What are the effects of regular soda on humans?

Very great article! LOL Soda sounds like a cult! I say raise your family without buying cokes. my mom drinks it and I tell her every time she buys it that she shouldn’t, but it’s her vice.

SO I JUST GOOGLED THIS TOPIC AND THIS IS WHAT I HAVE FOUND SO FAR…READ ON FOR YOUR HEALTH: Do you love your Pepsi or Coke? Can’t go a day without having your soda pop? Addicted to soda like some people are addicted to coffee? Well if you love your soda you aren’t alone but then you also need to read this!

Did you know that your soda could actually kill you? Especially those that are caffeinated. Did you know that you can get an entire day’s calorie intake from drinking soda? There is no question that’s soda pop is rather tasty and enjoyed by young and old, and especially popular with teens. You’re an adult and if you choose to drink soda pop that’s your business but you really need to watch out for your kids. But really your soda drink should come with warnings just like cigarettes do.

People that drink a lot of soda pop often eat less because the soda acts as a food replacement. Studies have shown that pop gives an average teenager around 12 teaspoons of refined sugar a day. It wasn’t that long ago that kids looked to milk for a main source of fluid. In 1977-1978 kids actually drank twice as much milk as they did soda, but by 1997-1998 kids were drinking twice as much soda as they were milk. Studies have shown that the reduced intake of vitamins and nutrients has caused health issues for many kids.

Now I’ll be the first to admit I love my Pepsi but after reading a few of these studies about what soda pop actually does to the human body I’ve become more inclined to grab a refreshing cup of Green Tea. Have you ever dumped a portion of a soda can down your drain? Ever listened to the sounds it makes? It gurgles and burps like you had just poured Drano down the drain. So what do you suppose it does to your inners? How many times have you heard someone say you can remove rust spots from chrome by using coke or clean your jewelry or engine? Truth or fiction I can’t say but what I can tell you is that soda pop is acidic and therefore can be hard on your stomach.

I can also tell you that soda pop is a major contributor to obesity because of its high levels of sugar. It is also doing a fine job of making dentists wealthy because the sugar and acid rot teeth, and studies have shown it contributed to type ii diabetes development.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to pick on soda pop. An occasional glass or bottle is just fine. The trouble is that many people are drinking a lot more than a glass or two a day.

Now here is something else to think about. We’ve been told for years that caffeine is addictive and that we should not drink more than a cup or two of coffee per day. In fact you probably know someone that’s suffered headaches when they didn’t get their caffeine fix. Caffeine is a stimulant and although some claim it helps their sex lives, what is known for sure is that it increases the removal of calcium from the body. And calcium is required to avoid osteoporosis when we are older. So what do you think is in soda?

Soda is packed with caffeine so we are feeding our children a stimulant daily, we are contributing to the removal of calcium from their bodies and a very young age, and according to myth we may even be helping our teen’s sex lives. Doesn’t sound too good does it?

On top of that sodas have other ingredients that are unhealthy. For example yellow number five die which is in soda has been linked to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, allergies, and asthma in children. It is also a contributing factor to kidney stones and an increased risk of heart disease. Yes there are studies done to back this up. In fact the University of California and Harvard have both extensively studied the effects of soda pop on both children and adults.

Here’s another scary fact. Pop that is in aluminum cans has been shown to increase the rate of Alzheimer’s disease. That’s because the aluminum seeps into the pop. For ages studies have shown aluminum as a link to Alzheimer’s.

Pop will also make you thirstier rather than quench your thirst. So then you drink more of it and the companies make more money. The combination of chemicals in pop actually dehydrates you rather than hydrating you. It becomes a vicious cycle. Then you drink more pop, take in more calories, get fatter, and get thirstier all in the same gulp.

In all of advertising history soda drinks have the award of having had the heaviest advertising campaign ever. Every year the pop industry just within the US spends over $500 million dollars to advertise soda. That’s not including the hundreds of millions spent on promotional giveaways, contests, and other catches. They even offer funding to schools in exchange for placement of their vending machines. Yes their hefty donations to the schools are appreciated but are they worth it at the expense of our children’s health. Many think not and have actually banned vending pop machines from their schools.

And ease of access exceeds many more worthy products. You can buy pop at a gas station, corner store, vending machine, grocery store, drug store, department store. Well let’s face it you can buy pop anywhere.

Many believe that soda pop should come with a warning just like other products on the market do. It might read something like this. This product may cause obesity, allergies, ADD, tooth decay, osteoporosis, increase your risk of heart disease, diabetes type ii, and other health issues. When consuming this product consider it as lethal as Drano or snake oil. Use at your own risk?

So the next time you go to grab your favorite soda you might want to think about what it’s doing to your body. And you certainly may want to restrict the amount of soda pop your children are drinking. Yes you will probably be the bad guy right now but when they are older and have all their teeth, aren’t diabetic, and don’t suffer from osteoporosis they’ll thank you. I guarantee it!

Deon Melchior is the Editor and Publisher of Article Click. For more FREE articles for your ezine and websites visit ArticleClick.com.

u’ll be fat

By drinking a single can of ‘soda’ per day, in one year ALONE you will gain 15 POUNDS that either 1.) Must be stored as fat or 2.) Must be burned off. Diet coke is full of Aspertame which is BAD for your heart, and can cause memory loss. Soda is BAD BAD BAD for you. Empty calories- Pure sugar! Try to drink water only, and the juice that is %100 not from concentrate. I did a huge project on Soda and the 15 pound thing shocked me, because that is only ONE CAN- and people that drink it, typically drink about 3 cans a day. So that’s probably 45 pounds worth? I don’t drink coke, and haven’t for YEARS! I do occasionally splurge on a special occasion- but you should definately limit yourself!

It is funny that soda has so many side effects. I never realized just how serious a problem it was. I currently drink soda, Coke to be exact, and I have had no problems with weight gain or any other side effects. We should also state that in people who already have ADHD or even bipolar depression at times it is not as harmful but more beneficial. In a study conducted it was also proven that avid coffee drinker are more suceptible to suicide. I haven’t seen any report like that about soda drinkers.

I agree that high fructose corn syrup,caffiene,acids,etc. in sodas has to be bad for us if we overindulge. From personal experience,I know that in the last month and a half to 2 months,reducing the number of sodas I drink from 4 to 6 daily to 1 or 2(some days none)I’ve lost 12lbs. without increasing excercise.I increased amount of water I drink & if I need a caffiene jolt I drink a glass of unsweetened ice tea.I also started drinking O.J. with pulp every morning because the health benefits are supposed to be excellent.Changing my habits took some getting used to but I’m glad I got unexpected weight loss.

LETS JUST SAY THAT AFTER READING THIS ONE, IWILL NEVER EVER DRINK ANOTHER COKE OR PEPSI AGAIN.

SODA IS KILLING US…

The Sinister Side of Soda The unvarnished truth about how soda consumption affects your family’s health, the environment, and communities around the world

Coop America’s Real Money January/February 2007 By Tracy Fernandez Rysavy

When it comes to the health effects of drinking soda, it’s hard to separate fact from scary urban legend. Do sodas cause esophageal cancer? Can you get brain tumors from drinking too many diet sodas? Are there really 19 teaspoons of teeth-rotting sugar in each can? And just how much extra weight could you lose by kicking the can-a-day habit?

Real Money dug deep to find the facts about soda consumption and how it affects your family’s health, the environment, and communities around the world. Once you discover the true facts about soda, you may want to curb your consumption and, with our help, look for healthier alternatives.

Soda: A Cancer Risk, or Not? The bottom line is that there seems to be some increased risk of certain types of cancer from drinking sodas. Here’s what you need to know:

• THE BENZENE LINK: Tests conducted by private laboratories in November 2005 — and paid for by a concerned soft-drink industry whistle-blower-showed that certain sodas and juices had benzene levels up to ten times higher than the US drinking water limit of five parts per billion (ppb), according to Beverage Daily.com, which reports news on the beverage industry. Benzene is classified as a known carcinogen by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is linked to leukemia.

Benzene can come from forest fires, burning coal and oil, and cigarette smoke. It can also form in beverages that contain sodium benzoate or potassium benzoate, combined with either ascorbic acid (vitamin C) or erythorbic acid (also known as d-ascorbic acid), according to the FDA. Heat and light exacerbate benzene formation in sodas with these ingredients.

“Product lists show more than 1,500 soft drinks containing sodium benzoate and ascorbic acid have been launched across Europe, North America, and Latin America since January 2002,” writes Chris Mercer, editor of BeverageDaily.com. Unfortunately for cautious consumers, the benzene limit for drinking water does not apply to soft drinks, which have much less stringent standards, so sodas with high benzene content are perfectly legal in the US.

Though the FDA has said in March 2006 that benzene formation in soda is so minimal that it is no cause for concern, FDA tests uncovered by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a nonprofit public health watchdog organization, found significant benzene concentrations in certain beverages. Says the EWG: “Between 1995 and 2001, the FDA tested 24 samples of diet soda for benzene in its Total Diet Study: 19 (79 percent) were contaminated with benzene above the federal tap water standard of five ppb. The average benzene level was 19 ppb, nearly four times the tap water standard. The maximum detection was 55 ppb, 11 times the tap water limit.”

The FDA has not made public the brand names or manufacturers of those drinks tested in the Total Diet Study. They are, however, in the process of retesting certain drinks, and they are encouraging manufacturers whose beverages have tested as having high benzene levels to voluntarily reformulate their products.

The EWG is currently demanding that the FDA continue to conduct more testing on soft drinks, make any results public, and require soft drink manufacturers to reformulate their products to eliminate ingredients that combine to form benzene.

Currently, the “big three” soda companies, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, and Cadbury-Schweppes, are facing class action lawsuits over benzene-forming ingredients in their beverages-specifically PepsiCo’s Pepsi Twist, Vault Zero and Fanta Orange-Pineapple drinks from Coke, and Crush Pineapple from Cadbury. Keep in mind that though the lawsuits mention one or two specific drinks, other drinks from these companies may contain benzene-forming ingredients. (None of their flagship products, Coke, Diet Coke, Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, and Schweppes Ginger Ale, contained the ingredient combinations.) Other lawsuits against companies like Publix, Kraft Foods, Ocean Spray Cranberries, and Polar Beverages are also pending. Meridian, InZone Brands, and Talking Rain have settled similar lawsuits, agreeing to reformulate their drinks.

To protect your family’s health, look at ingredient labels, and steer clear of sodas, sports drinks, and juices containing ascorbic acid/vitamin C or erythorbic acid/d-ascorbic acid in combination with either sodium benzoate or potassium benzoate.

• THE ESOPHAGEAL CANCER RISK: Though a 2004 study by the Tata Medical Center in India found a correlation between esophageal cancer and carbonated soft drink consumption, a 2006 follow-up study by the Yale School of Medicine found no evidence linking soda consumption with an increased risk of any type of esophageal or gastric cancer.

However, it’s important to note that carbonated soft drinks can contribute to acid reflux disease, which is a risk factor for esophageal cancer. Therefore, you should limit sodas if you have or are starting to develop acid reflux disease.

• WHAT’S REALLY UP WITH ASPARTAME: Concerned consumers have long debated the safety of aspartame, an artificial sweetener used in many diet sodas. Rumors linking aspartame to brain tumors and other kinds of cancer have abounded for years, though current studies indicate no safety concerns with it, except that it can cause headaches in people who are sensitive to it.

However, that changed in the summer of 2005, when an Italian study published in the European Journal of Oncology found significant increases in lymphomas and leukemias among female rats fed aspartame. A year later, the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) released a follow-up study in which they assessed half a million people for cancer risk linked to aspartame consumption. That study, which the NCI says is the most comprehensive study on cancer and aspartame to date, did not find any links between the sweetener and cancer.

The nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) notes that the people in the NCI study were only 50 to 69 years old, where the Italian researchers studied the rats through their entire life span. Therefore, CSPI says, if aspartame were to cause cancer only in people over the age of 69, the NCI study wouldn’t detect a problem.

Though it avers that the sweetener is “probably safe,” CSPI recommends using aspartame in moderation, and it continues to urge the FDA to conduct more studies on its safety.

Some diet sodas contain sucralose, or Splenda, instead of aspartame, and CSPI says that studies indicate that sucralose is safe. If you want to be cautious, choose diet drinks made with Splenda (which is usually highlighted on the packaging).

Contributing to Poor Health Where sodas really fall down is in their sugar content: the average 12-ounce can of non-diet soda contains a whopping ten teaspoons of sugar (usually in the form of high-fructose corn syrup), and the average 20-ounce bottle contains 17 teaspoons. The USDA recommended daily allowance of sugar is 12 teaspoons for someone eating 2,200 calories per day.

It’s no secret that consuming excessive amounts of sugar contributes to obesity, which in turn causes many health problems, including heart disease and diabetes. With the average person in the US drinking over 50 gallons of soda each year, according to the Beverage Marketing Corporation — more than their water and vegetable juice intake — it’s no wonder that one-third of Americans are clinically obese.

A study by the Harvard School of Public Health linked soda consumption with obesity in adults. Looking at tens of thousands of female nurses over eight years, Harvard found that women who increased their consumption of soft drinks from less than one a week to one a day gained an average of 18 pounds. Women who originally drank one or more soft drinks per day who cut back to less than one a week showed the least weight gain — about six pounds. The study found that women who drank soft drinks daily also had twice the risk of diabetes as those who drank little or no soda.

CSPI’s report on soda consumption and health, Liquid Candy: How Soft Drinks are Harming Americans’ Health, states that drinking too much soda may also increase the risk of osteoporosis (because soda drinkers tend to drink less milk) and kidney stones (linked to the phosphoric acid in most sodas), according to some studies.

Drinking soda also crowds out healthier foods by curbing one’s appetite, which is particularly disturbing when it comes to children, whose growing bodies need all the nutrients they can get. A study of six- to 13-year-olds published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine found that those who drank more sweetened beverages, including soda, drank less milk. Those who drank an average of 20 ounces of soda a day had lower intakes of calcium, magnesium, zinc, vitamin A, and other vital nutrients.

Spoiling Your Smile Talk to your dentist about drinking soda daily, and s/he’ll most likely cringe at the thought. It’s not just the sugars in soda that harm your teeth, but the acid content. The pH level in your mouth is around 6.2-7.0, hovering around the neutral range and slightly more acidic than water. The pH of regular and diet soda ranges from 2.47 to 3.35, which is quite acidic, according to the Missouri Dental Association’s “Stop the Pop” campaign. Compare the pH of Dr. Pepper, 2.92, to that of vinegar, which ranges from 2.55-3.18, to get an idea of just how acidic soda is.

That acid eats away at your tooth enamel, which, when combined with sugar consumption, contributes significantly to tooth decay. Even if you drink diet soda, the acid in it can still erode your teeth enamel, causing problems when you do consume sugar.

US dentists are in agreement that water is a much better alternative to soda for your teeth and your overall health. When you do consume soda, it’s best to drink it with a meal, where the food you eat will help dilute the acid. And if you can, brush your teeth right after having a soda.

Soda and Social Responsibility If the health issues associated with soda weren’t enough, there are social responsibility problems as well. Co-op America’s Responsible Shopper researchers found that some soft drink companies have been committing environmental and human rights abuses in the countries in which they operate.

Coca-Cola, for example, has been the focus of an international water rights campaign by the India Resource Center, because it conducts high-volume water extraction in states like Kerala and Rajasthan, where extreme shortages of potable water are a major problem ( www.indiaresource.org). And the Killer Coke campaign ( www.killercoke.org) alleges that eight union organizers at Colombian Coca-Cola plants have been murdered and nearly 100 others have been tortured by paramilitary groups, while Coca-Cola has yet to fully investigate the claims.

Not to be left behind, Pepsi has also been accused by consumer groups of privatizing aquifers and pumping them dry in areas where people are poor and water is scarce. And the 7-Up/RC Bottling Co., part of Cadbury-Schweppes, pled guilty in US District Court in Los Angeles in November 2005 to 12 criminal counts of violating the Clean Water Act. Industrial runoff from the bottling facility included toxic, petroleum-based substances.

In addition, the entire soda industry still isn’t doing nearly enough to use recycled content in soda containers and ensure that those containers are recovered and recycled. None of the 13 largest US beverage companies received above a C grade for container recycled content and recovery on the Container Recycling Institute’s “US Beverage Container Recycling Report Card,” and half of them received failing grades. Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, the two largest soda manufacturers, both earned Cs, and Cadbury-Schweppes earned an F. Only PepsiCo has committed to using ten percent recycled plastic content in its bottles — clearly the industry can do better.

For more on these and other problems in the soda industry, from mining to climate change, visit our Web site at www.responsibleshopper.org.

Natural Alternatives The best alternative to soda is water, as it’s generally free from sugar, artificial preservatives and colorings, and acids; it’s calorie-free; and it’s regulated under stricter safety guidelines than soda. But if you want something with a little more flavor, try these natural alternatives to soda:

• SPARKLING JUICES: Look for drinks that are 100 percent fruit juices combined with sparkling water for an all-natural drink with the effervescence of a soda. Brands to try include Izze, R.W. Knudsen organic fruit sparklers, and The Switch.

• NATURAL SODAS SWEETENED WITH EVAPORATED CANE JUICE: Evaporated cane juice is less refined than sugar, so it still has some of the nutrients that refined sugar has lost through processing. Keep in mind, though, it’ll still add empty calories to your diet and contribute to tooth decay if you drink too much, so use it in moderation. Look for sodas made without artificial ingredients, like Hansen’s Natural Sodas or GuS (Grown-up Soda).

• ORGANIC SODAS: Sodas containing organic ingredients are also generally made without artificial ingredients, and buying them helps support organic farmers. Try Blue Sky Soda and Santa Cruz Organic.

To really increase the social responsibility of your beverages, there’s always Co-op America business members who sell drinks like organic, Fair Trade, and/or all-natural coffee and tea, chai, yerba maté, and fruit juices — made, bottled, and sold in ways that care for people and the planet.

But no matter what you choose, try to drink the recommended six to eight eight-ounce glasses of water each day, eat a balanced diet, and limit your sugar intake for optimal health.