Soda's Impact - Felt in Our Body and In the Mirror
Posted by Alawar Store
on Friday, May 23. 2014
at 22:39
in Damaging Diets
Shockingly, a recent study that was released by Harvard's school of Public Health found that drinking too much diet soda can actually cause as much damage to your teet and gums as if you were chronically abusing methamphetamines or cocaine. This was a startlingly discovery, as until this point, it was thought to be mostly harmless to drink diet soda. It's certainly always been considered far better than the full sugar alternatives. The acids found in these artificial sweeteners was found to eat away tooth enamels, which can cause fairly rapid decay. There's also been several other studies which have come out in recent years that diet sodas, at least those with the more "chemical sweeteners" have been a particular source for harmful side effects such as depression, diabetes and obesity.Even given these negatives that diet soda can cause, the full fledged variety is far worse. Obesity, diabetes, chronic weight gain, metabolism drops, lack of energy and seriously bad heart conditions have all been linked to regularly soda consumption. It's no surprise that doctors often recommend removing soda from your diet as the very first step to improve your health. The high fructose corn syrups found in these products are totally unnatural, and extremely calorie intensive. We've compiled a list of studies that demonstrate some of the many consequences of regular soda consumption.
What Science is Saying About Daily Soda Intake
A research study at Bangor University in England found that sugar in soda actually changes your metabolism. They tracked men and women who had a large soda worth of sugar each day (roughly 140 grams, about two cans of Mountain Dew for scale). They found that metabolism dropped considerably after 4 weeks, making it much more difficult for them to burn calories. Another study by the Center for Science in the Public Interest found that several compounds in most sodas, such as 4-MI, was a carcinogen. The levels found in a typical soda were actually above the threshold were increased cancer risks actually occurred.
There is other information about the damage that soda can cause from a plethora of other universities and studies. A Danish study found that in a group of obese and overweight people, they drank about a liter per day of soda. The groups that had the same volume of liquid, even from milk or diet sodas, have significantly lower fat and in far less damaging areas of their bodies. They found increased fat stored on the person's liver and muscles if the person drank soda regularly.
There's also some other risks to drinking soda, another study by a group of researchers found that the high levels of phosphorus found as a coloring agent in many "dark" sodas actually shortens the person's lifespan. They have typically a lifespan reduction of 10-20% over the mean, with lifetime exposure to high levels of this substance. This is just another reason to avoid a lot of soda intake, needless to say.
Given these consequences, from obesity to heart disease to even fat induced sclerosis of the liver, soda carries with it some difficult to live with side effects. Diet soda is certainly better, and there's no doubt you should drink this instead if no other options are available. However, few things are as good for us as natural water, or naturally sweetened flavorings for water. Coffee and tea are also excellent additions as many studies have shown, helping to cut down on cancer risk as well as improve digestion and decrease your risk of diabetes. Still, soda drinkers face a long and arduous climb if they want to lose weight and continue drinking it daily. It's important that people start with these sugary sodas first if they're really determined to lose weight.