Is Soda Pop OK to Drink?
Trainer Eric and I get this question a lot. Our gut response is “NO!” Sometimes too adamantly to whomever we are talking to. You must drink 40 gallons of water to neutralize the acidity and bad effects to your body of ONE soda pop!… There are some things that we wish as a culture we could “dis-invent” and soda pop is one of them. It makes Eric cringe to watch people come into a gym or personal training session carrying their preferred soda pop and drinking it during the workout… DON’T YOU REALIZE YOU ARE HURTING YOUR BODY???
“But it’s diet or it has no calories” are the typical responses we get.
Okay so why are you drinking it? Why are you wasting your money and your time drinking something that can’t help you achieve your health and fitness goals? So to back up our soap box, Eric went hunting to back up our assertions.
First, Eric and I will agree that you can rarely drink a soda pop (maybe at most 1-2 soda/month, though Eric and I essentially never drink pop). We advise this approach to ice cream, sweets, fried foods, etc. – Moderation is key. BUT PLEASE DO NOT WALK INTO YOUR GYM WITH A SODA POP OR A TRAINING SESSION WITH ERIC or even our Excell office! We will give you the “Are you kidding me?” look.
Okay so here is what Eric found when searching for “Affects of soda pop on your body”.
First, we will break down what is in most soda pops:
Phosphoric Acid: May interfere with the body’s ability to use calcium, which can lead to osteoporosis or softening of the teeth and bones. Phosphoric acid also neutralizes the hydrochloric acid in your stomach, which can interfere with digestion, making it difficult to utilize nutrients.
Sugar: Soft drink manufacturers are the largest single user of refined sugar in the United States. It is a proven fact that sugar increases insulin levels, which can lead to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, weight gain, premature aging and many more negative side effects. Most sodas include over 100 percent of the RDA of sugar.
Aspartame: This chemical is used as a sugar substitute in diet soda. There are over 92 different health side effects associated with aspartame consumption including brain tumors, birth defects, diabetes, emotional disorders and epilepsy/seizures. Further, when aspartame is stored for long periods of time or kept in warm areas it changes to methanol, an alcohol that converts to formaldehyde and formic acid, which are known carcinogens.
Caffeine: Caffeinated drinks can cause jitters, insomnia, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, elevated blood cholesterol levels, vitamin and mineral depletion, breast lumps, birth defects, and perhaps some forms of cancer.
Soda is one of the main reasons, nutritionally speaking, why many people suffer health problems. Aside from the negative effects of the soda itself, drinking a lot of soda is likely to leave you with little appetite for vegetables, protein and other food that your body needs AND the half your body weight in ounces a day that you need of God’s main drink for our bodies – WATER!
How many sodas have you had today? How about your kids? The average American drinks an estimated 56 gallons of soft drinks each year, but before you grab that next can of soda, consider this: one can of soda has about 10 teaspoons of sugar, 150 calories, 30 to 55 mg of caffeine, and is loaded with artificial food colors and sulphites (www.oleda.com/products.asp?dept=48).
Here are some more quotes Eric found from doctors who have studied the effects of soda on the body:
“Many general dietary factors have been suggested as a cause of osteoporosis, including: low calcium-high phosphorus intake, high-protein diet, high-acid-ash diet, high salt intake, and trace mineral deficiencies. It appears that increased soft drink consumption is a major factor that contributes to osteoporosis. A deficiency of vitamin K leads to impaired mineralization of bone. Boron deficiency may contribute greatly to osteoporosis as well as to menopausal symptoms.”
“Soft drinks have long been suspected of leading to lower calcium levels and higher phosphate levels in the blood. When phosphate levels are high and calcium levels are low, calcium is pulled out of the bones. The phosphate content of soft drinks like Coca -Cola and Pepsi is very high, and they contain virtually no calcium.”
“Soft drink consumption in children poses a significant risk factor for impaired calcification of growing bones.”
“Soft drink consumption may be a major factor for osteoporosis as they are high in phosphates but contain virtually no calcium. This leads to lower calcium levels and higher phosphate levels in the blood. The United States ranks first among countries for soft drink consumption with a per capita consumption of approximately 15 ounces a day.” (http://www.naturalnews.com/004416.html)
“Most soft drinks contain a high amount of simple sugars. The USDA recommendation of sugar consumption for a 2,000-calorie diet is a daily allotment of 10 teaspoons of added sugars. Many soft drinks contain more than this amount!
Just why is too much sugar so unhealthy? Well, to start, let’s talk about what happens to you as sugar enters your body. When you drink sodas that are packed with simple sugars, the pancreas is called upon to produce and release insulin, a hormone that empties the sugar in your blood stream into all the tissues and cells for usage. The result of overindulging in simple sugar is raised insulin levels. Raised blood insulin levels beyond the norm can lead to depression of the immune system, which in turn weakens your ability to fight disease.
Something else to consider is that most of the excess sugar ends up being stored as fat in your body, which results in weight gain and elevates risk for heart disease and cancer. One study found that when subjects were given refined sugar, their white blood cell count decreased significantly for several hours afterwards. Another study discovered that rats fed a high-sugar diet had a substantially elevated rate of breast cancer when compared to rats on a regular diet. (See: Hoehn, SK et al: “Complex versus simple carbohydrates and mammary tumors in mice.” Nutr Cancer 1979; 1: 27.)”
“You may come to the conclusion that diet or sugar-free soda is a better choice. However, one study discovered that drinking one or more soft drinks a day — and it didn’t matter whether it was diet or regular — led to a 30% greater chance of weight gain around the belly.
Diet soda is filled with artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose, or saccharin. These artificial sweeteners pose a threat to your health. Saccharin, for instance, has been found to be carcinogenic, and studies have found that it produced bladder cancer in rats.
Aspartame, commonly known as nutrasweet, is a chemical that stimulates the brain to think the food is sweet. It breaks down into acpartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol at a temperature of 86 degrees. (Remember, your stomach is somewhere around 98 degrees.) An article put out by the University of Texas found that aspartame has been linked to obesity. The process of stimulating the brain causes more cravings for sweets and leads to carbohydrate loading. (http://health.yahoo.net/experts/drmao/what-soft-drinks-are-doing-your-body)”
…So we know we can easily win this debate about soda pop! Any way you look at it, soda pop is not good for you body.
Soda pop is a not a product that anyone should be putting in their bodies let alone while trying to work out , be your best weight, and working to be your healthiest!
Our prayers for you and your family to quickly cut any soda pop out of your diet! You can do it!
Dr. Lisa & Trainer Eric Walden
“I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me!” Phil. 4:13
