Soda Info
Why You Should STOP Drinking Soda Pop
Americans consume close to 50 billion liters of soda per year, which equals about 216 liters, or about 57 gallons per person. This is a staggering amount of sugar, and it is the worst kind known as Fructose, in the form of high fructose corn syrup. Unfortunately, high fructose corn syrup, in the form of soda, has become the #1 source of calories in the United States, and it is the primary cause of obesity. Just one extra can of soda per day can add as much as 15 pounds to your weight over the course of a single year!
The Affects Of Diet Sodas
And those who drink diet soda are just downing another type of poison, as diet drinks contain artificial sweeteners instead of caloric sweeteners. They don’t do anything to curb the obesity epidemic since diet soda is clearly linked to obesity as well, but through different mechanisms.
How Soda Affects Your Body
Did you know that just one can of Coke contains 10 teaspoons of sugar? This is 100 percent of your recommended daily intake, which is more than double many doctor's recommended daily allowance. Here is a breakdown of what goes on inside your body once you ingest soda.
Within 20 minutes of drinking that soda, your blood sugar spikes, and your liver responds to the insulin burst by turning massive amounts of sugar into fat.
Within 40 minutes, your blood pressure rises due to your body having absorbed all the caffeine, and then your liver dumps even more sugar into your bloodstream.
After about one hour, you’ll start to have a sugar crash, which often leads you into a vicious cycle of consuming more sugar and caffeine type stimulants, followed by crashes, throughout your day.
It is a proven fact that sugar increases your insulin levels, which can lead to not only weight gain, but also high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, premature aging and many more negative side effects.
Obesity
Diet soda doesn’t help you lose weight after all. A University of Texas Health Science Center study found that the more diet sodas a person drank, the greater their risk of becoming overweight. Drinking just two or more cans a day increased waistlines by 500%. Why? Artificial sweeteners can disrupt the body’s natural ability to regulate calorie intake based on the sweetness of foods. That means people who consume diet foods might be more likely to overeat, because your body is being tricked into thinking it’s eating sugar, and you crave more.
More Reasons to Avoid Drinking Soda
The Sugar! – A single can of soda contains the equivalent of 10 teaspoons of sugar. This amount of sugar, especially in liquid form, skyrockets the blood sugar and causes an insulin reaction in the body. Over time, this can lead to diabetes or insulin resistance, not to mention weight gain and other health problems. Soft drink companies are the largest users of sugar in the country. To make matters worse, soft drink sugar usually comes in the form of high fructose corn syrup.
Phosphoric Acid – Soda contains phosphoric acid, which interferes with the body’s ability to absorb calcium and can lead to osteoporosis, cavities, and bone softening. Phosphoric acid also interacts with stomach acid, slowing digestion and blocking nutrient absorption.
Artificial Sweeteners – In diet sodas, aspartame is used as a substitute for sugar and can actually be more harmful. It has been linked to almost a hundred different health problems. Diet sodas also increase the risk of metabolic syndrome, which causes belly fat, high blood sugar, and raised cholesterol.
Lack of Nutrients – There is absolutely no nutritional value in soda. Not only are there many harmful effects of soda, but there are not even any positive benefits to outweigh them. Soda is an unnatural substance that harms the body.
Dehydration – While it may taste refreshing, because of the high sugar, sodium, and caffeine content in soda, it actually dehydrates the body. Over a long period of time this can cause chronic dehydration.
The Bottom Line on Soda
Soda may taste good, but the bottom line is that soda isn’t healthy in any amount. We are talking about a substance that is often consumed in place of water (which most of us don’t drink enough of), contains no nutrients or beneficial properties, and is packed with sugar and artificial additives that make it harmful.
