• Soda! Do You Really Want to Drink That? Part 1 of 2

  Filed under Blog Entries
  Jun 22

  

  If my cola, diet cola or orange fizzy drink were bad for me, they wouldn’t even be able to sell it, right?  The FDA would never allow such a thing, and there would at least be a warning on the label, hunh! Well, think again!  I think we all know that there is enough publicity today over how many drugs, ingredients and substances that has been approved by the FDA, yet they are still available for purchase; not to mention the encouragement for you to buy from their many producers and marketers while at the same time touting their safety.

  We know cigarette smoking causes cancer, alcohol consumption causes cirrhosis and a little pink-packaged sweetener has been proven to cause several different types of cancer in the laboratory, but we are the ones that are still left to choose.  Relying on the government, the FDA and of course, the makers of these toxic food and drink “stuffs” to protect our health interests can actually be detrimental to our health. It is time to take our power back, become informed ourselves and make choices that lead to good health and vitality instead of fatigue and chronic disease.

  It is always my intention to give you the highest quality information to help you make the informed decisions you need to live the healthiest life possible.  With that in mind, sometimes my blogs get quite lengthy, and that is because I feel so many informational posts leave out key information that make all the difference in choices the public makes.  So!  Here I am going to start a two-part series on soda to give you the opportunity to absorb it all and hopefully find that it is just not the beverage of choice when it comes to health – no matter how you look at it!

  Below begins the break-down of some of the most notable negatives to explore in deciding to drink these so-called beverages.  While some brands may weigh in more toxic than others, the bottom line is that ALL soft drinks have a downside when it comes to your health.  In all my research, I think I can honestly say that sodas are among the absolute worse things you could ever introduce into the human body.  Take heart and health in the following:
  

  • Extreme acidity – drinking soda is like drinking pure vinegar.  It has a ph of 2.5!  The human body stays disease free when in a more alkaline state and this is far from it.  Cancers especially thrive in an acidic environment.  This acidity also wreaks havoc on the digestive track.  A simple cola can be used to clean greasy car parts…not something you want in your stomach!

  • Sodium benzoate is a common preservative widely used in soda that can cause serious cell damage with its ability to switch off vital parts of DNA.   This is a problem seen mostly in the aging and in alcohol abuse and can eventually lead to cirrhosis of the liver and degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s.  It is also strongly connected to our epidemic of ADD in children due to its effects on brain function.  When combined with other ingredients and even Vitamin C (a vital antioxidant for optimal health) as an additive to soda, it creates benzene, a highly carcinogenic property.  Recently, four sodas were taken off the shelves for this very reason.  Other disorders such as asthma, rashes and eczema have also been linked to this preservative.

  • Additives and preservatives – Too numerous to mention and depending on the brand of soda, these are ingredients like artificial colorings, i.e., caramel (no, this is not the same chewy candy caramel you get on Halloween 🙂 ), and preservatives like the sodium benzoate mentioned above.  They are all chemical substances made in a laboratory and have no business in the human body.

  • Phosphoric acid pulls calcium, magnesium, and zinc from bone and forces the body to excrete them, thus leading us to our serious increase in osteoporosis and other bone deteriorating disorders over the last few decades.  It also erodes teeth enamel and stunts bone growth in children.
    

  • Carbonation is one of the most over-looked components of drinking sodas as it causes digestive problems, most notably GERD (gastro-esophageal reflux disease).  If you are having acid reflux, back off the soda for just a few days and see if it doesn’t help tremendously and/or completely alleviate the problem altogether.  Acid reflux is also the most important risk factor for esophageal adenocarcinoma.  The stomach acid from the distention in the stomach caused by the carbonation is forced to back up into the esophagus.  The lining of the esophagus is not meant to withstand what the stomach can.  Other issues include the inability to digest food properly due to enzymatic interference and its contribution to ulcerations.

  • Sodium causes dehydration, blood pressure issues and keeps water from absorbing into the cells where it is vitally needed.  Conversely, it keeps other nutrients from absorbing and instead forces them to be excreted from the body.

  • Empty calories cause the immune system to be on double duty to deal with the influx of toxins and remove them; they store unnecessarily as fat; and they tax the endocrine system leaving your hormones firing at the wrong times, too much or not at all.  This disruption is connected to many disorders throughout the body and can create a domino effect towards chronic disease and other illnesses.

  Next time, we’ll look at some of the more common reasons that sodas are not good for you that you most likely have heard much more about.  I’ll break them down for further understanding and hopefully inspire you to make other healthier choices for the future!

  If you’d like more information on how to truly make great nutritional choices and learn to live an energetic, passionate life, click here for more information.  Until next time, continue striving to live happy, healthy and on purpose!

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