What Soft Drinks are Doing to Your Body
90% of users found this article helpful.
Soda,
pop, cola, soft drink — whatever you call it, it is one of the worst
beverages that you could be drinking for your health. As the debate for
whether to put a tax on the sale of soft drinks continues, you should
know how they affect your body so that you can make an informed choice
on your own.
Soft drinks are hard on your healthSoft drinks contain little to no vitamins or other essential nutrients. However, it is what they
do
contain that is the problem: caffeine, carbonation, simple sugars — or
worse, sugar substitutes — and often food additives such as artificial
coloring, flavoring, and preservatives.
A lot of research has
found that consumption of soft drinks in high quantity, especially by
children, is responsible for many health problems that include
tooth decay, nutritional depletion,
obesity,
type-2 diabetes, and
heart disease.
Why the sugar in soft drinks isn’t so sweetMost
soft drinks contain a high amount of simple sugars. The USDA
recommendation of sugar consumption for a 2,000-calorie diet is a daily
allotment of 10 teaspoons of added sugars. Many soft drinks contain
more than this amount!
Just
why is too much sugar so unhealthy? Well, to start, let's talk about
what happens to you as sugar enters your body. When you drink sodas
that are packed with simple sugars, the pancreas is called upon to
produce and release insulin, a hormone that empties the sugar in your
blood stream into all the tissues and cells for usage. The result of
overindulging in simple sugar is raised insulin levels. Raised blood
insulin levels beyond the norm can lead to depression of the immune
system, which in turn weakens your ability to fight disease.
Something
else to consider is that most of the excess sugar ends up being stored
as fat in your body, which results in weight gain and elevates risk for
heart disease and
cancer.
One study found that when subjects were given refined sugar, their
white blood cell count decreased significantly for several hours
afterwards. Another study discovered that rats fed a high-sugar diet
had a substantially elevated rate of
breast cancer when compared to rats on a regular diet.
The health effects of diet sodaYou
may come to the conclusion that diet or sugar-free soda is a better
choice. However, one study discovered that drinking one or more soft
drinks a day — and it didn’t matter whether it was diet or regular —
led to a 30% greater chance of weight gain around the belly.
Diet
soda is filled with artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose,
or saccharin. These artificial sweeteners pose a threat to your health.
Saccharin, for instance, has been found to be carcinogenic, and studies
have found that it produced bladder cancer in rats.
Aspartame,
commonly known as nutrasweet, is a chemical that stimulates the brain
to think the food is sweet. It breaks down into acpartic acid,
phenylalanine, and methanol at a temperature of 86 degrees. (Remember,
your stomach is somewhere around 98 degrees.) An article put out by the
University of Texas found that aspartame has been linked to obesity.
The process of stimulating the brain causes more cravings for sweets
and leads to carbohydrate loading.
Carbonation depletes calcium
Beverages
with bubbles contain phosphoric acid, which can severely deplete the
blood calcium levels; calcium is a key component of the bone matrix.
With less concentration of calcium over a long time, it can lower
deposition rates so that bone mass and density suffer. This means that
drinking sodas and carbonated water increases your risk of
osteoporosis.
Add
in the caffeine usually present in soft drinks, and you are in for even
more trouble. Caffeine can deplete the body’s calcium, in addition to
stimulating your central nervous system and contributing to
stress, a racing mind, and
insomnia.
Skip the soda and go for:
• Fresh waterWater
is a vital beverage for good health. Each and every cell needs water to
perform its essential functions. Since studies show that tap water is
filled with contaminants, antibiotics, and a number of other unhealthy
substances, consider investing in a quality carbon-based filter for
your tap water. To find out more about a high-performance filtration
system,
click here.
On
the go? Try using a stainless steel thermos or glass bottle, filled
with filtered water. Enhance the flavor of your water with a refreshing
infusion of basil, mint leaves, and a drop of honey.
• Fruit JuiceIf
you are a juice drinker, try watering down your juice to cut back on
the sugar content. Buy a jar of organic 100% juice, especially
cranberry, acai, pomegranate, and then dilute three parts filtered
water to one part juice. You will get a subtle sweet taste and the
benefit of antioxidants. After a couple of weeks, you will no longer
miss the sweetness of sugary concentrated juices.
• TeaTea
gently lifts your energy and has numerous health benefits. Black,
green, white, and oolong teas all contain antioxidant polyphenols. In
fact, tea ranks as high or higher than many fruits and vegetables on
the ORAC scale, the score that measures antioxidant potential of
plant-based foods.
Herbal tea does not have the same
antioxidant properties, though it is still a great beverage choice with
other health benefits, such as inducing calming and relaxing effects.
If
tea doesn’t satisfy your sweet tooth, try adding cinnamon or a little
honey, which has important health benefits that refined sugar lacks.
For a selection of healthy teas that promote total body wellness,
click here. Drink up!
I
hope you find the ways and means to avoid soft drinks. I invite you to
visit often and share your own personal health and longevity tips with
me.
May you live long, live strong, and live happy!
--Dr. Mao
Why no WOD's. Seems kind of greedy to not post them and charge? There are those of us who are not able to afford to pay for membership or travel the distance to your site. I used your WOD's often and referred many in your area to attend. No longer.