Sodas and Diet Drinks

Written by Robyn Holder Robyn Holder
Published: 16 July 2018 16 July 2018

I’ve had several occasions recently to discuss beverages, like soda, diet soda, energy drinks, etc. with individuals.  I’ll start by asking what the first three letters of d-i-e-t soda are?  Yikes!  I’m being melodramatic here, but seriously folks, drinking (or eating) anything with artificial sugars can be detrimental to your health. And, drinking chemical-laden sodas can be almost as unhealthy.

Why?

Your body is a magnificent machine.  We all come equipped with a marvelous liver, which is an organ that detoxifies anything harmful or unrecognizable to the body.  If we’re healthy, and not overburdened with junk, like diet sodas, fast food, tobacco, alcohol, etc., our liver can work quite handily to keep us healthy.  If we are challenged, our liver can’t handle it all and rather than overwork itself, it sends these toxic items to our fat cells for storage – they are “safe” there.

Interesting, isn’t it, that many of us drink diet beverages because we don’t want the calories?  But if we’re not healthy to begin with, that diet beverage is actually making us – oh my – FAT! The chemicals and artificial sugars are being stored in our fat cells, causing them to expand, which equates to a tighter waistband and smaller-fitting clothes!  And, we feel lousy to boot!

Consider these facts:

  • Colas can have an acidity level similar to battery acid. Do you want this in your system?
  • Colas can be used alongside many household cleaners and outwork them.
  • Most bottled/canned sodas have 15 teaspoons of sugars. That’s more than a single person should consume in a day – and many people drink on average 2.5 per day. This huge amount of sugar disrupts your blood sugar and blood pressure, causing them to soar only to crash shortly after.
  • Carbonated beverages irritate the lining of the stomach. The phosphoric acid also irritates your blood, so your body being the magnificent machine it is, pulls calcium from the blood and bones to help soothe this irritation.  And being calcium deficient leads to a whole set of issues, like bone fractures. 
  • If your beverages contain caffeine, like many energy drinks, for instance, you may experience irregular heartbeats, high blood pressure and anxiousness, which again irritates the entire body system!

A study published in Respirology states that drinking soft drinks is associated with breathing and lung disorders including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).  Other studies show that people who consume sodas daily have just under a 50 percent increase in heart attack and stroke risk, compared to people who do not drink sodas at all.

Scary stuff, right? 

Think about your choice of beverages.  If you drink a lot of sodas, teas, or energy drinks, consider cutting back.  Reduce your intake over the course of several days or weeks, and you might not even miss the carbonation and taste.  Of course, my first choice is fresh, cold water.  If that simply doesn’t appeal to you, try some of these ideas:

  • Add some lemon juice and a little honey to make your water more appealing.
  • Look for a healthy liquid stevia product that has flavoring it in and add a little bit to your water.
  • Grab a bottle of high quality pomegranate juice and add 1-2 tablespoons to a bottle of water – it will add delicious flavor and a host of antioxidants to boost! Make ice cubes with the juice and add that to a tall glass of fresh H2O.
  • If you like the fizz, plain seltzer water, while still carbonated, could be a choice to get you over the soda hump.

Give us a call if you’d like more tips and vitality ideas!

Sources:  The Alternative Daily; http://nutritionresearchcenter.org/healthnews/what-happens-to-your-body-if-you-drink-a-coke-right-now

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