Just one of these a day can kill you

People often ask me if their poor diet choices are “really that bad.”

Clearly they know what they’re eating or drinking probably isn’t good, but they’re hoping for “nutrition forgiveness.”

This especially applies to soda!  I can’t tell you the number of people that have said to me, “I only drink one soda a day.  That can’t be so bad!”

Well, here’s what you need to know about soda and you can decide if just one a day is OK.

The more obvious issues

Drinking soda is associated with Type 2 diabetes and obesity.

You can thank the high fructose corn syrup in soda for that.  Plus the HFCS is made from GMO corn to boot, so you’re also a guinea pig taking in lots of Franken-corn.

In addition, high blood glucose and excess weight is the perfect calling card for heart or kidney disease to come knocking at your door.

Now, the HFCS in soda isn’t the only concern here--the phosphoric acid does its share of damage too. 

Acid of any kind has a direct effect on the functioning of your kidneys.  It’s their job to filter acid wastes out of your bloodstream and create urine to excrete them, and the more you subject your kidneys to the acid barrage of soda, the more stressed they become.

Plus your body also uses its own alkaline minerals to neutralize the acid in your bloodstream. 

Over time this can lead to mineral deficiency conditions like osteoporosis, tooth decay, brittle, porous bones that fracture easily and weak muscles. 

Is diet soda any better?

You may be wondering if diet soda is any better.

For starters, diet soda is just as acidic as regular soda.  So you’re still harming your kidneys and depleting your body’s minerals with every sip.

Although diet soda doesn’t contain HFCS, it does have artificial sweeteners which have been linked to a variety of health problems including:

• Migraines; headaches
• Depression
• Seizures
• Vision problems
• Irregular heartbeat
• Hypertension
• Increased irritability or agitation
• Worsening PMS symptoms
• Anxiety

Plus artificial sweeteners create a hormonal response in your body that increases your cravings for sweets and refined carbohydrates. 

That doesn’t sound like a “diet” to me.

Plus people who drink diet sodas can be tricked into thinking they can have more leeway on other calories they take in because they’re saving calories with diet soda.

This can blow up in your face and lead to overeating and weight gain.

The not-so-obvious issues

Here are four other dangers of drinking soda that are showing up in many research studies:

1- Caramel color = cancer

Most cola manufacturers use “caramel color” to make their sodas brown.

But two contaminants found in caramel coloring (2-methylimidazole and 4-methylimidazole) have been shown to cause cancer in animals.

What’s crazy about this is that the caramel coloring isn’t even a necessary ingredient that impacts the taste of the soda—it’s for color only!  So the cancer risk is completely avoidable if the manufacturers cared enough to eliminate it.

And with caramel color, a little WILL hurt.

According to California's Proposition 65 list of chemicals known to cause cancer, just 16 micrograms per person per day of 4-methylimidazole is enough to pose a cancer threat, and most colas (both diet and regular), contain 200 micrograms in just one 20-ounce bottle.

2- Acid = accelerated aging

In addition to the harmful effects of the phosphoric acid in soda mentioned earlier, you can add dying before your time onto the list.

A study published in a 2010 issue of the FASEB Journal found that the excessive phosphate levels found in soda caused lab rats to die a full five weeks earlier than the rats whose diets had more normal phosphate levels.

3- From the can to your water glass

The artificial sweeteners used in diet sodas are treated by your body as a poison—they can’t be metabolized so they are instead detoxed out of you.

But it doesn’t stop there.

Because once your “excrement” makes its way to wastewater treatment plants, they are not equipped to filter out the sweeteners from the water.

So instead the sweeteners can make their way into our waterways, and eventually into your tap water!

A recent test of 19 municipal water supplies in the US revealed the presence of sucralose in every single one.

4- Do the ‘Dew—you won’t remember a thing

Dentists now have a title for the boatload of cavities they see in kids who drink a lot of Mountain Dew—they call it “Mountain Dew Mouth.”

Well, there’s “Mountain Dew Brain” too.

An ingredient called brominated vegetable oil, or BVO, added to prevent the flavoring from separating from the drink, has been known to cause memory loss and nerve disorders when consumed in large quantities.

It’s also suspected to build up in your body fat and lead to behavioral problems, infertility and lesions on your heart muscle too.

Life after soda

If you’re a soda drinker, hopefully you’ve gotten the idea that you’d be better off drinking dirty motor oil at this point.

Don’t worry--there is life after soda (in more ways than one!).

Better, healthier alternatives to soda are iced herbal teas, water with a splash of fresh-squeezed lemon or lime juice and fresh vegetable juices.

If you want to sweeten your iced tea with a non-calorie sweetener or make a low-cal homemade lemonade using fresh-squeezed lemon juice, try using Stevia.  Just look for organic, minimally processed brands.

Soda recovery

The best way to help your body recover from the health toll that soda may have already taken on you is to put the restorative power of nutrition to work for you and help your gut heal.

First—the right foods

When you eat nutritious real foods and encourage sound digestion, you are helping your body to be properly nourished.  This helps keep you feeling satisfied and FAR less likely to snack or overeat.

Plus delicious nourishing foods are inherently lower in calories, so you'll naturally take in fewer calories overall.

Just watch those pounds you packed on from all that soda slide off!

Your elimination channels will be better able to clear wastes without the undue strain from excess acid wastes and artificial sweeteners.

And eating more real foods means avoiding the glucose flood from refined carbs--which can not only help you drop the pounds but also help reduce your risk of Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and kidney disease!

The Great Taste No Pain Health System can help make “soda recovery” easy and delicious for you. 

Great Taste No Pain teaches you all the dangers of bad carbs and sugar, and shows you what foods to pair together in your meals for better digestion.

Plus you’ll get a collection of scrumptious recipes featuring good-for-you foods that are so delicious, you just might find yourself losing your taste for soda and other processed junk!

Note: if you've got gluten issues, Great Taste No Gluten is for you. 

Next-gut recovery

If you've been a soda lover for a while, chances are excellent that all that sugar has caused some major imbalance in your intestinal flora...to the point where harmful bacteria can outnumber the beneficial ones. 

Not only can this cause gas and bloating, but it can also weaken your immune system functioning!

The best way to help your gut to recover is to have a healthy diet and repopulate your army of helpful bacteria with a top-quality probiotic supplement like Super Shield multi-strain probiotic formula.

Super Shield was formulated for tough jobs like this—it contains 13 top-notch strains of beneficial bacteria that are eager and ready to combat harmful bacteria, ease gas and bloating, encourage more regular BMs and help support your immune system!

Remember—ANY amount of soda can be harmful. 

But there is life after soda—and it can be very sweet indeed!

To your health,

Sherry Brescia