Soda, more dangerous than smoking?

I really don't want to believe this because I drink a lot of soda. Hell, I am a caffeine addict. However,I must admit that I have heard this rumor for quite some time. It is actually rumored that police officers carry two liter jugs of coke in the back of their vehicles to clean up blood off of the highways. I don't know how true that is either.

More Dangerous Than Smoking?
Death by Soda


By Joshua Frank,
AlterNet
Posted on December 27, 2006
www.alternet.org/story/45498/


We are a country of overweight people. Americans are tipping the scales in record numbers, with approximately 130 million who are presently considered overweight or obese. Perhaps most alarmingly of all, half of all women aged 20 to 39 in the United States are included in these figures.

Many factors contribute to the growing problem, from our sedentary lifestyles to our overindulgence in high-energy, low nutritional foods.

Dealing with the crisis is not easy. The marketing of energy dense foods is a multi-billion dollar industry, and manufacturers of such products go to great lengths to ensure their shareholders continue to profit from the sales of nutrition-less foods.

My Dear Soda?

I think this story is more related to the sugar in the sodas than the soda itself. Although, the effects of carbonated water have been debated for quite some time.

[edit on 28-12-2006 by SpeakerofTruth]My Dear Soda?

[edit on 28-12-2006 by SpeakerofTruth]

Soda could very well be next. Once they are done with banning smoking in all public places in the US they will focus on food, cus we can't help oursleves from eating.

Oh wait, they already have, NYC banned trans-fats or some such thing like that. They blame high insurance costs on smokers, even though the cost of dealing with those that are severely overweight has now has reached if not surpassed the health care costs of smoking.

Not to mention the companies that will not hire you if you smoke. What happens when one of these companies decides you are overweight and have 1 year to lose it, or lose your job? Or not even get hired in the first place?

There might be a simple solution to the overweight problem. Put down that soda, and have a glass of water. Instead of going to the fridge for a snack, go for a walk around the block. Instead of kids sitting in front of a TV playing video games, get outside and play tag, ride a bike, run until you can't run anymore.

Crayon,I don't disagree. I think that instead of having the government legislate our health, we should take more personal accountability for it. I do believe smoking to be harmful..My mother died of lung cancer;she smoked for fifty years. However, it has been shown that 60% of the people who are diagnosed with lung cancer have never smoken. So, it can't be reduced to a singular cause.


Soda water has been a matter of debate for years and years. I am not so sure that it's so much the sugar that is bad as it is the carbonation. As I stated, if the rumor about policeman using soda to clean up blood, then that should be a real eye opener for anyone. I mean, if it will clean up blood, imagine what it will do to our insides!!

I don't think there are any real doubts that the synthetic chemicals in soda are unhealthy. Or that the chemicals in trans fats are unhealthy.

Maybe if our food suppliers offered actual food, we wouldn't be dealing with rampant chronic and emerging diseases.

Sofi,that's true. I suppose that's my point. We criticize things that are natural. Sugar,salt, and such,yet, we tend to not even consider the harmful chemicals that are being poured into our system. It's rather ironic in my opinion.

White refined sugar is one of the worst things you can put in your body, especially in the quantities consumed by all too many people and espeially children. Do some checking and you'll see that the obesity (and related health) problems started in a big way with the popularity of sugared drinks and breakfast cereals. The top dietary thing anyone can do to improve health is to eliminate, or at least reduce to a minimum, those processed foods containing sugar.

I don't know about Coke used for removing blood from the highway, but I had an uncle who was a police officer from the '40s to the '60s and I can tell you they used to use Coke to clean the grease and oil off the police garage floor.

My particular vice is black coffee. I drink anywhere from 6 to 10 cups a day.

I don't buy it.I have a hell of a sugar intake..I am addicted to the stuff. I don't have diabetes or any heart problems. You cannot live without glucose,which is sugar by the way.

Yeahright, regardless of how dangerous sugar may or may not be.It is nothing in comparison to the artificial sweeteners they cram into our system. Anything that is man made,I do not hold with very high regard.

[edit on 28-12-2006 by SpeakerofTruth]

Interesting. Although doesnt really affect me much since I only have a 7UP every once in a while. I mostly drink water and natural 100% juice. I also cut caffeine completely out of my diet about 5 years ago.

FYI speaker - I agree with yeahright - refined white sugar is poison and yes, it is man-made.

Real raw sugar is NOT white, not as sweet and has nutritional properties. Honey is best - date syrup - maple syrup - all the natural forms have healthy characteristics - but not refined white sugar...

Originally posted by soficrow
Real raw sugar is NOT white, not as sweet and has nutritional properties. Honey is best - date syrup - maple syrup - all the natural forms have healthy characteristics - but not refined white sugar...

Real Raw Sugar has a Brownish Color. Its the one I purchase for use in my house.

Just do me one favor, SoT. D a google search on "refined sugar". No other qualifiers, and read a few of the results, even at random.

Everyone reacts differently to different things. You may be one of the lucky ones that metabolize differently. But it will eventually catch up with you healthwise. Unless you're hit by a bus first. In which case it won't matter much.

Originally posted by yeahright
Unless you're hit by a bus first. In which case it won't matter much.

Well when you put it that way...

Well,real sugar is kind of a grainy substance. It is much better for you than refined is. That much is true.


I read a book by Kevin Trudeau, Natural Cures They Don't Want You To Know About. In the book he stated that if it comes in a box,bag,bottle, et cetera, don't eat it. I tend to think that that is probably true. Unfortunately, unless we have the funds to raise our own food, we ae sort of a victim of circumstance.

Originally posted by SpeakerofTruth
Unfortunately, unless we have the funds to raise our own food, we ae sort of a victim of circumstance.

That's true. I've been thinking for a while now to build a Greenhouse and start a vegetable garden. Grow my own vegetables. I have a green thumb so it would be a great idea. Maybe I should get started on that.

EDIT:
Also with all the pesticides they put in food and vegetables nowadays its looking like an even better idea.

[edit on 28-12-2006 by Ocelot]

vegetable matter --> refined sugar
coc aine --> crack

We were never evolved to consume sugar in the quantities derived from pop, I read somewhere that for the body to consume sugar it depletes other important nutrients.
But I wouldn't switch to ANY artificial sweeteners either, given a choice between diabetes and cancer, I don't drink/eat diet products and I don't eat/drink a lot of sweets anymore, when I was younger I'd drink 2l's of cola a day.

Cut down on sugar and stay away from the chems!
Do yourself that favour.

my mother the nurse told me that dark sodas (not sprite) actually deplete the calcium in your bones.


needless to say Sprite is my new choice.


Although she is infallible(:lol, I am still looking for a source to back my mother up

here is a good site for most urban legends. they have a section about coke:
www.snopes.com...

The chemical in question is phosphoric acid, it can hurt your teeth through direct contact, but bones?
That's debatable methinks, for the very same reason hydrochloric acid (stomach acid) doesn't hurt your bones. It gets converted.

Is there potential for phosphoric acid to build-up or accumulate in my body?

Phosphoric acid can be absorbed into the body and enters the phosphate pool. Inorganic phosphate ion is naturally found in the body. It is excreted mainly in the urine.

From:

www.ccohs.ca... ic/health_pho.html

Originally posted by Philadelphite
my mother the nurse told me that dark sodas (not sprite) actually deplete the calcium in your bones.

Actually, there have been some studies that show a correlation between caffeine consumption and loss of bone density. Maybe that's what she was referring to, since most colas contain caffeine. Although other sodas such as Mt. Dew have high concentrations of caffeine as well.

yeahright, so that's gonna' make me give up coffee?
Fat chance!

Could my 4 cups a day, hurt my bones?
Probably not enough to be concerned about.