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http://www.mercola.com/2003/jul/9/soda_dangers.htm

How many sodas have you had today? How about your kids? The average American drinks an estimated 56 gallons of soft drinks each year, but before you grab that next can of soda, consider this: one can of soda has about 10 teaspoons of sugar, 150 calories, 30 to 55 mg of caffeine, and is loaded with artificial food colors and sulphites.

This is an alarming amount of sugar, calories and harmful additives in a product that has absolutely no nutritional value. Plus, studies have linked soda to osteoporosis, obesity, tooth decay and heart disease. Despite this, soda accounts for more than one-quarter of all drinks consumed in the United States.

Teenagers and children, who many soft drinks are marketed toward, are among the largest consumers. In the past 10 years, soft drink consumption among children has almost doubled in the United States. Teenage boys now drink, on average, three or more cans of soda per day, and 10 percent drink seven or more cans a day. The average for teenage girls is more than two cans a day, and 10 percent drink more than five cans a day.

While these numbers may sound high, they’re not surprising considering that most school hallways are lined with vending machines that sell, of course, soft drinks. It’s not uncommon for schools to make marketing deals with leading soft drink companies such as Coca-Cola from which they receive commissions--based on a percentage of sales at each school--and sometimes a lump-sum payment.

The revenues are used for various academic and after-school activities, but what activity could be worth devastating the students’ health, which is exactly what consuming all that soda is doing? Getting rid of vending machines in schools--or replacing their contents with pure water and healthy snacks--could make a big difference, as vending machines can increase the consumption of sweetened beverages by up to 50 or more cans of soda per student per year.

Let’s take a look at some of the major components of a can of soda:

Phosphoric Acid: May interfere with the body’s ability to use calcium, which can lead to osteoporosis or softening of the teeth and bones. Phosphoric acid also neutralizes the hydrochloric acid in your stomach, which can interfere with digestion, making it difficult to utilize nutrients.

Sugar: Soft drink manufacturers are the largest single user of refined sugar in the United States. It is a proven fact that sugar increases insulin levels, which can lead to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, weight gain, premature aging and many more negative side effects. Most sodas include over 100 percent of the RDA of sugar.

Aspartame: This chemical is used as a sugar substitute in diet soda. There are over 92 different health side effects associated with aspartame consumption including brain tumors, birth defects, diabetes, emotional disorders and epilispsy/seizures. Further, when aspartame is stored for long periods of time or kept in warm areas it changes to methanol, an alcohol that converts to formaldehyde and formic acid, which are known carcinogens.

Caffeine: Caffeinated drinks cause jitters, insomnia, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, elevated blood cholesterol levels, vitamin and mineral depletion, breast lumps, birth defects, and perhaps some forms of cancer.

Tap Water: I recommend that everyone avoid drinking tap water because it can carry any number of chemicals including chlorine, trihalomethanes, lead, cadmium, and various organic pollutants. Tap water is the main ingredient in bottled soft drinks.

Soda is one of the main reasons, nutritionally speaking, why many people suffer health problems. Aside from the negative effects of the soda itself, drinking a lot of soda is likely to leave you with little appetite for vegetables, protein and other food that your body needs.

If you are still drinking soda, stopping the habit is an easy way to improve your health. Pure water is a much better choice. If you must drink a carbonated beverage, try sparkling mineral water.

Soda Causing Nutritional Deficiencies in Children

Children and adolescents who drink soda may be depriving themselves of several important vitamins and minerals, results of a new survey suggest.

The researchers note that soda consumption among children and adolescents rose 41% between 1989-1991 and 1994-1995, mostly displacing milk and juice, the leading sources of many vitamins and minerals in the American diet.

The results are based on data from more than 4,000 children aged 2 to 17 years.

Among children aged 2 to 5:


75% drank milk
53% drank juice
34% drank soda
In those aged 12 to 17:


63% of boy and 49% of girls drank milk
34% drank juice
68% of boys and 63% of girls drank soda
Soda drinkers were less likely to get the recommended levels of:


vitamin A
calcium
magnesium
Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine November, 2000; 154: 1148-1152



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Dr. Mercola’s Comment:

Soda is one of the main nutritional reasons why most people suffer from health problems. It parallels alcohol in one profound similarity. If one drinks all that sugar the appetite is relatively suppressed for nourishing foods like vegetables and that results in nutritional deficiencies. This is independent of all the damage that sugar can do. You might say, "But my kids drink diet soda!" Well as most of you know that is likely far worse (Aspartame).

Milk is not much better, and most of us should avoid drinking it.

We all need about one quart of water for every 50 pounds of body weight. Soda, juice and milk do not count towards this requirement. As a matter of fact, it is very sad to read that the leading source of vitamins and minerals in children’s diets comes from juice and milk, both of which should be avoided in a diet for optimal health.

Bad News Increase in Soda and Juice

A recent study found that kids who drink sweet beverages:

Have a high overall calorie intake

Are less likely to eat fruit

Are at a higher risk for obesity
How was the study conducted?

Food records were analyzed from over 500 students in grades four through six. Students completed the records over a 3- to 7-day period.

What did the researchers find about the children’s drinking and eating habits?

Sweetened beverages made up over 50 percent of the children’s daily liquid intake. Children with the highest consumption took in over 300 calories more each day than children with lower intake. The children with the highest sweetened drink consumption ate more than 60 percent less fruit than those with the lowest sweetened beverage intake.

The researchers speculated that the level of sweetened beverage consumption could be used as a marker for poor dietary habits and low fruit consumption.


American Journal of Public Health August 2002; 92


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Dr. Mercola’s Comment:

I suspect many of you aren’t surprised by the following statistics, but as a person who has not had any soda for many years, I just about fell off my chair in reaction to these numbers:

These popular beverages account for more than a quarter of all drinks consumed in the United States.

More than 15 billion gallons were sold in 2000.

That works out to at least one 12-ounce can per day for every man, woman and child.

Most sodas include over 100 percent of the RDA of sugar. The recommended daily allowance of sugar is 10 teaspoons, which is still too high of a level of consumption.
If you are still drinking soda this is something that is quite simple to stop. In my mind there is absolutely no justification to drink soda. Both sugar and Nutrasweet™ are highly destructive to your health. Stick to pure water! You should drink one quart of water for every 50 pounds of body weight per day.

The explosion of vending machines in public schools is a relatively new phenomenon and is a major contributor to this problem. Vending machines are raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for schools by sacrificing the health of the students. Vending machines can increase sweetened beverage consumption by up to 50 or more cans of soda per year.