Statistics shows that Americans drink more soda than ever before. They account for more than 25 percent of all drinks consumed in the United States. More than 15 billion gallons were sold in 2000 — about one 12-ounce can per day for every man, woman and child.
But here’s some information that may keep you from opening the can or bottle:
1. Extra pounds
Soda is a significant contributor to obesity. Drinking a single can a day of sugary drinks translates to more than a pound of weight gain every month. Diet soda is just as likely to cause weight gain as regular, or even more — it may sound counterintuitive, but people who drink diet soft drinks actually don’t lose weight. Artificial sweeteners induce a whole set of physiologic and hormonal responses that actually make you gain weight.
2. Liver damage
Soda damages your liver. Consumption of too many soft drinks puts you under increased risk for liver cirrhosis similar to the increased risk faced by chronic alcoholics.
3. Tooth decay
Soda dissolves tooth enamel. Soft drinks are responsible for doubling or tripling the incidence of tooth decay. Soda’s acidity is worse for teeth than the sugar found in candy.
4. Kidney stones and chronic kidney disease
Colas of all kinds are well known for their high phosphoric acid content, a substance that changes the urine in a way that promotes kidney stone formation. Drinking one quart (less than three 12-ounce cans) of soda per week may increase your risk of developing kidney stones by 15 percent.
5. Diabetes
Anything that promotes weight gain increases the risk of diabetes. Drinking soda also stresses your body’s ability to process sugar. Some scientists now suspect that this may explain why the number of Americans with type 2 diabetes has tripled from 6.6 million in 1980 to 20.8 million today.
6. Heartburn & acid reflux
Heavy consumption of soda is a strong predictor of heartburn. Many carbonated beverages are very acidic. They also deliver a lot of air in the form of carbon dioxide, which can cause distension of your stomach, which appears to be associated with more reflux.
7. Soft drinks = Soft Bones = Osteoporosis
Soft drinks containing phosphoric acid are definitely linked to osteoporosis (a weakening of your skeletal structure) because they lead to lower calcium levels and higher phosphate levels in your blood. When phosphate levels are high and calcium levels are low, calcium is pulled out of your bones.
8. Hypertension (high blood pressure)
Experts have reason to believe that overconsumption of soda leads to an increase in blood pressure. It doesn’t matter if the soda is regular or diet.
9. Heart disease
Heavy soda drinkers are more likely to develop risk factors for heart disease. Research shows that drinking more than one soft drink a day is associated with an increased risk of developing metabolic syndrome — a group of symptoms such as central obesity, elevated blood pressure, elevated fasting blood sugar, elevated fasting triglycerides, and low levels of HDL or “good” cholesterol. Having three or more of the symptoms increases your risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
10. Impaired digestion (gastrointestinal distress)
Gastrointestinal distress includes increased stomach acid levels requiring acid inhibitors, and moderate to severe gastric inflammation with possible stomach lining erosion. Drinking sodas, especially on an empty stomach, can upset the fragile acid-alkaline balance of your stomach and other gastric lining, creating a continuous acid environment. This prolonged acid environment can lead to inflammation of your stomach and duodenal lining.
Winston’s comment:
The common denominator key is “over acidity.” Soda, wheat, starches, and sugars basically convert into acids once consumed. These are foods that produce the highest levels of acid in the body.
A supplement called CalMag™ contains Calcium, Magnesium, and apple cider vinegar. The apple cider vinegar is necessary to break down the Calcium and Magnesium so it will dissolve and go into solution, thereby allowing absorption.
This very same chemistry occurs within our body when we have too much acid in our blood and tissue. When our systems become over acidic, our body begins to dissolve the Calcium and Magnesium from our bones in order to alkalize the blood.
When the body pulls Calcium and Magnesium from our bones to deposit elsewhere into various different areas of the body, different health problems occur.
When the Calcium/Magnesium is deposited in our muscles, the resulting condition is fibromyalgia. When it collects in our joints, we call this arthritis. When it collects in the bursa (sac) in our joints, we call this bursitis. When it collects in our kidneys, we call this kidney stones… etc. All of these problems are caused by the same condition. And with this knowledge, we realize that having an over acidic system is the LAST thing we want.
Take a good look at a person’s skin tone, color, and elasticity. Notice why teenagers and children look so good. Their skin is taut and has great elasticity. As a person ages or simply eats poorly, the body becomes less able to get rid of the accumulating acid waste. The first recognizable sign of poor health is pale skin and shadows or bags under the eyes.
As the Calcium/Magnesium deposits and acid waste build up in the skin, we get a kind of calcification where the skin is not as elastic. The capillaries start to clog up, which slows the blood flow causing the skin color to become pale. Thus we have the sick, pale look of an older person or one who is not healthy. Where did the majority of the Calcium and Magnesium come from? From the bones! Of course the result is fragile bones or osteoporosis.
In most industrialized countries, it is uncommon to find a person with rosy cheeks, which usually indicates good circulation. Why is this? Because they eat a lot of processed and nutritionally depleted food. The food they eat is not fresh-picked and they live in a polluted environment.
In other words, old-age disease is merely a condition of having too much acid in our system, which results in precipitation of Calcium, Magnesium and other minor minerals in the wrong places.
Therefore, any method that truly neutralizes and removes the acids in the body would be a legitimate reverse-aging process. Note: most alkaline drops only neutralize acid creating excess salts in the body, which further tax the kidneys. (Chemistry fact: acid + alkaline = salt)
What can one do to stop or slow down the process of aging and reduce or eliminate the predisposition to diseases and cancer? In the book “Reverse Aging” by Sang Whang, he says that one should oxygenate the body by drinking Alkaline water. The water is not just high in pH, but more importantly has a very high negative electrical charge.
In plain layman terms, the water’s highly negative charge gives the body an opportunity to release its highly positive charged toxic heavy metals and other toxic acid waste stored in the cells. Alkaline waters’ high oxygen/hydrogen along with the negative charge that -OH contains handles free radicals and corrects the damage caused by their presence. Whang also says that one would be unlikely to get cancer, osteoporosis, or other diseases while consuming adequate amounts of alkaline water.
Our medical grade alkaline water machines produce the water at –250mV to –600mV ORP (Oxidation-Reduction Potential is a measurement of electrical charge held in solutions, similar to how a battery holds 1.5 V of charge).
The medical grade alkaline machine is a batch system, which is the ONLY system you want to purchase. To learn why you should never purchase an alkaline system that connects to the faucet, please call me at (727) 447-2344.
The moral of the story is for you to eat lots of good, clean meats, and vegetables and fruits while cutting down the levels of processed foods, sugars, starches, and alcohol.
Make a change in your diet by drinking alkaline water. Please note that I said alkaline water – an alkaline diet will not perform the same functions as alkaline water helps to flush the acids out of your body lowering acidity.