet, drop the pop (and sweetened tea, coffee, and fruit drinks), ditch the diet drinks, and reach for a big glass of clear, refreshing water. 

“I don’t know why I am gaining weight.  I haven’t changed what I eat” is something we hear a lot. And in fact, a person may NOT have changed what they are eating. But what about what they are drinking?

New research from the University of North Carolina shows that in 2002, American got 222 more calories from beverages than in 1965. Over the same period, calories from all other foods actually decreased slightly. So the nearly 200 calorie increase in total daily calories observed between 1965 and 2002 can be attributed mostly to the increase in beverage calorie intake. Not surprisingly, the researchers showed that the proportion of total daily calories from beverages increased from only 12% 1965 to 21% in 2002. And, almost one-third of Americans in 2002 were “drinking” 25% or more of their daily calorie intake. That’s nearly double the rate measured in 1965.

This dramatic increase in total calories from beverages is startling.  Especially in a land with an overweight and obesity epidemic. But what is really alarming is where those extra calories came from. Sweetened beverages* (regular soda, fruit drinks, sweetened tea and coffee, and other sweetened beverages) increased by 153 calories. These beverages are not good sources of nutrients, i.e., they're “empty calories.” Beverages containing nutrients (100% fruit juice, milk) only increased by 45 calories. 

So how did we find ourselves in this predicament? Sweetened beverages are:

• cheap. All it takes is water, sugar or some other sweetener such as high fructose corn syrup, flavoring and coloring agents. The marketing, packaging, and shipping of these products cost more than what’s in the bottle. 
• everywhere. From middle school vending machines to gas stations. 
• sneaky. There is evidence that suggests that the body’s appetite regulating system doesn’t recognize calories consumed from beverages the same as from solid foods. So drinking a 150-calorie soda is not going to satisfy you the same as eating a 150-calorie granola bar.

Clearly, beverages – calorically sweetened beverages in particular – are a part of our diet that we can easily adjust. How? Stay tuned for the next blog entry. In the meantime, add your ideas for cutting beverage calories in the comments section below.

* Sweetened beverages are those in which sweeteners that have calories (sugar, corn syrup, honey, etc.) are used.  In contrast, noncalorically-sweetened beverages (e.g.,diet soda) use artificial sweeteners that add very few if any calories.