Soft Drinks
Soft Drinks, Hard Facts
This
poison goes by many brand names. Generically, this poison is on the
market in formulations known as soda, pop, and soft drinks. It includes
all carbonated beverages--even carbonated plain water. The
various substances in sodas compound the problem, especially the typical
formulations with their carbonic acid or phosphoric acid.
It's tragic that the "beverage" industry shoves this toxic brew at human beings. Let's take a closer look at what it does.
- The carbonation in all soft drinks causes calcium loss in the bones through a three-stage process:
The carbonation irritates the stomach.
- The
stomach "cures" the irritation the only way it knows how. It adds
the only antacid at its disposal: calcium. It gets this from the
blood.
- The
blood, now low on calcium, replenishes its supply from the bones.
If it did not do this, muscular and brain function would be
severely impaired.
But,
the story doesn't end there. Another problem with most soft drinks is
they also contain phosphoric acid (not the same as the carbonation,
which is carbon dioxide mixed with the water). This substance also
causes a drawdown on the store of calcium.
So, soft drinks soften your bones (actually, they make them weak and brittle) in three ways:
- Carbonation reduces the calcium in the bones.
- Phosphoric acid reduces the calcium in the bones.
- The
beverage replaces a calcium-containing alternative, such as milk
or water. Milk and water are not excellent calcium sources, but
they are sources.
The carbonation irritates the stomach.
Bone Weakening
Recent human studies suggest that girls who drink more soda are more prone to broken bones. The industry denies that soda plays a role in bone weakening.
Recent human studies suggest that girls who drink more soda are more prone to broken bones. The industry denies that soda plays a role in bone weakening.
Phosphorus
-- which occurs naturally in some foods and is used as an additive in
many others -- appears to weaken bones by promoting the loss of calcium.
With less calcium available, the bones become more porous and prone to
fracture.
There's growing concern that even a few cans of soda today can be damaging when they are consumed during the peak bone-building years of childhood and adolescence.
There's growing concern that even a few cans of soda today can be damaging when they are consumed during the peak bone-building years of childhood and adolescence.
Besides,
to many researchers, the combination of rising obesity and bone
weakening has the potential to synergistically undermine future health.
Adolescents and kids don't think long-term. But what happens when these
soft-drinking people become young or middle-aged adults and they have
osteoporosis, sedentary living and obesity?
One very recent, independent, peer-reviewed study demonstrates a strong link between soda consumption and childhood obesity. One previous industry-supported, unpublished study showed no link. Explanations of the mechanism by which soda may lead to obesity have not yet been proved, though the evidence for them is strong.
Many people have long assumed that soda-- high in calories and sugar, low in nutrients -- can make kids fat.
Tooth Decay
Though
the soft drink industry admits that soda contributes to tooth decay,
most data suggest it is just one of several contributors, and a less
important one in developed countries than elsewhere in the world. In the
United States, cavities have decreased while soda consumption has
increased.
In fact, a lot of sugary foods, from fruit juices to candy and even raisins and other dried fruit, have what dentists refer to as "cariogenic properties," which is to say they can cause tooth decay.
In fact, a lot of sugary foods, from fruit juices to candy and even raisins and other dried fruit, have what dentists refer to as "cariogenic properties," which is to say they can cause tooth decay.
The stimulant properties and dependence potential of caffeine in soda are well documented, as are their effects on children. While health advocates argue that childhood use of caffeine can lead to dependence later in life -- and that regular doses of caffeine can have negative effects on brain development -- there is no conclusive science to demonstrate this.
Research on caffeine's effects in children is more limited, but it suggests that kids also experience caffeine dependence and withdrawal. At the University of Minnesota, child psychiatrist Gail Bernstein and her colleagues gave 8- to 12-year-old children the equivalent of two to three cans of Diet Coke daily for 13 days. Then they substituted caffeine-free soft drinks without telling the children and measured withdrawal symptoms.
Diabetes in a can
The
picture gets worse when you add sugar to the soft drink. The sugar,
dissolved in liquid, is quickly carried to the bloodstream, where its
presence in overload quantities signals the pancreas to go into
overdrive. The pancreas has no way of knowing if this sugar inrush is a
single dose or the front-end of a sustained dose. The assumption in the
body's chemical controls is the worst-case scenario. To prevent nerve
damage from oxidation, the pancreas pumps out as much insulin as it can.
Even so, it may not prevent nerve damage.
But,
this heroic effort of the pancreas has a hefty downside. The jolt of
insulin causes the body to reduce the testosterone in the bloodstream,
and to depress further production of it. In both men and women,
testosterone is the hormone that controls the depositing of calcium in
the bones. You can raise testosterone through weight-bearing exercise,
but if you are chemically depressing it via massive sugar intake (it
takes very small quantities of sugar to constitute a massive intake,
because refined sugar is not something the human body is equipped to
handle), then your body won't add calcium to the bones.
Cancer in a can
- You drink soda.
- It makes you burp (acid reflux, actually).
- The burping carries acid into the esophagus, causing lesions.
- The lesions become cancerous.
So,
maybe it's not so bad if you sip sodas instead of guzzle them. By the
time this issue settles out through double blind studies (rather than
statistical analysis only), that is probably what researchers will
conclude. It's common sense.
Of
course, the soft drink companies have conducted their own flawed
studies using flawed methods to obtain the flawed results they want.
This way, they can deny that their toxic products also cause esophageal
cancer in addition to other diseases their beverages cause. I wonder if
these folks have flawed sleep at night, or if they are just
psychopathic?
Do
a Yahoo or Google search on soft drinks + esophageal cancer, and you'll
get several thousand pages of results. Most of the articles say soft
drinks "may" cause esophageal cancer. And that's true--in the sense that
lying down on a railroad track "may" get you run over by a train or
holding a revolver with one bullet in it and pulling the trigger "may"
blow your brains out. It's a game of chance. How many chances do you
want to take?
Write your thoughts: We are still working on designing and developing this Blog but we would like all visiting our Blog to give with your thought and point of vie on various subjects, Write to us at
Join Hands if you wish to be part of our Team and share your Ideas for a Better society
email : info.kenfoundation@gmail.com
Note: views are personal.