Friday, April 16, 2010

The Ugly truth: SODA!

We've all heard the old song and dance, soda is bad for you, its empty calories, it'll make your teeth rot out and your gut pop out. And yet... Americans consume an estimated 56 gallons of soda per year. Sorta gross.

Growing up, my mom didn't buy cases of pop. We had it for a treat now and then. Which is really the best policy for it. Later in high school and college with vending machines aplenty, I starting drinking pop more regularly, but stuck with diet to avoid those dreaded "empty calories" so I thought I was in the clear. Turns out, not so much. I started getting horrible headaches, almost daily and nothing seemed to help. Finally this past year after doing some research on what's actually IN pop, I've cut it out completely and feel a zillion times better.
However, there are PLENTY of popoholics out there. It's cold, refreshing, and fizzy. It quenches your thirst, has 23 flavors, is timeless americana, and who doesn't LOVE to do the DEW?! What's not to love?!

Turns out... a lot of things.

1. Those dreaded "empty calories"
What does that even mean? Empty calories refers to calories consumed, but with no nutritional gain. When we eat carbohydrates, our body breaks them down and uses them as fuel. Doesn't happen with empty calories. We put calories in, but get nothing out. No nutritional value. Got it? Good.

2. Takes place of other stuff you should be drinking
Water, milk, fruit juice. Need I say more?

3. Diet Soda doesn't mean no weight gain
Studies have found links between consuming sugary tasting (even if artificially sweetened) drinks might be leading you to a higher desire for sweetness overall. So you crave other sugary gunk after drinking fake sugary diet pop.

4. Nothing in pop has any reason to be in your body
What is in pop afterall?
Phosphoric Acid: Can interfere with the body's ability to use calcium, which can lead to osteoporosis (softening of teeth & bones) Phosphoric acid also neutralizes the hydrochloric acid that naturally occurs in your stomach, which can interfere with digestion, making it difficult to utilize nutrients (that you're hopefully getting from good foods... well pop is like No Way! Nutrients BLOCKED! Hi-YAH!)

Sugar: Soda manufacturers are the largest single user of refined sugar in the United States. It has been proven that sugar increases insulin levels, which can lead to diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, weight gain, premature aging and many more negative side effects. Most sodas include over 100 percent of the RDA (recommended daily allowance) of sugar!! AH! Just in pop along, think about how much sugar you're consuming including the rest of your diet or if you consume a couple pops a day! yikes.

Aspartame: This is the artificial sweetner (fake sugar) found in diet pop. There are over 92 different health side effects associated with aspartame consumption including brain tumors, birth defects, diabetes, emotional disorders and epilispsy/seizures. Even worse, when aspartame is stored for long periods of time or kept in warm areas it changes to methanol, an alcohol that converts to formaldehyde (isn't that what they use to preserve dead people?? yes it is) and formic acid, which are known carcinogens (cancer causing agents). Oh dear... soft bones, too much sugar, blocked nutrients AND cancer? :/ hmm...

Caffeine: Caffeinated drinks cause jitters, insomnia, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, elevated blood cholesterol levels, vitamin and mineral depletion, breast lumps, birth defects, and perhaps some forms of cancer. Caffiene also dehydrates you. It takes more water to process the caffiene in pop than there is water already in pop, so water in the body is used to process the caffiene. Not such a thirst quencher afterall. Dehydrator. Not to mention that it can also act as a diuertic, making you pee more! Makes you want to drink more.... hmmm. Good way to sell more pop!


So really the bottom line is, pop is not what we need to be drinking all day every day. Pop is not something we NEED at all really. So if you're a popoholic, try to cut back. Try water. Try tea. You don't have to cut it out completely, but save it for a treat, not an every day drink.

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