[bumby]

You’re absolutely right, but I think the moderation extends to sugar as well. Sugar can be used prudently and beneficially. E.g., eating sugar (or other fast digesting carbs) immediately after a hard workout will actually enhance recovery.

[adgjlsfhk1]

The key is that soda and juice both contain way more sugar than you should be consuming regularly. 1 can of Coke contains roughly 140 calories of sugar which is roughly 100% of your daily recommended sugar according to the American Heart Association. (a can of orange juice is 160, though some weird regulation means they don't have to count it as sugar). As such it is pretty much impossible to have a healthy diet that involves regular consumption of soft drinks. Once a week or so is OK, but more than that is probably bad. (unless you are exercising for more than 3 hours a day)

[bumby]

If we’re constraining it the average semi-sedentary lifestyle, I agree. My point was more to the “only hard-and-fast rule is that sugar and alcohol are bad for you and the less you eat of them the better, at least in terms of your physical health” bit.

To the original point, I don’t agree that hard absolute statements are really good guidelines as they tend to oversimplify. For example, I believe the best recovery was found with 3:1 carb:protein post workout consumption. The typical protein supplement is around 25g, meaning it would be combined with more sugar than is in a can of soda (usually dextrose because it has a higher glycemic response). Some athletes consume sugar regularly (notably, Floyd Mayweather). Point being, I don’t believe it’s a good hard rule to say you should limit sugar as much as possible, but rather the appropriate (and less satisfying answer) is “it depends on your goal”