Americans guzzle down insanely large quantities of soda and liquid sugar each year. The typical American drinks about 50 gallons of soda or other sweetened beverages per year, according to PublicAdvocacy.org. This is equivalent to about 1.5 cans per person per day. An average can of soda contains the equivalent of eight teaspoons of sugar.
New research presented at the American Heart Association’s Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention annual conference in San Francisco reveals that over the last decade, soda consumption has conservatively caused:
- 130,000 new cases of diabetes
- 14,000 new cases of heart disease
- 50,000 more “life years” with heart disease over the last decade
Soda consumption is not only linked to diabetes and heart disease. A similar correlation exists between a variety of other diseases including: obesity, cancer, osteoporosis and kidney stones.
The rate of obesity and diabetes continue to steadily climb as Americans consume more and more soda.
Thanks to a new California study, soda companies can no longer hide behind the defense of uncertainty when it comes to links between soda consumption and obesity. This massive study questioned the soda consumption habits of 43,000 adults and 4,000 adolescents and concluded this: Drinking one or more sodas a day increases your chances of obesity by 27 percent. A whopping 62% of adults who drink at least one soda each day are overweight or obese.
The study also found that Californians are gulping down sodas at an unprecedented rate: At least one soda is consumed daily by 41 percent of children, 62 percent of adolescents and 24 percent of adults. Through the study, another shocking statistic was revealed: The average California teen consumes 39 pounds of liquid sugar a year solely from soda consumption.
What about Bone loss?
The phosphoric acid in sodas causes osteoporosis, even in males. Loss of bone density, which is another side effect of drinking soda is due to the extremely high acidity of the High Fructose Corn Syrup sweetener combined with the phosphoric acid used in sodas, people who drink sodas often lose bone minerals and end up being diagnosed with osteoporosis (even at a relatively young age).
Over the long term, the effects of colas are devastating to the body. Acidity, sugars, and artificial flavors and sweeteners can shorten your life significantly.
It takes 32 glasses of alkaline water at an alkaline pH of 9 to neutralize the acid from one 12 oz. cola or soda. When you drink a cola or soda, the body will use up reserves of its own stored alkaline buffers, mainly calcium from the bones and DNA to raise the body’s alkalinity levels, especially to maintain proper blood pH levels. Acidic blood levels cause death! There are enough acids in one soda to kill you outright if you didn’t possess a mechanism to neutralize them by taking minerals from your bones and tissues. But your body’s mineral supply can be used up.
Other people end up with kidney stones due to all these minerals passing through the kidneys and contributing to the built up of mineral deposits there. Long-term soda consumers may even suffer from pancreatic cancer due to the extreme stress placed on the pancreas following the consumption of liquid sugars.
What about Diet Soda?? That can’t be so bad for me. Think again!
It may be calorie-free, but diet soda is linked to diabetes and other health problems, research has found.
Downing calorie-free pop could have the unappetizing consequence of increasing your risk of developing diabetes, according to a 2011 study published in the journal Diabetes Care.
Here is what we know: Researchers looked at people’s diet soda consumption between the years 2000 and 2002, and then screened them for type 2 diabetes between 2002 and 2007, an investigation involving more than 6,800 people between 45- and 84-years-old.
People who drank at least one diet soda a day at the beginning of the study had a 67 percent higher relative risk of type 2 diabetes compared with the people who drank none.
Zero-calorie soda also increased several risk factors linked to obesity. In turn, obesity increased your chances of heart disease, diabetes, and stroke — by 36 percent.
Aspartame is a common chemical sweetener used in diet soda and other low-cal or low-sugar products, but some people report headaches or generally feeling unwell after ingesting anything containing the chemical.
Also of concern with aspartame, researchers have found that one harmful breakdown product of aspartame is formaldehyde. A new report highlights the carcinogenic (cancer-causing) properties of the substance in the central nervous system, which is a good reason to pause and review the potential hazards of aspartame.
So what’s my alternative?
Water, water, water!!! Hands down, the best thing you can drink is water. The recommended 8-10 eight ounce glasses a day will keep you well hydrated. Of course the more active you are the more water you should consume. Water should be your drink of choice. Squeeze a fresh lemon or lime in your water for a refreshing taste or try a cucumber in your water for a burst of energy!