Recent adventures in the wild jungle that is the young 20s social life, I have noticed one very prominent and worrisome fact: Young people drink a ton of soda! Now this has been going on forever, you say. Or it isn't so bad...pick your poison right? It tastes great! WHAT IS THE BIG DEAL ABBY? You are just a health nut.
Well dear friends, health nut or not I have decided that I will take on this carbonated drinks and sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) over consumption issue, in hopes of giving you an idea for your next diet or lifestyle change. Also I want to defend my own reasons for NOT drinking soda except for the TREAT of Ginger Beer or something else every once in a great while. let me preface this procession of information with one thought: moderation in ALL things. Does that mean that I believe you are Satan for drinking soda? Yes. hahaha! But seriously, The point is, I believe and agree with Doctors and scientists alike that drinking these beverages can be very harmful and they should be had minimally.
If currently you drink soda for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack, I would say ease off and try to drink less each time you need a drink or to switch to only one soda pop a day. That is progress! Like I have said before, SMALL and SUSTAINABLE changes lead to SUCCESS!
Okay Okay
So... I am going to be putting up a fact a day for the next 5-7 days to explain.
Today I am taking my information from a peer reviewed article describing soft drinks and their effects published in 2005 .
You can find that link below.
https://www-lib-byu-edu.erl.lib.byu.edu/cgi-bin/remoteauth.pl?url=http://proquest.umi.com.erl.lib.byu.edu/pqdweb?did=1180328001&Fmt=7&clientId=9338&RQT=309&VName=PQD
What is a soft drink? The average can of soft drink contains 40 grams of sugar, the equivalent of about 10 teaspoons. Soft drinks contain carbonated water, phosphoric and/or citric acid, flavoring, and usually coloring. Soft drinks are 100 percent carbohydrates; they contain no proteins or fats. Simply put, soft drinks are very low in saturated fat and cholesterol, high in sugar, and often contain large amounts caffeine. Tables 1 and 2 give detailed information on the nutritional composition of soft drinks.2 Over the years, the consumption of soft drinks has increased tremendously. Studies have reported that in 1970, each person consumed 22.2 gallons of soft drinks per year. Today, every man, woman, and child consumes approximately 56 gallons per year, or more than one-and-a-half cans per day. This means that more than 14 billion gallons of soda were consumed in the United States alone in 1999.3 In addition, 12-ounce cans of soft drinks increasingly are being replaced by 20-ounce plastic bottles. Americans drinking soft drinks from 20-ounce bottles will surely increase their consumption in this decade.
What are the side effects? There are many reported side effects to the consumption of soft drinks. These include dental caries, enamel erosion, obesity, nutritional deficiencies, and a possible decrease in milk consumption, potentially resulting in a subsequent risk of osteoporosis and fractures. According to the Surgeon General's Oral Health Report, dental caries is the single most common childhood disease. Studies indicate that soft drinks adversely affect enamel erosion by combining with bacteria in the mouth to form acid. Frequent ingestion of these sugar-containing, acidic beverages is a risk factor in the frequency and severity of dental caries. Another concern related to soft drinks is early childhood caries. Infants and toddlers frequently are given soft drinks in baby bottles and sippy cups. In fact, babies can drink from bottles with soft drink logos imprinted as a decorative advertisement. Approximately 15 percent of children are overweight, and studies suggest a significant rise in the number of obese children annually. Obese children exhibit an alarming increase in the incidence of type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, orthopedic problems, asthma, and liver disease. Overweight adolescents have a 70 percent chance of becoming overweight or obese adults.
Take what you will dear friends.
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