I read two articles on the topic of new taxes recently, in this case taxes on soft drinks, teas and sports drinks.  The lawmakers are, of course, not just interested in our health; they need to “plug budget gaps,” as one of the newspapers commented, or pay for new programs, including health initiatives. About thirty states are taxing sodas already, including my home state (for the past eleven years as of the 31st) of Colorado.

As expected the makers and sellers of these beverages don’t think it’s a good idea at all and the sum the American beverage Association spent on lobbying went from $668,000 in 2008 to $18.9 million in 2009 to $5.4 million in the first quarter of 2010. A large part of that went toward fighting off the new taxes.

I drink one diet soda a day and don’t mind paying the extra two cents on twelve ounces that has been proposed. I see youngsters in our health club chugging down large amounts of sports drinks every day (I’m there six or seven days a week) and frequently mixing in “muscle-building” powders.

I’ve looked back over some of the medical literature on my diet soda and there’s a controversy as to adverse effects even there. But the question is clearly unresolved, so for now I’ll stick to my one-a-day routine.

Otherwise I have a great idea for you: drink water, preferably not from small plastic bottles, maybe filtered if your local water is of concern. I just bought a half-dozen limes (oh my, the price has gone up!) and used my lime squeezer to make a one-quart glass of lime water. It was sitting on a coaster beside my mouse pad as I wrote this. I use the past tense because I just finished the glassful.

I don’t think the sports drinks, the muscle-building powders, the sugary sodas make much sense, especially when they come in potentially (and I say that without a great deal of data to support the statement) hazardous little plastic bottles that won’t compost or disintegrate for many centuries. I’d prefer to hydrate the old fashioned way, with water.

Now for a period of five years when I headed a section of our largest Air Force hospital, the section that interfaced with the base itself and, among other things, had a troop clinic for basic trainees and others to get their first-line medical care, I really liked a particular sports drink. When kids from the north came to Texas in the summer for Air Force Basic training, the frequently got dehydated, lost not only water in their swaet, but electrolytes as well. Those young folk did very well with a sports drink as a first step in rehydration. But even they acclimated after a short time (three to four weeks) and water sufficed thereafter.

So my bottom line is here’s one tax I’m in favor of.  If you’re working hard in hot weather you may need some electrolyte-containing fluid, for a while. Otherwise, drink more water.

I read an interesting article this morning. A study conducted by researchers at Stanford using subjects averaging in their mid 50s and previously inactive showed the importance of social support in helping people develop and maintain an exercise regime. The project followed adults, with an average age in their mid 50s, for a year and showed that people who got phone calls, even monthly ones,  from a health educator markedly increased their time spent exercising. That’s compared to a group who only got initial health education classes. Even automated phone calls work, but a human touch was best. Those new and improved health habits held at the 18-month followup.

There were other bits of information I gl.eaned: the majority of people, like me, prefer to exercise alone. My wife participates in four exercise classes a week; I don’t join her in any of those. I often think my way through issues as I exercise (especially during the 65 minutes I spend almost every dayon a recumbent bike), zoning out and working through issues or just allowing thoughts to come up as they will.

The Stanford lead investigator, Dr. Abby King is a PhD professor of Epidemiology and Medicine at Stanford’s Prevention School of Medicine Research whose major research study relates to the role of physical activity as it links to other healthy behaviors and promotes improvements in life-coping mechanisms. She herself usually is a loner when it comes to exercise, but sometimes drips out for a period of weeks and then tends to join a small class to get back into her usual pattern.

What I take from this is if you don’t find it easy to get into a pattern of regular exercise, find a buddy who will call you from time to time. Most of us will never end up in a formal research project like Dr. King’s; almost all of us could help a friend and be helped in return.

Lynnette was just on the phone calling her another woman who is in the twice-weekly “Strong Women, Strong Bones” class she takes. She’s developed a brand new, close friendship through this class, frequently has a cup of coffee afterward with her exercise buddy and the two of us, from time to time, go to dinner with her friend and that woman’s husband.

As we age, I think social support is crucial and, if friends can help us stay in shape, maybe lose a few pounds or keep those off we’ve lost already, they have even more value in our lives.

So find an exercise buddy or even someone who’ll help you keep working out, whether you walk together, go to a gym together or just make phone calls to support each other’s good habits.