With the average person consuming roughly 45 GALLONS of soda each year, this catapults soft drinks into the lead as the most popular beverage in the U.S. – almost three times more popular than bottled water, milk, or even coffee!
While conventional sodas tastes amazing, sipping these bubbly beverages leads to many unwanted, long-term health side effects you may not be aware of. They are making you ill, aging you faster, and shortening your lifespan.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Frequently drinking sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with weight gain/obesity, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, kidney diseases, nonalcoholic liver disease, tooth decay and cavities, and gout, a type of arthritis.”
Soda causes your skin to breakout, affects the abilities of your digestive system and cardiovascular system, causes you to gain weight, increases acid reflux, affects your liver and bones, and even wears away your tooth enamel due to its high acidity levels. In addition to numerous other negative effects, drinking soda has been shown in scientific studies to shorten your telomeres, which literally takes YEARS off your life!
Scary Soda Statistics
7.5 billion gallons of soda are consumed each year, cultivating obesity and sickness as about 111 million adults and 147 million children guzzle these sweet beverages down each day.
- One soda per day increases your risk of Type 2 diabetes by 26%.
- Drinking 20 ounces of soda each day can shorten your lifespan by 4.6 YEARS.
- After 6 months of daily soda consumption, fatty deposits are increased in the liver by 150%, which directly causes diabetes and heart disease.
- Women who drink one can of soda per day have a 75% higher risk of developing gout than those who rarely consume soda.
- Drinking 4 cans or more of diet soda each day increases your risk of depression by 30%.
- Drinking two servings per day of diet soda can cause a 30% decrease in kidney function.
- Drinking one diet soda per day may increase your risk of stroke and dementia by threefold.
The Top 10 Side Effects of Drinking Soda
#1 – WEIGHT GAIN
More than $1 trillion per year is spent in the U.S. on medical-related obesity problems. In the last decade, the obesity rate for adults has more than doubled, for adolescents has more than tripled, and for children ages 6-11 has more than quadrupled.
Medical researchers have identified 12-year-olds who regularly drink sugar-based soft drinks are more often overweight than their peers. More shockingly, for each additional serving of soda the kids enjoyed each day, their risk of obesity raised by 60%!
Switching to diet soda is just as detrimental for maintaining healthy body weight. Artificial sweeteners are proven to cause metabolic dysfunction which prompts your body to store fat. Researchers warn of a 70% increase in waist circumference for adults who drink one diet soda per day and a 500% increase in those who drink two per day!
#2 – HEART HEALTH
By drinking one or two servings of soda each day, you are increasing your risk of heart attack or fatal heart disease by 35%. The sugar in soda is proven to increase insulin levels, which over time leads to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart disease.
Drinking diet soda is unfortunately no better, as it too has been shown by the American Heart Association to a host of cardiovascular diseases.
#3 – LIVER HEALTH
The unhealthy ingredients in conventional soda cause a host of health problems that start with the health of your liver. Phosphoric acids causes calcium to leach from your bones, which overwhelms your liver, causing blockages and stagnation – in addition to brittle bones.
When your liver is overwhelmed, it can’t process out all the toxins it is meant to handle. The toxins end up staying in your body, negatively affecting your total body health. In addition, the sodium benzoate in soda has been revealed to cause DNA damage which can eventually lead to cirrhosis of the liver.
When you drink soda each day for six months, fat deposits in the liver increase by 150% due to the massive amounts of sugar in it, which directly leads to both diabetes and heart disease.
#4 – DIABETES
The number of people living with Type 2 diabetes has tripled over the last three decades as sugary drink consumption has reached epic proportions. Soda causes fatty deposits to form on the liver, decreasing its function over time. In addition, the sugar and/or chemical sweeteners in the soda interfere with liver function, decreasing its efficiency even further.
Did you know that nearly a quarter of American children aged 12 to 19 have either Type 2 diabetes or prediabetes? This sad statistic is nothing to take lightly as diabetes can lead to blindness, heart failure, amputation, heart attack, stroke, liver disease, and even death.
It’s also worth noting that as you get older, your body is less able to process the glucose in your bloodstream. This means it’s even easier to develop obesity and diabetes in your later years because you naturally can’t handle the influx of sugar soda throws into your system.
#5 – BONE HEALTH
Phosphoric acid, one of the ingredients in your favorite dark-colored sodas, causes calcium to leach out of your bones. Over time this contributes to brittle bones creating a higher risk of fracture or breakage. Soda drinkers are at much higher risk of osteoporosis or breaking/fracturing a bone than non-soda drinkers.
In addition, the calcium flooding out of your bones overwhelms your liver, contributing to Type 2 diabetes developing in your body.
#6 – LONGEVITY
Research has shown that drinking 20 ounces of soda each day can shorten your lifespan by 4.6 YEARS. That is a staggering statistic!
Studies have shown soda causes advanced shortening of the telomeres – the protective endcaps at the end of your chromosomes. As your telomeres get shorter, your cells stop dividing, and you age. This process happens naturally as you get older, but drinking soda unnaturally speeds it up.
Is drinking conventional soda worth losing four and a half years of your life??
#7 – GUT HEALTH
Drinking regular soda pop affects the health of the bacterial microbiome in your intestines which is an important part of your immune system. The sugar and artificial sweeteners compromise the strength of the friendly bacteria in your gut that work against unwanted invaders to keep you healthy. When the functionality of your good bacteria is affected, it tanks your immune system, allowing sickness and chronic disease states to take hold.
As mentioned above, when your liver is overwhelmed by the harmful ingredients in soda, it can’t filter out toxins. In combination with an underperforming immune system, you’re creating a perfect storm for sickness to unleash itself inside of you as you have no way to protect against, and filter out, all the bacteria and viruses clamoring to grow in strength.
#8 – SKIN HEALTH
Did you know one of the easiest ways to look OLDER is by drinking a soda?
Insulin levels spike after drinking just one can of pop. This causes a flare of inflammation throughout your entire body. Inflammation sends out warning signals for enzymes to be released. These enzymes soothe the inflammation, but unfortunately, break down the collagen and elastin in your skin as they do so.
If you want to avoid fine lines, wrinkles, and sagging skin, stop drinking conventional soda NOW.
#9 – BRAIN HEALTH
Unfortunately, you’re not doing your GPA any favors by drinking soda.
The sugar in commercial sodas has been shown to slow down brain function and to damage synaptic activity in the brain which stops your brain cells from communicating with each other.
Diet soda is just as destructive to brain health as research has shown the toxicity of chemical sweeteners speeds up the aging process in your brain, contributing to dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, depression, and mood changes.
#10 – MOOD ALTERING
We’ve all experienced the energy-filled, mood high that comes from glucose and caffeine surging through our body. We’ve also all experienced the “crash” that comes afterward – which includes mood swings, fatigue, irritability, anxiety, and brain fog.
Drinking soda stimulates the release of the mood-boosting serotonin each time you drink it, which makes you feel good…and so you want to drink more. The problem is consistently drinking soda depletes your serotonin because you only have a limited supply, which contributes to lasting feelings of depression. The sugar in soda has also been linked to inflammation in the brain. This “neuroinflammation” is also believed to contribute to depression.
While switching to diet soda may seem like the better choice to avoid sugar, the fake sweeteners are just as terrible for you. Drinking 4 or more glasses of diet soda per day has been shown to increase your risk of depression by 30%.
The Healthy Soda Solution
So what do you do now that you understand how harmful conventional soda actually is? How can you enjoy the flavor and mouth satisfaction associated with drinking soda without harming your body?
- Stop drinking soda and diet soda immediately.
- Throw out all the conventional soda in your house and NEVER buy another can or bottle again.
- Try Longevity Soda™ instead! It’s sugar free, toxic chemical free, and made with natural ingredients like superfoods, superherbs, fruits, and vegetables.
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New CDC chief partnered with Coke in state obesity program
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Intestinal alkaline phosphatase prevents metabolic syndrome in mice
Coca-Cola Funds Scientists Who Shift Blame for Obesity Away From Bad Diets
