Carbonated Drinks

Just think before you gulp down soft drink, what are you consuming?

Scientific studies reveal that 1 to 1.5 liters of soft drinks a day can raise risks of numerous health problems, such as:

Tooth Decay:
All soft drinks are acidic which corrodes the teeth by eroding its enamel. The high amount of sugar consumed through soft drinks lead to the development of bacteria that attack the teeth thus aggravating dental problems. Soft drinks contain acid and sugar that corrode and destroy the teeth in one shot.

Obesity:
Soft drinks are mainly composed of filtered H2O, artificial additives and refined sugar. Thus, they lack nutritional value and only add up calories through their refined sugar. therefore, they make you gain weight. The fact is that diet soft drinks contain aspartame (an artificial low-calorie sweetener). Although aspartame does not add up the calories it makes you feel hungrier and crave for food. Then, obesity is on your way. Aspartame also causes migraines, dizziness and more over it reduces your memory.

Malnutrition:
Carbonated beverages interfere with the digestive process. They change the pH of the intestinal tract resulting in incomplete breakdown of food and the extra gas interferes with nutrient absorption. Anything that interferes with digestion and is consumed on a daily basis will have a long term effect leading to malnutrition.

Effect on Gastrointestinal System:
When you open the bottle of a soft drink, bubbles and fizz are immediately emitted out. This is due to phosphoric acid and carbon dioxide (CO2) content, which make these drinks highly acidic. The pH of soft drink ranges from 2.5-3.4 which generates a highly acidic environment in the stomach. Throughout the digestive system, that starts from the mouth and ends up at the anus (liver, gallbladder and pancreas play the role of accessory organs) only the stomach can resist an acidic environment up to pH 2.0. But before the acidity of soft drink reaches the stomach it passes through all the other organs involved in the digestive system thus causing an abnormal acidic environment.

The phosphoric acid present in soft drink competes with the hydrochloric acid of the stomach and affects its functions. When the stomach becomes ineffective, food remains undigested causing indigestion, gassiness or bloating (swelling of stomach). Thus people who are suffering from acidity should not be drinking soft drinks because actually it increases acidity further. Increase in acidity would lead to acidosis.

Effect on Kidneys:
Kidneys are less able to excrete phosphoric acid when it is in excess. Thus, there is extra work for kidney. Soft drinks remove Calcium from the body, causing an excess amount of Calcium that tend to be deposited in kidney, resulting in nephrolithiasis (kidney stones).

Effect of Caffeine:
In most of carbonated beverages, caffeine is deliberately added to make it addictive. Caffeine in carbonated drink is more readily absorbed than any other drink (like coffee, chocolate etc.). Caffeine disturbs sleep by stimulating nervous system. It also makes premenstrual syndrome worse, causes dehydration and induces stomach to produce acids, aggravating hyperacidity. Since caffeine disturbs sleep, the body is more likely to produce C - reactive protein, which plays an important role in heart disease

So,
Drink carbonated accordingly. Prolonged consumption could lead to diseases listed above.