In news that should surprise no one in America, half of our nation full of sugar addicts consume at least one sugary drink per day. It’s really not hard to get your daily fix of sugar. Consider this — If you eat any cereal, you’ll undoubtedly enjoy some flavored milk for breakfast. After working out, there are three options of Gatorade — pre, during, and post-workout. Lunches usually taste better with some type of soda or flavored drink like Coca-Cola’s Vitamin Water or Fuze — down here in the Deep South, sweet tea is king!  Lastly, one would be hard pressed to find a person who doesn’t feel wine isn’t the best way to wind down after a full day of work in America. See, not hard at all, right?

According to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 70 percent of teens and young adults drink a sugar-laden beverage each day, making them the most frequent consumers. For you calorie counters, that adds over 250 calories to their diets.

Contrary to a report that claims blacks and Latinos drink plastic water bottles more often than whites, the CDC reports that, because blacks and Latinos are disproportionally poor and live in area with poor drinking water quality, they drink more sugary drinks per capita.

A study done by Diabetes Care concluded that consumption of one sugary drink a day may raise a person’s risk of developing Type-2 diabetes by 25 percent

Previous studies have shown that sugar-sweetened beverages are strongly associated with weight gain,” said lead author Vasanti Malik, a research fellow in the Harvard School of Public Health Department of Nutrition, who says the decision to examine the relationship between sugar-sweetened beverages and risk of diabetes was “the logical next step.”

But can one blame people for having sugary drink addiction? It’s hard to defend one’s brain from indoctrination because the ingenious ads and slogans from these beverage companies, with seemingly endless amounts of cash for marketing and public relations campaigns, are catchy. “Have a Coke and a smile” or “Do the Dew” are such pervasive slogans in our culture, adding the subsidized cheapness of these products creates the environment for overconsumption and record profits, irrespective to health-related externalities.

What’s your favorite sugary drink? How many sugary drinks to you consume a day?