WHAT IS A SODA?
It is a beverage that contains carbonated water, a sweetening agent usually sugar, and a form of flavoring agent usually caffeine or fruit juice. Served cold and never warm.
We all know what a soda is and even have our own favorite brand and flavor. From time to time it does no harm to drink one either. But the rate at which the population consumes soda is starting to become a serious problem, why? because
25% of all drinks in the United States are composed of soda. In the year 2000 alone, 15 billion gallons of soda were sold in the United States. That’s like giving everyone a 12-ounce soda every day, and the worst part is, kids are the ultimate consumers of soda, meaning, drinking soda is as normal as drinking water.
The big question is - How will their health be in a few years? Will they encounter problems as they continue to consume soda? Are there any serious side effects to consider? Luckily, there are side-effects.
Listed hereunder are 10 of these side effects that might make us and our kids think twice before drinking a soda drink.
1. Tooth Decay - Why tooth decay? Amusingly enough, makers of soda have admitted that drinking their products will lead us to tooth decay. They haven’t come out saying that directly, but have hinted of this side effect. So if you’re an avid soda drinker you might want to schedule more visits to the dentist.
2. Calcium Loss and Osteoporosis - As we all know, phosphoric acid sucks the calcium out of our bones and it's a major contributor to osteoporosis. Breaking down the components of a soda will reveal that phosphoric acid is the most active ingredient, so the more soda you drink every day, the more calcium you lose. Remember that without calcium our bones weaken, making us to become more vulnerable to a lot of illnesses and bone defects.
3. Obesity - Since sodas contain tons of sugar and calories, they make their drinkers fat and more vulnerable of becoming obese. In a recent study, researchers find out that 12 years old children who are regular soda drinkers increased their risk of obesity 1.6 times.
4. Caffeine Addiction - Majority of soda drinkers today can’t quit because of the presence of caffeine. Drinkers are addicted to the beverage because of the presence of large amounts of caffeine. Too much intake of caffeine may lead a person to become more nervous, irritable, and anxious. Physical effects also occur as the person has twitching, headaches, heart palpitations, and insomnia.
5. Kidney Stones - Drinking large amounts of soda can lead to the formation of kidney stones that are formed in the urethra. With these, solid concretions are formed in the kidneys from dissolved urinary minerals like soda. A painful experience that soda offers to its drinkers.
6. Financial Loss - Might be an exaggeration but definitely not. An average pack of soda, assuming it’s a twelve pack, costs 3 or 4 dollars. Now let’s say you drink 4 times a week, so that twelve pack will last you 3 weeks. That is 56 dollars a year. Now you might say that isn’t so much at all. Well that’s assuming you only drink 4 bottles of soda a week. What if you actually drink more? And what if because of too much drinking soda you got sick?
7. Bacteria - Well to be fair buying the soda yourself from a reputable store will avoid this. But what if you eat outside and order a soda? You cannot control how or where they get their soda. In a recent study, tests shows and discovered that 48% of sodas you order from restaurants and fast-food contains bacteria. Coliform bacteria are rod-shaped and commonly found in animal feces. Their mere presence is a sign of unsanitary conditions.
8. Increase In Blood Pressure - Why? Because sodas uses preservatives and the use of sodium benzoate achieves this. It kills bacteria and fungi when placed under acidic conditions. It is also used as a preservative in medicines and cosmetics. But has harmful side effects such as an increase in blood pressure, skin rashes and can trigger an asthma attack in asthmatic individuals.
9. Dehydration - Remember that sodas are considered diuretic. They leave us dehydrated. They only quench thirst temporarily then leaves us even thirstier. This is because of caffeine and sugar that are found in sodas.
Caffeine causes you to urinate more and frequently. Remember when you drink an alcoholic beverage and you have to go every now and then? Well alcohol also contains caffeine. Sugar on the other hand absorbs water. And since your body expels sugar through urine, it expels the water inside you as well leaving you dry, thirsty, and dehydrated.
10. Diabetes - As what we can see, this illness is a chain effect of obesity caused by drinking soda. Obese have higher chances of getting more illnesses. One of them is diabetes. In a nutshell diabetes is when your body has a hard time processing sugar. This doesn’t surprise a lot of doctors because in 1980 there were only 6.6 million diabetic patients. And today there are over 20.8 million diabetic patients. The sweet temptation known as soda had definitely played a major role in this increase.
BE HEALTH CAUTIOUS
Let us remember that the key to good health is always moderation. An occasional bottle of liquor will not ruin your health and your life. This holds true to sodas. Having a nice soda now and then will not hurt you. The above side effects will only appear if you drink the sweet substance on a regular basis, as a replacement to water.
FOR A CHANGE
It is never too late to control the habit. Start trimming down the number of sodas you drink everyday and try to switch to a more nutritional drinks like water or fruit juice. And if you feel like reaching out for another soda, ask yourself, is it really worth it?
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