Soda: Just how bad is it really?
Since the development of soda and other sugary drinks there has been a significant increase in diabetes and deaths related these types of illnesses. Much has been done in the way of research to discover the relationship that drinking soda and similar soft drinks can have on our health. Researches have found that these soft drinks have contributed to the loss of 21,000 years of life and that the greatest risk is among the young. These kinds of problems don’t include drinks that are 100% juice and as a result those aren’t included in the study but most of the modern juice drinks we find today are often less than 10% juice and most of that juice comes from a concentrate which is loaded with sugar and preservatives in it’s own right. Soda has been linked to all sorts of conditions and diseases - especially if it’s consumed on a regular basis, which, unfortunately - most children and teenagers do. Regular soda drinking is know to lead to lower calcium levels in the body and eventually osteoporosis, because they contain large quantities of phosphorus which pulls calcium from the bones as well as damages arteries. This leads to an increased risk of bone fracture, as well as obesity an can easily dissolve the enamel on our teeth. It is said that Americans alone drink over thirteen billion gallons of carbonated drinks every year.
Many people think that the way around this is to drink “diet” or “sugar-free” sodas which are sweetened with a non-caloric sweetening agent called aspartame. The problem with aspartame is that when consumed it can lead to the development of brain tumors, brain cancer, and other serious risks. Many doctors recommend that this product be used sparingly - if used at all. This holds true to the caffeine that’s in most sodas as well. Many soft drinks contain an amount of caffeine that is close to what you would find in coffee and because it’s a bit of a natural diuretic it can also leach calcium from your kidneys and put a lot of unneeded stress on the body.
The most pressing concern with the consumption of soft drinks is the risk of obesity that is so tied to them. On average most adolescents in America consume four soft drinks a week and the odds of them becoming obese go up by one with every soda they consume. Twenty-one percent of the sugar Americans consume in their diet comes from soft drinks and children are particularly vulnerable to the dangerous side effects of such over-consumption of not only sugar but of nutrient depleting additives. Soft drinks also dangerously raise the level of insulin in the body and are known to be the cause of diabetes both in children and later in life. Getting hooked on these sugary soft drinks while young can be a cause of continued over-eating and can get many a young child in a very bad predicament with their weight before they even finish puberty. This can place them on the path of having weight and health problems for the rest of their life and can mean the early onset of many frustrating and dangerous illnesses and diseases. Obesity related illnesses are the number one cause of death in America and by allowing children to gorge themselves on soft drinks and sugary foods they are essentially being set up for a life of difficulty and struggles with their health. This is why it’s so important to keep children away from drinks like these as they are only causing damage. Instead stick to 100% natural fruit juices and lots of water.
When you consider just how much sugar is in soda - more than a full grown woman should consume in an entire day (and that’s by American standards which are inflated as is) it’s easy to see how imperative it is to keep children away from these drinks and how damaging they can be. That isn’t even the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the other chemicals, preservatives, additives and so forth that are but in to them. Things like aspartame which I already mentioned and sodium benzoate, which is used as a preservative, can cause extreme reactions. It’s also important to note that the carbonation that is used in soft drinks has also been shown to have an effect on the tiny capillaries in our lungs which control our ability to breathe properly. Drinking large amounts of soft drinks damages these capillaries and causes them to constrict and can even cause the development of asthma - something that sodium benzoate also contributes to.
Because of these obvious detrimental effects on the health of people who drink sodas and their unfortunate placement in schools where they are directly targeted to appeal to children there are many people who think that soft drinks should be taxed or even banned completely because of their impact on peoples health but unfortunately any money that came from this tax wouldn’t be put into the health care system - it would more likely be lost in the budget of general states and not be put to any good use. It’s far more important to spend our time and resources educating those around us and making sure that they, and especially our children, understand the implications that come with drinking soda as well as making an effort to find healthy and nutritious alternatives. Educating consumers this way, as was similarly done with cigarettes and chewing tobacco isn’t difficult and can easily be accomplished with warning labels and groups dedicated to informing others about the dangers that soft drinks and colas can hold. A tax isn’t necessary and will do little in the way of preventing people from continuing to purchase these drinks. However, accurate labels that show the truth of what people have to fear from continuing to consume sodas will do much more and this kind of education can reduce long-term health care costs because of the rates of disease and obesity it will help decrease.
When it comes to sodas and sugary drinks there is really only one option if you want to be healthy - don’t drink them and inform others about the effects of drinking them. Hopefully one day we’ll have an educated country that knows what is and isn’t good for them to eat.