Soda, more dangerous than smoking?

Originally posted by SpeakerofTruth

Originally posted by 7Ayreon
I am definetly not obese, I'm rather quite slim and I am not diagnosed with diebetes or any condition but depression. 7A

I drink alot of soda as well. Most people would probably label me under weight. I also have bouts with depression. Now,I don't know if any of this is in connection with my soda intake,but it does seem to be a widespread aspect for people who have a large intake of cola beverages.

Yes, I am too wondering if it has any connection to do with my being under weight all due to large intakes of these types of beverages. Cola is an acid, does this acid degrade fat? Does it increase matabolism?

7A

I didn't know coke can reduce bone density. That's kind of freaky if you ask me - More water, less coke, stronger bones maybe?

No wonder people get all sorts of cancers and health issues. If coke can reduce things like bone density, then what else can it do? Reduce the power and strength of your immune system? Weaken your stomach? Affect your mental health?

I drink 1 can of coke a day, I enjoy my sugar hit. But after reading this thread, I'm not sure if I will be able to consume another can of coke again without worrying about it slowing trying to kill me.

My new years resolution dedicated to this thead is the following:

- Drink no more than 2 litres of coke a month with longterm decrease

- Drink 8 glasses of water a day or more

- Monitor daily intake with a health & fitness journal

- Exercise is essential, stretch and run the city bike & running paths

- Stop slouching on the computer chair

- Stay away from fast foods, go and get healthy grown foods to cook

- Maintain steadily balanced sleeping hours

- Brush during the moring and at night before sleep

- Don't worry be happy!



7A

[edit on 1-1-2007 by 7Ayreon]

Originally posted by 7Ayreon

Originally posted by SpeakerofTruth

Originally posted by 7Ayreon
I am definetly not obese, I'm rather quite slim and I am not diagnosed with diebetes or any condition but depression. 7A

I drink alot of soda as well. Most people would probably label me under weight. I also have bouts with depression. Now,I don't know if any of this is in connection with my soda intake,but it does seem to be a widespread aspect for people who have a large intake of cola beverages.

Yes, I am too wondering if it has any connection to do with my being under weight all due to large intakes of these types of beverages. Cola is an acid, does this acid degrade fat? Does it increase matabolism?

7A

From what I understand, drinking lots of soda actually increases weight.

"There was a 41% increase in risk of being overweight for every can or bottle of diet soft drink a person consumes each day," Fowler says.

source

The study of more than 50,000 U.S. nurses found that those who drank just one serving of soda or fruit punch a day tended to gain much more weight than those who drank less than one a month, and had more than an 80 percent increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease. The risk pertained to drinks sweetened with either sugar or high-fructose corn syrup.
....
"It's not about sugar. It's about calorie imbalance," Baker said.

source

Without water, we'd be poisoned to death by our own waste products. When the kidneys remove uric acid and urea, these must be dissolved in water. If there isn't enough water, wastes are not removed as effectively and may build up as kidney stones. Water also is vital for chemical reactions in digestion and metabolism. It carries nutrients and oxygen to the cells through the blood and helps to cool the body through perspiration. Water also lubricates our joints.
...
Dr. Howard Flaks, a bariatric (obesity) specialist in Beverly Hills, Calif, says, "By not drinking enough water, many people incur excess body fat, poor muscle tone and size, decreased digestive efficiency and organ function, increased toxicity in the body, joint and muscle soreness and water retention."

(emphasis mine) source


From what I understand, the acid in soda degrades the lining of the throat and stomach... past that, I don't know. The spike in sugar might spike one's metabolism, but not enough to actually burn more calories than you're taking in from the soda. (In fact, I'd say you two have naturally high metabolism -- otherwise you'd have 'soda bellies'... *pats belly* -- which are difficult to get rid of! *grumbles*)

And as far as the depression -- sugar changes the brains physiology, the same as chocolate. Nevermind that it spikes energy, like caffine, and then drops/crashes.

Processed sugars and carbohydrates, which turn into sugar, cause a rise in the insulin level of the blood. This also raises the serotonin level, a natural mood upper in the brain. These sugars causes the body to have a chemical high, mentally, which results in a lift in mood. .

Continuous large doses of sugar and/or carbohydrates, overtime, usually cause the brain's serotonin sites to slow production or close sites to regulate the amount of serotonin in the brain. When the body cuts back on serotonin production it reduces the amount of serotonin available in the body at any given time. The lack of enough serotonin in the brain causes slight to deep depression.

source


It's hard for the body/brain to get used to the ups and downs, and 'tis overall much better if you can maintain some sort of 'natural' balance...

My current battle is to wake up before drinking coffee -- if I get up at 10am, then I don't even think about coffee until noon. (Okay, I think about it a whole lot... the drugs have a hold on me!! ) But, it's easier over time, I've found, to let the body wake up on its own rather than jolt it awake...

(I take 'em one at a time -- cheers & kudos to you, 7a, if you can manage all those goals at once! I've enrolled myself on the baby steps program...)

Edited to add: Beware of drinking too much water... Sounds bass-ackwards, but you can actually give yourself water poisoning... check this out
Moderation is the key.

[edit on 2-1-2007 by Diseria]

I've been drinking loads of soda, mainly mountain dew, for about 15 years and I have a minor weight problem. I'm roughly 260 pds in a 6 ft. frame, but I'm also pretty muscular from working out in the past. From past diets I've found that 200pds is about my minimum without extreme calorie counting and heavy cardio activity. I blame this weight mostly on the 4+ liters of soda I drink during the day.
However, and I'm surprised that nobody has brought this up yet, the numerious mentions of the urban legends surrounding coke are blatantly false. Not only have they been proven incorrect time and time again in various forums, but there was an entire mythbusters episode devoted to these myths and they found the same. For example, if you put a steak into a glass of coke, as somebody commented earlier in this thread, by morning you're left with a soggy piece of meat. It does tenderize the streak, but it does not consume it. Same with the nail, it's still there in the morning. The usage of coke for things such as chrome cleaning and grease removal do work, but you're left with a sticky residue and the commercial products work better. For more info, do a google search for mythbusters coke, I'm sure you can probably get the entire episode online with a little searching.

[edit on 3-1-2007 by BlueTriangle]

Well,it certainly hasn't caused me to gain weight. I stand about 5'11" and I might weigh 155 pounds soaking wet. Maybe..

[edit on 3-1-2007 by SpeakerofTruth]

I have gained about 30 pounds... I'm 5'8" and around 185. (okay, I don't know what I am right now because I've banned scales from my apartment...)

Most weight gain is from the sugar and the sodium -- which pulls water the cells and organs and stores it as fat. Sodium chloride in general causes water retention.

However, watching one's sodium intake is a chore because practically *everything* is loaded with sodium in some form or another...

And I'll also mention that sodium chloride is no good for you in mass, and what we need to get more of is potassium salt... much better for the body. But, *very* hard to find... (potassium in general is hard to find)

One of the things that I have always found humorous about "diet" sodas is that if you look at the sodium content on "diet" sodas, you will find that it is higher on them than it is on regular sodas. Now, I am no expert, but from what I can gather, sodium is what causes weight gainage.

No, it's calories. Take in more than you burn off, you gain. Burn off more than you take in, you lose. The calories are in the sugar. Sodium will cause some water retention, but the calories in the sugar are what makes you fat. (Well, maybe not you, but you get my point).

Sugar only makes you fat if you sit around and do nothing.. I don't buy into this idea that sugar is the universal "evil" in the "diet" world.

And since I'm not selling, you're not hurting me by not buying.

Doesn't sound like you have any issues at 155lbs. And you're right. As I stated, if you burn off more than you take in, you lose. A lot has to do with an individual's metabolism, which can be affected by both diet and exercise.

But I'll stand by my statement that the refined sugar in processed foods is as detrimental overall to the majority of the population as anything else legally ingested. And if you're not included, lucky you. Just be careful, there are long-term effects beyond weight gain.

But you could roll craps crossing the street, so whatever floats your boat.

[Edit for typo]

[edit on 1/3/2007 by yeahright]

Originally posted by SpeakerofTruth
Sugar only makes you fat if you sit around and do nothing.. I don't buy into this idea that sugar is the universal "evil" in the "diet" world.

Not entirely true... depends on the work out, depends on the person's metabolism, depends on the intake of sugar verses the amount of calories lost.. lots of factors contributing.

One of sugar's major drawbacks is that it raises the insulin level, which inhibits the release of growth hormones, which in turn depresses the immune system. This is not something you want to take place if you want to avoid disease.

An influx of sugar into the bloodstream upsets the body's blood-sugar balance, triggering the release of insulin, which the body uses to keep blood-sugar at a constant and safe level. Insulin also promotes the storage of fat, so that when you eat sweets high in sugar, you're making way for rapid weight gain and elevated triglyceride levels, both of which have been linked to cardiovascular disease. Complex carbohydrates tend to be absorbed more slowly, lessening the impact on blood-sugar levels.

(emphasis mine) source

Sugar is definitely not the single cause. But, it certainly doesn't help.


Brown sugar is actually more healthy for the body.. while we're talking about sugar...

a cup of brown sugar has slightly more calories than white, but it "also contains 187 milligrams of calcium, 56 of phosphorous, 4.8 of iron, 757 of potassium and 97 of sodium, compared to only scant traces of those nutrients found in granulated sugar.

source

Check this out as well

All American foods are junk foods and no good for health. Same as most of its' products and government.

Feed the people fat and make them pay more tax is the the american way.

Anyway, Marlboro is better than coke.

Cinlung, that is probably true. Also, the quantity of food that is available over here is truly amazing. I had some friends from Canada come down one summer and they were amazed at the different kinds of food that the grocery stores had here in the states.



[edit on 9-1-2007 by SpeakerofTruth]

Interesting, than again, I drank gallons of soda a month that was like 2 bottles every day of last year. This years new years resolution of mine is a big wow because, I am finding it easy to avoid pop and junk food. I never gained weight/fat... I stay at like 155. I'm 5'11", age 17... So.. Yea.

7A

yeah soda is bad, but i dont know as dangerous as smoking?


my school has already banned soda's... they took out all the POPs and replaced it with flavored water or juices... also they took away junk food machines...

sad... i wonder how sum drinks would be with less sugar... im not talking about liek DIET dirnks.. but just less sugar...

Originally posted by HondaCivic

sad... i wonder how sum drinks would be with less sugar... im not talking about liek DIET dirnks.. but just less sugar...

Well, if you have ever eaten sugarless chocolate candy, I have, then you would know... Sugarless chocolate tastes and has the same gritty texture as dirt... Seriously, it tastes like dirt...

I don't think that soda is really harmful. It is the sugar, that is the worst in them, for the rest, it is artificial flavor, colorant and water... Not really treatening...

Originally posted by eliconia7
I don't think that soda is really harmful. It is the sugar, that is the worst in them, for the rest, it is artificial flavor, colorant and water... Not really treatening...

My biggest fear in drinking soda, which I drink my share, is the carbonated acid in it.. I have gotten to where I drink Rockstar energy drink more than soda,but it has it's downside as well, despite being a good B vitamin source... The cafeine level in it can't be too good for you, but,hey, we do what we do..

I quit drinking soda like a few years ago...I'm not sure if my teeth's health improved or not.