Soft Drinks, Colas

Avoid Colas - In one study, females who were frequent cola drinkers--no matter what their age or how much milk they drank--had lower bone density than noncola drinkers. A good alternative is non-caffeinated herb teas. --adapted from Prevention Sept. 2009.

Suzanne

Acids in Drinks also Damage Teeth

Many remember the old science experiment where a teacher would put a tooth in a bottle of cola to display the perils of sugar; the tooth would disappear in a few days.

Researchers have now demonstrated that non-colas, canned iced teas and even diet drinks also can weaken and erode tooth enamel. As a result, the average person, who washes down two 12-ounce cans of soft drink every day, is unwittingly making his or her teeth more vulnerable to cavities.

Sugar--the typical 12-ounce can of sofa contains 10 teaspoons--isn't the only culprit. The malic, tartaric, citric and phosphoric acids that impart a nice, tart flavor are particularly corrosive to the tooth's protective enamel coating.

"The sugar does cause problems, but it's nowhere near as injurious as the acids," according to lead author of the research team, J. Anthony von Fraunhofer, a professor of restorative dentistry at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. These acids, he notes draw calcium out of tooth enamel.

He and a colleague exposed dental enamel from healthy extracted teeth to a variety of popular drinks for 14 days. In a surprise finding, some artifically sweetened drinks were more damaging than their sucrose- or fructose-sweetened counterparts. Non-colas were worse than colas.

"It was astonishing to me how bad the non-colas were," Von Fraunhofer said. Sodas and flavored teas were especially tough on tooth enamel. --This study was published in the July/August 2004 issue of General Dentistry, the Journal of the Academy of General Dentistry.

"I call soda pop the liquid chain saw. It cuts through teeth. And it's not just the sugar--it's the acid." --Chris Kammer, DDS. --Reader's Digest, July 2009.

Suzanne

Soft Drinks and Esophageal Cancer

Reutershealth.com published a summary of a study which found that wherever carbonated drink consumption goes up in the world, the rates of esophageal cancer also rises. This does not equal proof that these drinks cause esophageal cancer, but there is a biological basis for such suspicion because the carbon dioxide in the soft drinks will distend the stomach, raising the risk of acid reflux back into the esophagus, which has already been shown to cause esophageal cancer in humans. Thus there is a fairly high probability that the soft drinks may indeed be linked to rising rates of esophageal cancer seen in the U.S. and elsewhere. --This info was posted on another web site.

Suzanne

More Reasons to Ditch Sodas

We all know that sodas are really not good for us. Here are more motivators to quit.

* Women drinking more than one daily sugared soda were 85% more likely to get type 2 diabetes than those averaging less than one, according to Harvard experts.

* Sugar-laden soft drinks really do rot teeth, say researchers at the University of Maryland Baltimore, Dental School. Their studies showed that malic and tartaric acids in noncola drinks damaged dental enamel.

* Caffeine, carbonation, and sugar substitutes can irritate the bladder, and keep you running to the bathroom, according to pelvic disorders specialists at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. --adapted from Prevention, magazine, November 2004.

Suzanne

More than one soda a day? Amazing what has changed!

When I was growing up, having a soda was a royal treat. Maybe once a semester.

Maybe the treat was not having them very often.
Never, now.

Sports Drinks Erode Teeth

Sports beverages, energy drinks, and other flavored beverages may do far more damage to your teeth than other soft drinks. Researchers at the University of Maryland exposed healthy molars to various flavored drinks for 2 continuous weeks.

Beverages such as KMK, Red Bull, Gatorade, and Powerade caused up to 11 times more erosion of tooth enamel than even the cola drinks.

Perhaps it's a good idea to limit your intake of those drinks, as well as bottled lemonade, which also yielded high damage.

Which is the most harmful to your teeth? KMX headed the list, followed by Snapple Classic Lemonade, Red Bull, Gatorade (lemon-lime), Powerade, Nantucket Nectars (Half + Half), Arizona Iced Tea, and Coca-Cola. Source: Consumer Reports, OnHealth, August 2005.

Suzanne

Sugary Soft Drinks Linked to Pancreatic Cancer

A 14-year study of 60,000 people in Singapore found that those who consume 2 or more sweetened soft drinks per week have an 87% higher risk of pancreatic cancer.

Published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, the study was led by Maark Pereira of the University of Minnesota who said, "The high levels of sugar in soft drinks may be increasing the level of insulin in the body, which we think contributes to pancreatic cancer cell growth."

Nearly 38,000 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the U.S. each year, and over 34,000 die from the disease yearly. This research points to what may be the common culprit of all those preventable deaths: Sugary soft drink consumption.

Poison in a can

NaturalNews has warned readers for years about the dangers of consuming soft drinks. The sweetener used in most beverages--high-fructose corn syrup--is linked to both diabetes and obesity. The phosphoric acid found in these beverages is highly acidic, stripping minerals from bones and promoting osteoporosis. At the same time, soft drinks can cause kidney stones, as well.

For those who choose diet sodas, the health risks may be even worse: Aspartame causes neurologican side effects that include blindness, headaches and impaired cognitive function.

The beverage industry, of course, denies any links between soda consumption and negative health effects. It wants consumers to naively believe that liquid sugar, phosphoric acid and pressurized carbon dioxide are all good for you!

But experience tells us otherwise....So many of those who have been drinking sodas for many years are suffering from obesity, diabetes, kidney stones and perhaps even pancreatic cancer.
--adapted from NaturalNews.com by Mike Adams.

Suzanne

Your Body within 1 Hour of Drinking Soda

(This is from another web site).


I have to admit, as a former teacher, I used to cringe when I saw the amounts of soda my students could put away in a day. We may as well have installed a soda pop fountain instead of the water fountain. Later, as I worked with parents of infants, I almost choked on a bite of lunch one day to see a baby's bottle filled with Coke. Since that memorable day, I have met others who regularly purchase Pepsi for their tots and think nothing of it when they stock the fridge with Mt. Dew.


One thing I know for sure: soda in no way benefits your baby, your child (or you!)


According to the Nutrition Research Center, this is what happens to your body within one hour of drinking a can of soda:


-10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system, which is 100 percent of your recommended daily intake. You'd normally vomit from such an intake, but the phosphoric acid cuts the flavor.

-20 minutes: Your blood sugar skyrockets. Your pancreas attempts to maximize insulin production in order to turn high levels of sugar into fat.

-40 minutes: As your body finishes absorbing the caffeine, your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, and your liver pumps more sugar into the bloodstream. Adenosine receptors in your brain are blocked preventing you from feeling how tired you may actually be.

-45 minutes: Your body increases dopamine production, causing you to feel pleasure and adding to the addictiveness of the beverage. This physical neuro response works the same way as it would if we were consuming heroin.

<60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium and zinc in your lower intestine, which boosts your metabolism a bit further. High doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners compound this effect, increasing the urinary excretion of calcium. The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play. (You have to GO!) Your body will eliminate the bonded calcium, magnesium and zinc that was otherwise heading to your bones. And you will also flush out the sodium, electrolytes and water. Your body has eliminated the water that was in the soda. And in the process it was infused with nutrients and minerals your body would have otherwise used to hydrate your system or build body cells, bones, teeth.

>60 minutes: The sugar crash begins. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You start feeling like nonsense. Time to grab another? --(From another web site).

Suzanne

Soda consumption linked to teen violence, study finds

by Jonathan Benson, staff writer

(NaturalNews) A new study has found that teenagers who consume high amounts of sugary soda appear to be more prone towards violence than teenagers who consume less or no sugary soda. The more soda a teenager consumes, in other words, the more likely he or she is to show violent aggression towards classmates, a significant other, and even family members.

David Hemenway, a professor at Harvard University's School of Public, and his colleagues instructed a group of 1,878 public school students from inner-city Boston to fill out questionnaires about how much soda they had consumed in the previous seven days. The questionnaires also asked the students how often they carried weapons, consumed alcohol, smoked, and had a violent interaction with another person.

The students, who ranged in age between 14 and 18, also answered other background questions about how often they ate meals with their families, and their race. After compiling the data and accounting for other outside factors, the research team discovered that soda intake was directly proportional to violence levels.

"What we found was that there was a strong relationship between how many soft drinks that these inner-city kids consumed and how violent they were, not only in violence against peers but also violence in dating relationships, against siblings," said Hemenway. "It was shocking to us when we saw how clear the relationship was."

The results showed that students who drank one or no cans of sugary soda a week were nearly half as likely as students who drank 14 cans a week to carry a gun or knife to school. The one or no soda group was also about half as likely to commit violence against a partner, or show violent aggression against peers, compared to the high-consumption group.

"We don't know why (there is a strong association)," added Hemenway. "There may be some causal effect but it's also certainly plausible that this is just a marker for other problems -- that kids who are violent for whatever reason, they tend to smoke more, they tend to drink more alcohol and they tend to maybe drink more soft drinks. We just don't know."

Sources for this article include:

http://www.breitbart.com/article.ph...

Suzanne

Pepsi's lawyers say Mountain Dew can dissolve a mouse

by Tara Green

(NaturalNews) While drinking Mountain Dew, have you ever seen (or perhaps felt on your tongue) a thick, jelly-like substance? Maybe you assumed the ingredients in the soda had gelled. According to Mountain Dew manufacturer Pepsi, you may have been ingesting some extra protein with your beverage in the form of a liquified rodent.

Lawsuit results in unusual defense

An Illinois man is suing Pepsi, claiming he found a mouse in his can of Mountain Dew. Ronald Bell of Edwardsville, a small town near St. Louis, alleges there was a mouse in a can of soda he purchased and drank in 2009. Bell says he spit out the mouse and called the company to complain. At the soda manufacturer's request, he sent them the mouse corpse. Pepsi had a veterinary pathologist examine the body. Their scientific expert found the rodent could not have been in the can since the soda case was sealed in August 2008, and its body would have dissolved as a result of the acid in the soda.

Bell says that Pepsi destroyed the evidence in the case and is seeking judgment. Pepsi's legal team has moved to dismiss the case. Bell's suit initially also involved the owners of the convenience store chain where he purchased the beverage, but those defendants have been dropped from the case and an amended suit was filed. The trial was set to begin in late 2011; however a Madison County Circuit Court judge granted Pepsi another month to argue for dismissal.

Quench your thirst with some chemicals

NaturalNews has reported many times in the past on the health dangers of soda, including the fact that Mountain Dew and other fruit-flavored beverages contain a flame retardant chemical (http://www.naturalnews.com/034448_brominated_vegetable_oil_soft_drinks_chemical.html). The bright green color of this soda obviously derives from food colorings, many of which also have negative health consequences. Like many sodas, Mountain Dew derives its fizzy quality from phosphoric acid, a substance which health experts have long warned can destroy tooth enamel.

Now it appears that, in order to win a lawsuit, Pepsi has conducted its own animal testing on its products and is putting forth evidence that their soda causes organic tissues, as the legal brief states, to become a "jelly-like substance." One has to wonder whether, in the interest of protecting themselves from similar future lawsuits, their scientific experts put dead mice in containers in each of their beverage products to compare the rates of disintegration.

Let's hope that anyone who thinks drinking Mountain Dew is a relatively harmless dietary indulgence hears about this case and thinks twice before swigging some of the bright green beverage. If a mouse can become jelly over the course of the shelf-life of a can of soda, imagine what it can do to your body, especially if you drink this substance regularly over the course of several years. An early advertising slogan for Mountain Dew, back in the 1960s, was "Ya-Hoo Mountain Dew. It'll tickle you innards." Maybe Pepsi can revive this slogan, changing the word "tickle" to "dissolve." Or perhaps, given the soda's more recent marketing association with extreme sports, they can present mouse-chugging as a "wild" activity to fuel skateboarding achievement.

Sources:

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/...arcasses/46868/

http://www.madisonrecord.com/news/240607...untain-dew-case

http://www.madisonrecord.com/news/218815-swig-of-mountain-dew-included-dead-mouse-suit-claims

http://www.legalnewsline.com/news/227856-mt.-dew-mouse-would-be-jelly-like-pepsi-argues

http://www.legalnewsline.com/news/227856-mt.-dew-mouse-would-be-jelly-like-pepsi-argues

http://wiki.name.com/en/Mountain_Dew

http://www.naturalnews.com/033162_food_ingredients_chemicals.html

Suzanne