I was enlightened on the horrific stats regarding soda pop consumption by a very trusted source, Dr. Joseph Mercola. I’m not a pop drinker, so I breathed a sigh of relief…if only for a moment, and then realized how many people in my life are hooked on the sugary beverage. And what’s worse? The diet version! Every pop drinker should read this… Even my teenagers thought it was “disgusting”. And with nearly obesity levels soaring amongst Canadians, anything you can do to stop weight gain is critical.
How Soda Affects Your Body
Did you know that just one can of Coke contains 10 teaspoons of sugar?!
This is 100 percent of your recommended daily intake (which is more than double my recommended daily allowance to begin with). Within 20 minutes of drinking that soda, your blood sugar spikes, and your liver responds to the resulting insulin burst by turning massive amounts of sugar into fat.
Within 40 minutes, your blood pressure rises due to your body having absorbed all the caffeine, and then your liver dumps even more sugar into your bloodstream.
After about one hour, you’ll start to have a sugar crash, which oftentimes leads you into a vicious cycle of consuming more sugar – and caffeine-laden stimulants, followed by crashes, throughout your day.
It is a proven fact that sugar increases your insulin levels, which can lead to not only weight gain, but also high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, premature aging and many more negative side effects.
In fact, sugar is so bad for your health in so many ways, I’ve created an entire list outlining the ways sugar can damage your health.
How Soda Damages Your Health and Cuts Years off Your Life
One of the more troubling health risks soda drinkers face (as if obesity isn’t bad enough) is a higher cancer risk. Numerous studies have pointed out the link between sugar and increased rates of cancer, suggesting that regulating sugar intake is key to slowing tumor growth.
Studies have linked sugar intake with different types of cancer, such as:
Soda has even been shown to cause DNA damage, courtesy of sodium benzoate, a common preservative found in many soft drinks, which has the ability to switch off vital parts of your DNA. This could eventually lead to diseases such as cirrhosis of the liver and Parkinson’s.
Gout is another common health challenge that disproportionally affects soda drinkers, and this is directly related to the fructose content of soda. In fact, studies have shown that other beverages with high fructose content, such as fruit juices, and even consuming large quantities of fresh fruits can raise your risk of gout.
How is this possible?
Well, first of all, please understand that it’s not the fructose in and of itself that is bad. Whole fruits for example are a nutritious part of your diet when consumed in moderation.
It’s the MASSIVE DOSES of fructose you’re exposed to that spell trouble.
Fructose, as opposed to glucose, is particularly damaging to your body due to the way it’s metabolized. The entire burden of metabolizing fructose falls on your liver, which creates a number of waste products and toxins, including a large amount of uric acid, which drives up blood pressure and causes gout.
Likewise, it’s the difference in how your body responds to fructose that also makes it the leading cause of obesity.
Whereas glucose suppresses the hunger hormone ghrelin and stimulates leptin, which suppresses your appetite, fructose has no effect on ghrelin and interferes with your brain’s communication with leptin. The result is overeating, weight gain and ultimately obesity.
Last but certainly not least, fructose clearly raises your insulin levels, which is at the heart of nearly every disease known to man – not just diabetes. In fact, controlling your insulin levels is one of the most important things you can do to optimize your overall health, and avoiding sugar, and most definitely fructose, is essential to do this. If you want to stop weight gain, read about the other 4 foods that can sabotage your weight loss efforts here.
Drugs are occasionally prescribed for people with a BMI over 30, or people with a BMI over 27 who also have other risk factors or diseases. Typically, these drugs are used to complement dietary therapy and physical activity, and should never be taken in place of lifestyle strategies. There are two main categories of weight loss medications:
