We confront an era when we have to eliminate the ubiquity of sugary drinks -- including even fruit juice. And, then, what will we drink? Bittman makes clear that it should be water. That's one possibility.

Significantly reducing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption is a key component in solving America's obesity crisis.

Many factors contribute to our obesity epidemic, and a comprehensive effort to overcome it is absolutely necessary. But there's more than enough reason to single out sugary drinks as a place to start.

So it's okay to switch to diet soda, right? Not so fast. Two new studies presented recently at the American Diabetes Association's (ADA) Scientific Sessions have linked drinking diet soda to weight gain.