Is Your Soda Pop Killing You?
Is Your Soda Pop Killing You?
The canned and bottled soda industry has grown to a multi-billion dollar industry seeking to expand to new markets throughout the world. Mainly controlled by two industry giants, soda comes in sugar and diet, caffeinated and caffeine free and a host of flavors. But is that soda pop, in all of its many offerings, actually killing you?
Many people think that because they drink a number of sodas each day they are drinking their recommended intake of fluids. When hot they reach for a soda pop for refreshment. Soda is not water. It may be made with water, chemicals and carbon dioxide. In no way does soda even remotely provide any of the benefits of water.
Water is important to keep our bodies properly hydrated. We need water to restore the fluids that surround each cell and allow for transfer of oxygen and nutrients. Water is necessary for the blood and kidneys to remove waste from our bodies. Water is needed to maintain proper blood pressure, for nerve cells to function properly and for muscles to work correctly. When we allow ourselves to become dehydrated we slow our bodily processes, affecting our mental and physical performance. Water is simply important to life.
Think of a plant. When it hasn’t been watered it becomes limp and sickly. When we finally do water the plant, it perks back up within a matter of minutes. When scientists look to other planets to determine if the may be habitable, they always look for a source of water. Why? We need water to survive. Water makes up 70% of our body and is part of everything we consume. It is a major source to life. We need water.
Soda is a diuretic which causes the body to lose fluids. If you drink caffeinated soda this diuretic effect is amplified. Caffeine is a diuretic by nature. By drinking soda we are becoming dehydrated, not nourishing ourselves with hydrating water. Like an un-watered plant, we become limp and sickly.
The carbon dioxide from soda increases the CO2 levels in our blood. As you should know, blood cells have receptors to carry oxygen and carbon dioxide. As blood flows to the lungs the CO2 is expelled and the blood becomes oxygenated. The oxygen is delivered to cells throughout the body where CO2 waste is picked up by the blood for removal. CO2 absorbed by the blood from soda must be expelled from the body also. This decreases the amount of CO2 waste the blood can pick up from cells for removal. This slows cellular functioning and creates a waste build-up. This leads to disease.
The pancreas works to maintain a pH balance near 7.4 for the blood and bodily fluids bathing cells. This is slightly alkaline on the pH scale. The pancreas will pull essential minerals from organs and bones to maintain this alkaline pH. Sodas range from 2.0 to 4.0 pH. Water is often around 7.0 pH, or neutral. When you drink a soda with a pH of 3.0, the pancreas has to work 70,000 times harder to convert the soda to the proper pH than if it were water. Larger amounts of calcium, potassium and magnesium are required to counter the effects of the soda. The results over time are ailments and disease in the bones, pancreas, lungs, colon, urinary tract, major organs and the heart.
The sugars in regular sodas contribute to the acid pH of soda, as do the artificial sweeteners in diet sodas. The 140 non-nutritive calories of sugars often include high fructose corn syrup. HFCS is shown in every study to exacerbate diabetes. Newer studies are showing the diet sweeteners are often worse than the sugars and contribute to diabetes as well. Diet sodas can lead to diabetes at even a greater rate than sugar sodas.
I used to drink soda, both regular and diet. Somewhere along the way I finally started listening. Soda pop consumption leads to diabetes. Soda has no nutritional value, acts as a diuretic, dehydrating the body, and inhibits proper bodily functions because of its acidic nature and high carbon dioxide content. Everyone I know who has given up the consumption of this poisonous beverage has lost excess weight and feels much better physically. Water is a much healthier, less expensive choice.