SOFT DRINKS
CATEGORY: FOODS TO AVOID
Soft drinks (also called: fizzy drinks, carbonated beverages, cool drinks, cold drinks, lolly water, pop, seltzer, soda, soda pop and so on) are any drinks containing carbonated water, a sweetener and a natural or artificial flavoring. The sweetener may be sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice, sugar substitutes or some combination of these. Due to the high sugar content in typical soft drinks, they may also be called sugary drinks. Soft drinks may also contain caffeine, colorings, preservatives, and other ingredients.
Soft drinks are available in many formats, including cans, glass bottles, and plastic bottles. They are also widely available at fast food restaurants, movie theaters, convenience stores, casual dining restaurants, and bars from soda fountain machines.
As reported by ‘The Telegraph’ on 22 October 2015:
‘Scientists issued a warning over fizzy drinks, claiming that they cause a death toll of 184,000 adults every year’
Why are they so bad?
SOFT DRINKS CAN MAKE US FAT
This one may seem obvious. However, what you may not know is that diet soft drinks can still affect our waistline dramatically.
- * A study found that those who drank diet fizzy drinks saw their waistlines expand nearly three times as much as non-drinkers and even more so than those drinking non-diet versions.
SOFT DRINKS CAN MAKE US VIOLENT
- * A study carried out on teenagers found a link between drinking fizzy drinks, violence and the likelihood of them carrying a weapon. The researchers found that even teenagers who drank just two cans a week were more aggressive towards their friends and those who drank five or more cans a week were also more likely to have drunk alcohol or smoked at least once in the previous month.
SOFT DRINKS CAN CHANGE YOUR BRAIN LEADING TO HYPERACTIVITY
As well as affecting the body, fizzy drinks have been found to alter the protein levels in the brain, which could lead to hyperactivity.
SOFT DRINKS CAN INCREASE THE RISK OF CANCER
There have been many studies that have looked at the links between various types of cancer and fizzy drink consumption. They suggest:
- * Drinking just two sugary soft drinks a week increases the amount of insulin the pancreas produces and can double the risk of developing pancreatic cancer.
- * Drinking just one fizzy drink a day could increase a man’s chance of developing prostate cancer by around 40 per cent.
Drinking just one-and-a-half cans a day can increase a girl’s breast cancer risk by per cent.
SOFT DRINKS CAN RAISE THE RISK OF HEART DISEASE
Scientists in America found a strong link between the proportion of daily calories from foods laden with added sugars (like fizzy drinks) and death rates from cardiovascular disease.
- * They claimed that drinking three cans a day could triple our risk of heart disease.
SOFT DRINKS CAN LEAD TO DIABETES
Sugar-laden drinks have been proven to increase the risk of type 2 diabetes.
- * A study conducted between 1990 and 2000 estimated that the increased consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks contributed to 130,000 new cases of diabetes.
SOFT DRINKS CAN CAUSE LIVER DAMAGE
- * A study from 2009 found that sugary drinks can cause fatty liver disease and drinking just two cans per day could lead to liver damage.
SOFT DRINKS CAN CAUSE PREMATURE AGING
Phosphates used in fizzy drinks, as well as many other processed foods, has been found to speed up the ageing process. This is not bad just in terms of wrinkles, but also health complications that some with age, such as , chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular calcification.
SOFT DRINKS CAN INCREASE OUR RISK OF ALZHEIMER’S
Scientists in America found that mice fed the equivalent of five cans of sugary drinks a day had worse memories and twice the amount of brain deposits associated with the disease than mice without added sugar in their diet.
SOFT DRINKS CAN CAUSE EARLY PUBERTY
A Harvard Medical School study of 5,583 girls aged nine to 14 found that those who drank just one-and-a-half cans of soft drink a day had their first period earlier than those who did not. This consequently meant that their risk of cancer increased.
SOFT DRINKS CAN CAUSE PREMATURE BIRTH IN PREGNANT WOMEN
Pregnant women were warned against drinking diet fizzy drinks after a study taken in Denmark on 60,000 women.
- * Those who drank artificially sweetened soft drinks, whether fizzy or still, were found to be more likely to give birth prematurely. It was thought that the CHEMICALS IN THE ARTIFICIAL SWEETENER CHANGED THE WOMBS OF THE WOMEN.
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