[blindweightwatcher] 10 Diseases Linked To Soda
- From: "Jan Bailey" <jb021951@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <blindweightwatcher@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2009 05:57:05 -0600
10 Diseases Linked To Soda
soda, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, HFCSStatistics shows that Americans
drink more soda than ever before. They account for more than 25 percent of all
drinks consumed in the United States. More than 15 billion gallons were sold in
2000 -- about one 12-ounce can per day for every man, woman and child.
But here's some information that may keep you away from opening the can:
1. Extra pounds
Soda is a significant contributor to obesity. Drinking a single can a day of
sugary drinks translates to more than a pound of weight gain every month.
And
diet soda is just as likely to cause weight gain as regular, or even more -- it
may sound counterintuitive, but people who drink diet soft drinks actually
don't lose weight. Artificial sweeteners induce a whole set of physiologic and
hormonal responses that actually make you gain weight.
2. Liver damage
Soda damages your liver. Consumption of too many soft drinks puts you under
increased risk for liver cirrhosis similar to the increased risk faced by
chronic
alcoholics.
3. Tooth decay
Soda dissolves tooth enamel. Soft drinks are responsible for doubling or
tripling the incidence of tooth decay. Soda's acidity is even worse for teeth
than
the solid sugar found in candy.
4. Kidney stones and chronic kidney disease
Colas of all kinds are well known for their high phosphoric acid content, a
substance that changes the urine in a way that promotes kidney stone formation.
Drinking one quart (less than three 12-ounce cans) of soda per week may
increase your risk of developing kidney stones by 15 percent.
5. Diabetes
Anything that promotes weight gain increases the risk of diabetes. Drinking
soda also stresses your body's ability to process sugar. Some scientists now
suspect that this may explain why the number of Americans with type 2 diabetes
has tripled from 6.6 million in 1980 to 20.8 million today.
6. Heartburn & acid reflux
Heavy consumption of soda is a strong predictor of heartburn. Many carbonated
beverages are very acidic. They also deliver a lot of air in the form of
carbon
dioxide, which can cause distension of your stomach. And that distension
appears to be associated with more reflux.
7. Soft drinks = Soft Bones = Osteoporosis
Soft drinks containing phosphoric acid are definitely linked to osteoporosis (a
weakening of your skeletal structure) because they lead to lower calcium
levels and higher phosphate levels in your blood. When phosphate levels are
high and calcium levels are low, calcium is pulled out of your bones.
8. Hypertension (high blood pressure)
Experts have reasons to believe that overconsumption of soda leads to an
increase in blood pressure. It doesn't matter if the soda is regular or diet.
9. Heart disease
Heavy soda drinkers are more likely to develop risk factors for heart disease.
Research shows that drinking more than one soft drink a day is associated
with an increased risk of developing metabolic syndrome -- a group of symptoms
such as central obesity, elevated blood pressure, elevated fasting blood
sugar, elevated fasting triglycerides, and low levels of HDL or "good"
cholesterol. Having three or more of the symptoms increases your risk of
developing
diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
10. Impaired digestion (gastrointestinal distress)
Gastrointestinal distress includes increased stomach acid levels requiring acid
inhibitors, and moderate to severe gastric inflammation with possible stomach
lining erosion. Drinking sodas, especially on an empty stomach, can upset the
fragile acid-alkaline balance of your stomach and other gastric lining, creating
a continuous acid environment. This prolonged acid environment can lead to
inflammation of your stomach and duodenal lining.
Sources:
Squidoo January 23, 2009
http://www.squidoo.com/soda-demages
I've been warning my readers of the dangers of soda since I started this site,
and this is a good list of reasons why you'll want to avoid this beverage
like the plague.
Soda is on my list of the five absolute worst foods and drinks you can consume.
Because even though fat has 250 percent more calories than sugar, the food
that people get MOST of their calories from is sugar from corn , or high
fructose corn syrup (HFCS) .
According to USDA estimates, the per capita consumption of HFCS was about 40
pounds per year as of 2007, primarily in the form of soft drinks. Tragically,
high fructose corn syrup in the form of soda, is now the number one source of
calories in the United States.
Food and beverage manufacturers began switching their sweeteners from sucrose
(table sugar) to corn syrup in the 1970s when they discovered that HFCS was
not only cheaper to make, it was also much sweeter (processed fructose is
nearly 20 times sweeter than table sugar), a switch that has drastically altered
the American diet.
The good news about all these shocking health facts is that stopping the
pernicious habit of drinking soda is one of the easiest things you can do. As
you
can clearly see from all the examples above, you can radically improve your
health simply by cutting soda out of your diet .
In fact, I am confident that your health improvement would be even more
profound than if you quit smoking - a statement that has raised quite a few
eyebrows
through the years.
Why do I believe this?
Because soda clearly elevates insulin levels, and elevated insulin levels are
the foundation of nearly every chronic disease, including:
. Cancer
. Heart disease
. Diabetes
. Premature aging
. Arthritis
. Osteoporosis
In addition to the ten health problems above, most of which I have reported on
through the years already, there is one more that is not discussed as often:
drinking soda also increases your cancer risk.
Soda Drinkers Have a Higher Risk of Several Types of Cancer
Numerous studies have pointed out the link between sugar and increased rates of
cancer , suggesting that regulating sugar intake is key to slowing tumor
growth.
In one human study, 10 healthy people were assessed for fasting blood-glucose
levels and the phagocytic index of neutrophils, which measures immune-cell
ability to envelop and destroy invaders such as cancer.
Eating 100 grams of carbohydrates from glucose, sucrose, honey and orange juice
all significantly decreased the capacity of neutrophils to engulf bacteria.
Another four-year study at the National Institute of Public Health and
Environmental Protection in the Netherlands compared 111 biliary tract cancer
patients
with 480 controls. In this study the cancer risk associated with the intake of
sugars more than doubled for the cancer patients.
Many studies have linked sugar intake with different types of cancer, such as:
Breast cancer -- An epidemiological study in 21 modern countries that keep
track of morbidity and mortality (Europe, North America, Japan and others)
revealed
that sugar intake is a strong risk factor that contributes to higher breast
cancer rates, particularly in older women.
Throat cancer - Throat cancer is a particularly hard cancer to beat--more than
90 percent of patients with invasive esophageal cancer die within five years
of diagnosis.
Research has revealed that those who drink soda might have a higher risk of
developing esophageal cancer. They found a strong link between the accelerated
rate of people drinking carbonated soft drinks and the growing number of cases
of esophageal cancer over the course of two decades.
Colon cancer -- According to another study, women who consume a high dietary
glycemic load may increase their risk of colorectal (colon) cancer. Glycemic
load is a measure of how quickly a food's carbohydrates are turned into sugars
by your body (glycemic index) in relation to the amount of carbohydrates
per serving of that food.
The study consisted of more than 38,450 women who were followed for almost
eight years. The participants filled out questionnaires about their eating
habits,
so researchers could examine the associations of dietary glycemic load, overall
dietary glycemic index, carbohydrate, fiber, non-fiber carbohydrate, sucrose,
and fructose with the subsequent development of colon cancer.
They found that women who ate the most high-glycemic-load foods were nearly
three times more likely to develop colon cancer.
Do You Want to Radically Improve Your Health?
Then replace soda and other sugary drinks with clean, pure water.
Normalizing your insulin levels is one of the most powerful physical actions
you can take to improve your health and lower your risk of cancer along with
all the other diseases and long-term chronic health conditions mentioned above.
Fortunately, it is also the variable most easily influenced by healthy eating
and exercise .
Related Links:
The Amazing Statistics and Dangers of Soda Pop
The Real Dangers of Soda to You and Your Children
Turbo Tapping: How to Get Rid of Your Soda Addiction
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