Thursday, January 5, 2012

Soda : The Silent Killer




Here are some startling facts about Coca-Cola:

-In many U.S. states, the highway patrol carries about 8 liters of Coke in the trunk to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.





-You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of Coke and it will be gone in 2 days.





-To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coke into the toilet bowl and let it sit for one hour, then flush clean. The acid in the soda removes stains from the china.





-The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. It's pH is 2.8, and will dissolve a nail in about 4 days.





-The distributors of Coke have been using it to clean the engines of their trucks for about 20 years.





Okay. So if Coca-Cola can do all that, imagine what it is doing to your body!!! Can you now understand how acidic and toxic sodas can be? If it can dissolve a T-bone, it's definitely dissolving your teeth and your bones.





Your body always wanted to be at a normal pH. So if you consume something that's highly acidic, your system will actually pull minerals (such as calcium and magnesium) from your bones to neutralize and bring your blood/body back to normal pH. So THIS is why more and more Americans are susceptible to brittle bones, osteoporosis, AND tooth decay.





And that's just one component of the fizzy beverage.





We've also got the sugar to worry about. Most sodas these days contain high fructose corn syrup, which wrecks havoc on your blood sugar, and signals your liver to immediately store as fat. See below for more on this:





According to Dr. Joseph Mercola, this is what happens to your body within an hour of drinking a Coke:





Within 10 minutes: 10 tsps of sugar hits your body (that's 100% of the USDA's recommended daily intake. In my option that is ridiculously excessive.) Phosphoric acid in the soda cuts the crazy sweet flavor. Otherwise, you might have thrown up automatically.





Within 20 minutes: Your blood sugar spikes, insulin rises, and your liver responds by turning sugar into fat.





Within 40 minutes: You've completely absorbed the caffeine, your pupils dilate, blood pressure rises, and more sugar is dumped into the blood stream by your liver.





Within 45 minutes: Dopamine production in the brain increases, which means your pleasure chemicals are activated. This has an almost identical effect on your mood and body as heroin...Yikes.





At 60 minute mark: SUGAR CRASH. Energy drops, hunger levels rise, crankiness may occur. May want more Coke or sugar.





Holy moley. That is so not cool.





So we've confirmed that soda is incredibly acidic, and that the excess sugar is pretty nasty too.
If you drink diet, don't think you're doing yourself any favors. Artifical sweeteners have over 92 different side effects, including brain tumors, birth defects, diabetes (that's right. It has the same effect on blood sugar levels as regular sugar), emotional disorders, and seizures. Not fun.





Oh, and here are some more fun facts about soda I grabbed from Dr. Mercola:





-One soda per day increases your risk of diabetes by 85%.
-Soda has been linked to kidney stones due to high phosphate levels.
-Soda drinkers have a higher risk of cancer, particularly pancreatic cancer, due to the high levels of benzene.
-Soda has been shown to cause DNA damage due to the preservative sodium benzoate, which has the ability to switch off important parts of your DNA. This could lead to Alzheimers and Parkinsons.





AND most sodas have tons of caffeine, which dehydrates your body, can lead to panic attacks and mood disorders, can interfere with your sleep, raise blood pressure, and raise your cholesterol.





Please...start drinking more water and less soda right NOW.





If you like the fizz, try sparkling mineral water, and add lemon or lime juice for flavor. You can also try liquid stevia, which is a natural herbal sweetener, and it comes in many different flavors that are absolutely delicious.