Soda - so bad in many ways...

[CBulla]

For all you who are having trouble giving up your soda, here's something to ponder. I've known this information for a long time and finally was able to eliminate it totally from my kitchen and fridge. Here's what one of my clients and personal trainer has to write on the subject and the two major reasons I finally made the hard line decision that this doesnt belong in my house at all:
Reason 1-

Soda Drastically Erodes Teens' Teeth
You've all heard me many times, run from carbonated drinks as fast as you can. Here's another reason to keep them away from your kids. The British Dental Association sent out a warning that over one-third of Britain’s 14-year-olds are destroying the enamel on their teeth by consuming excessive amounts of carbonated drinks. Although parents have expressed concerns over the sugar content in fizzy drinks, they believed “diet” drinks were safe. Research has shown that even though diet drinks resulted in less tooth decay, they were no less acidic than regular drinks and contributed to destroying children’s teeth from the outside. Teenagers drinking numerous glasses of diet drinks each day were exposed to the same amount of danger of decay. Studies found that teenagers drinking four or more glasses a day increased their risk of decay by 513 percent, which is significant considering 92 percent of 14-year-olds consume fizzy drinks. The study also showed that the problem of dental erosion was less significant among 12-year-olds who did not drink fizzy drinks, while those that did drink several glasses a day were 30 percent at risk of tooth decay.

I've been lucky over the years and fortunate to have a good enamel base. Some folks I've been around have not and one is now wearing false front teeth because as a delivery driver, she would get ye olde big mug of soda and suck on it half the day. The result of jet streaming the acid right onto her teeth, specifically the top two and bottom two, was complete decay and rot. The others to either side have interesting damage done to them to... Wait.. there's more! Still intersted in drinking soda???

Reason 2:

Still Drinking Soda?

If life was perfect Soda Vending Machines would have the following warning label:
"The Obesity General has determined that daily soft drink consumption leads to a swelling of your cheeks, backside and mid-section in the form of cellulite. Two cans of pop per day puts you at risk of diabetes. And three cans and higher causes birth defects in your children".

Here's why:
In 1 can of Pepsi - 160 calories - 10 teaspoons of sugar
In 1 can of Coke - 159 calories - 9.5 teaspoons of sugar
In 1 can of 7-Up - 149 calories - 9 teaspoons of sugar
But the winner is ...... Mountain Dew with 179 calories and 12.5 teaspoons of sugar.

So aside from the caffine injection, your getting 9 to 12.5 teaspoons of sugar! Thats more than you put in coffee!! Since diabetes runs in my family on my dads side, I decided that this was more than sufficient reason to drop the canned carbonated flavored drink option all the way around. Sometimes I crave.. oh I crave! Sooo on my desk I have a Mountain Dew can, unopened, with it labled "179 cal, 12.5 teaspoons of sugar, 70mg sodium, 46g carbohydrates and high fructose corn syrup" which tends to keep me from wanting to purchase one of those cold and slam it!

For those who gave up soda, what was your turning point? For those who haven't, has this information made a difference in how you view soda now?

 

[chickdiver]

Haven't given it up. Don't plan to. I already knew both of these facts. I do stick to Diet Coke 95% of the time, and I have a bout a half can a day with dinner. I like it, so....

 

[Big-t-2538]

If I can just cut back the intake from 4 cans of dew a day to 1....or just the occasional 1 with lunch, I'd be ecstatic.

 

[hnladue]

I only allow myself soda on the weekends, and then I usually have 1 can of coke!!! I usually drink diet tonic, about a liter a day with lime.

 

[simbrooks]

For those who gave up soda, what was your turning point? For those who haven't, has this information made a difference in how you view soda now?

Didnt really give it up, but i reckon IF i do have soda, its about one per week at most, i also never really got addicted to it either..unlike some people with their Dew addictions!!

I found the taste to be a bit too sweet, particularly on full fat cans, but even the diet was a bit too much sometimes. I wont deny that i dont mind the odd one, but i find i get a lot more satisfaction with my water nowadays.

Also, what about the caffine in these drinks and its dehydrating ability?? I know some people who drink soda on their SI's, i cant see that really helping them - we were always turned away from soda in the summer if we played outside as kids due to its dehydrating effect. I see soda and water as well as other snack foods on dive boats readily available, but only take the water and odd snack portion.

 

[CBulla]

simbrooks - I've pulled an excerpt from an article that explains why soda dehydrates, its a good read to:

http://www.ahwatukee.com/afn/sports/articles/011221b.html

Columbia University's Health Education Program highlights several reasons why athletes should stay away from carbonated drinks, and instead drink water. They include:

1. Soda with caffeine is a diuretic, and if someone is losing fluids because of exercise, soda can exacerbate dehydration.

2. There is no better replacement for water than water. The body needs water to sustain many vital chemical reactions as well as normal body temperature.

3. Carbonated drinks are high in phosphorus. It is believed that phosphorus battles with calcium in the bones, limiting its absorption. This can be problematic for women, who are prone to osteoporosis later in life.

here's a cool read on dehydration and diving... well, it could be sports anything in general.

http://www.naui.org/pdffiles/dehydrat.pdf

 

[RiverRat]

Wow! Learned something new today. And I thought guzzling the big containers of Gatorade like drinks was good for me on dive days! Guess not! I'll be sipping these drinks from now on and guzzling plain old water......Thanks

 

[simbrooks]

Wow! Learned something new today. And I thought guzzling the big containers of Gatorade like drinks was good for me on dive days! Guess not! I'll be sipping these drinks from now on and guzzling plain old water......Thanks

Woah, hold up there!! I think that gatorade is not a carbonated drink, and as such doesnt contribute to dehydration. From what i have gathered thru research, gatorades sugars and salts etc are good for you, particularly if you have been working out heavily, they are a little too much for you when diving - as you dont lose that much thru sweat and so if you are taking water and gatorade for an SI drink, dilute the gatorade down with water, like 1 part gatorade, 2 or 3 parts water to give you enough. I have to start adding gatorade into my post workout drinking again, i ran out a little ago and noticed the difference when i got home, felt worse just drinking water as i wasnt replaing the salts.

 

[glbirch]

For those who gave up soda, what was your turning point? For those who haven't, has this information made a difference in how you view soda now?

Don't forget that you can dissolve an iron nail in a can of cola, as well as pulling all sorts of stains out of concrete. And it's an easy way to clean the toilet bowl.

Haven't given it up, don't plan to. Don't drink as much of it as I used to because of the calories, and because I find it tastes funny without rye.

Not sure why you think telling people that cola is bad for them will shake them up that much. Most people already know it's not good for them. Smokers have known that cigarettes are killing them for years now, but kids are still lighting up. Logic and knowledge just can't stand up to peer pressure and the desire to look 'cool'.

 

[Kat]

And I'm sure, later this year, the experts will decide they were all wrong. It will be discovered that soda can help cure_________!
(fill in the blank w/ the disease of your choice)
:lol2: