Drink your soft drinks with caution

May 8, 2014 by Bukola Adebayo

   

 

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An online petition by consumers, which has forced one of the biggest beverage companies in the world to replace a controversial ingredient in some range of its soft drinks with another, has brought to the fore the discussion on the health consequences of soft drinks.

The controversy surrounding the safety and health benefits of soft drinks is one that may have no end in sight.

For one, regular consumption of soft drinks has been linked to many diseases, including diabetes, obesity, hypertension and some cancers.

Almost every week, new studies and researches are released on the new dangers soft drinks pose to our health. Yet, many think nothing of them. They just drink away!

For consultant nutritionist, Dr. Tayo Adunbarin, why bother with soft drinks, which have little or no nutritional value in some cases, when there is a very healthy alternative: water.

Adunbarin warns that in order to reduce one’s risk of experiencing the side effects of sugary drinks, one should stay off them entirely.

According to him, increased consumption of sugary or sweetened drinks has been directly linked to a 50 per cent increase in obesity rates globally.

He states, “Sugary drinks are the biggest source of unused and unwanted calories in our diet. When you don’t burn these calories, they increase your Body Mass Index and your risk of obesity and its consequences increase too.

“Another danger with soft drinks is that, because they are fluids, you tend to take more than you should — unlike food. You see it as something that does not stay for long in your body system. But they are usually drank in the concentrated form and their effects stay the longest in the body system.”

You may say that “I only drink diet sodas”, they are the new fad for weight watchers. Well, sorry to burst your bubble, experts say they are no better than the regular ones.

He notes, “Whether its sugar has been “removed” or not, which is scientifically debatable, you are still taking in calories and chemicals which your body can really do without.

“The body is still battling to digest and process simple foods that you eat every day, why complicate it with highly processed soft drinks that have questionable nutritional values?”

Still on diet sodas, a study conducted by scientists at the University of Texas Health Science Centre found that the more diet sodas a person drank, the greater their risk of becoming overweight.

They warn that downing just two or more cans a day can increase one’s waistline by 500 per cent.

Guzzling down sodas does not only increase your waistline, it has other side effects that can harm your health.

One of them is how its regular consumption heightens one’s risk of kidney problems.

This is one side effect you probably did not know. Soft drinks are not too good for the kidneys.

Scientists at the Harvard Medical School in Boston, United States, after an 11-year study of more than 3,000 women, found that those who drank at least a can of fizzy drinks every day had a two-fold increased risk of kidney failure.

According to them, there was a daily decline in the kidney function of the women whenever they drank sodas, whether they were sugar sweetened or not.

The scientists warn that regular consumption of soft drinks messes up the metabolic system, increasing the consumer’s risk of cellular and DNA damage.

It states, “Even just one  soda (soft drinks) a day is linked to a 34 per cent higher risk of metabolic syndrome whose symptoms include belly fat and high cholesterol that puts you at risk for heart disease and strokes, compared to those who do not drink it at all or every day.”

Even the cans that house these drinks have been said to contain toxic chemicals that make the drink not too good for health.

According to experts, some soft drink cans are coated with the endocrine disruptor bisphenol (or BPA), which has been linked to everything from heart disease to obesity and reproductive problems.

It is time you put that soda can down and took a hard look at what you’re drinking.

The petition that forced the company to remove the controversial ingredient, BVO, did not start from doctors but a teenage consumer in Mississippi, who researched the substance and came out with the position that it was not too good for human consumption.

As a consumer, get interested in whatever food you eat, especially when they are processed; and whether the ingredients are listed or not. With the right information, consumers can ensure that whatever product beverage companies put out there would have little or no consequences on their health.

That said, it can be quite difficult to resist taking soft drinks, especially at parties or in a hot weather like ours. But, it is a risk you must weigh. Is that can of soda really worth it?