As many of you know, I have not drank soft drinks for almost nine years. It all goes back to University of Alabama Volleyball Camp. Our team listened to a speaker talk on health. One thing she stressed was how unhealthy soft drinks were for us. She showed an example of what placing a battery in coke would do. The acidity is so strong- it eats up the battery. This was enough to catch my attention. I slowly weaned off sodas the next few years. I went from loving Dr. Pepper to only drinking Sprite in college. Another reason I stopped was because I didn't want the nine hundred dollars spent on bleaching my teeth peed down the drain!
Now I want to share the information to let you know the effects of soft drinks.
Does rampant cavities, frequent mood swings, and erratic energy levels sound like how you want to live? I didn't think so...but soda and other sugar-sweetened drinks have become the largest source of calories in the American diet, replacing white bread. 450 different varieties of soda are sold in the United States. The first sip you take of soda you have already given it permission to wreck havoc on the body. It corrodes the teeth, confuses the appetite - regulating hormones in the digestive tract, attacks the bones, and encourages the organ breakdown that leads to diabetes.
Pack on the LB's
Americans drink an average of 18 ounces of liquid candy daily, if you fall into this category, you're adding about 225 calories to your diet. Over the course of a year, these drinks could be adding 24 lb's to your bottom line.
Slow Processing
Drinking soda will not only increase your bottom line, but it also stresses the body's ability to process sugar. Some scientists now suspect that the liquid candy may help explain why the number of Americans with type 2 diabetes has tripled from 6.6 million in 1980 to 20.8 million today.
Pearly Whites not so Pearly
How does using corrosive acid for mouth wash sound? That is what I thought..."Soda eats up and dissolves the tooth enamel." says Poonam Jain, director of community dentistry at Southern Illinois School of Dental Medicine. Here is what the speaker at Volleyball Camp was talking about...Battery acid, for example has a pH of 1; water scores a 7. Jain found that sugar-sweetened sodas came in at 2.5, while diet sodas scored 3.2. Soda's acidity makes it even worse for teeth than the solid sugar found in candy. By eroding the enamel, soda speeds up the decay process, making it easier for bacteria to enter the teeth. The acidity also weakens bones- causing more chance of osteoporosis through the loss of calcium.
Slim Sodas
Almost a third of all carbonated beverages sold in the United States are diet. But are these drinks really any healthier? Not particularly. They might not contain 10 teaspoons of sugar, but it has it own problems: caffeine, acids that promote tooth erosion; and artificial sweeteners. Diet sodas may not even help ward off weight gain.
An explanation may come via a recent animal study at Purdue University. The found that
artificial sweeteners can interfere with the body's natural ability to regulate calorie intake. This could mean people who consume artificially sweetened items are more likely to overindulge.
Sugar-free drinks aren't healthier for your pearly whites, either.
So it all boils down to...H20. Good ole' water is the healthiest diet drink of all!
Now I want to share the information to let you know the effects of soft drinks.
Does rampant cavities, frequent mood swings, and erratic energy levels sound like how you want to live? I didn't think so...but soda and other sugar-sweetened drinks have become the largest source of calories in the American diet, replacing white bread. 450 different varieties of soda are sold in the United States. The first sip you take of soda you have already given it permission to wreck havoc on the body. It corrodes the teeth, confuses the appetite - regulating hormones in the digestive tract, attacks the bones, and encourages the organ breakdown that leads to diabetes.
Pack on the LB's
Americans drink an average of 18 ounces of liquid candy daily, if you fall into this category, you're adding about 225 calories to your diet. Over the course of a year, these drinks could be adding 24 lb's to your bottom line.
Slow Processing
Drinking soda will not only increase your bottom line, but it also stresses the body's ability to process sugar. Some scientists now suspect that the liquid candy may help explain why the number of Americans with type 2 diabetes has tripled from 6.6 million in 1980 to 20.8 million today.
Pearly Whites not so Pearly
How does using corrosive acid for mouth wash sound? That is what I thought..."Soda eats up and dissolves the tooth enamel." says Poonam Jain, director of community dentistry at Southern Illinois School of Dental Medicine. Here is what the speaker at Volleyball Camp was talking about...Battery acid, for example has a pH of 1; water scores a 7. Jain found that sugar-sweetened sodas came in at 2.5, while diet sodas scored 3.2. Soda's acidity makes it even worse for teeth than the solid sugar found in candy. By eroding the enamel, soda speeds up the decay process, making it easier for bacteria to enter the teeth. The acidity also weakens bones- causing more chance of osteoporosis through the loss of calcium.
Slim Sodas
Almost a third of all carbonated beverages sold in the United States are diet. But are these drinks really any healthier? Not particularly. They might not contain 10 teaspoons of sugar, but it has it own problems: caffeine, acids that promote tooth erosion; and artificial sweeteners. Diet sodas may not even help ward off weight gain.
An explanation may come via a recent animal study at Purdue University. The found that
artificial sweeteners can interfere with the body's natural ability to regulate calorie intake. This could mean people who consume artificially sweetened items are more likely to overindulge.Sugar-free drinks aren't healthier for your pearly whites, either.
So it all boils down to...H20. Good ole' water is the healthiest diet drink of all!
