The Affects Of Diet Sodas And those who drink diet soda are just downing another type of poison, as diet drinks contain artificial sweeteners instead of caloric sweeteners. They don’t do anything to curb the obesity epidemic since diet soda is clearly linked to obesity as well, but through different mechanisms.
It’s hard to decide which is worse long term, fructose or artificial sweeteners, but one thing’s for sure; if you are drinking soda of any kind, you are sabotaging your health and cutting years off your lifespan.
How Soda Affects Your Body Did you know that just one can of Coke contains 10 teaspoons of sugar? This is 100 percent of your recommended daily intake, which is more than double many doctor's recommended daily allowance. Here is a breakdown of what goes on inside your body once you ingest soda.
- Within 20 minutes of drinking that soda, your blood sugar spikes, and your liver responds to the insulin burst by turning massive amounts of sugar into fat.
- Within 40 minutes, your blood pressure rises due to your body having absorbed all the caffeine, and then your liver dumps even more sugar into your bloodstream.
- After about one hour, you’ll start to have a sugar crash, which often leads you into a vicious cycle of consuming more sugar and caffeine type stimulants, followed by crashes, throughout your day.
Soda Impact On Health Soda Damages Your Health & Cuts Years Off Your Life
Cancer is one of the more troubling health risks soda drinkers face, as if obesity isn’t bad enough. Numerous studies have pointed out the link between sugar and increased rates of cancer, suggesting that regulating sugar intake is key to slowing tumor growth.
Studies have linked sugar intake with different types of cancer, such as:
- Breast cancer
- Throat cancer
- Colon cancer
Gout is another common health challenge that affects soda drinkers, and is directly related to the fructose content of soda. In fact, studies have shown that other beverages with high fructose content, such as fruit juices, and even consuming large quantities of fresh fruits can raise your risk of gout.
Please understand that it’s not the fructose in and of itself that is bad. Whole fruits for example are a nutritious part of your diet when consumed in moderation. It’s the MASSIVE DOSES of fructose you’re exposed to that cause the trouble.
Fructose, as opposed to glucose, is particularly damaging to your body due to the way it’s metabolized. The entire process of metabolizing fructose falls on your liver, and creates a number of waste products and toxins, including a large amount of uric acid, which drives up blood pressure and causes gout.
Likewise, it’s the difference in how your body responds to fructose that also makes it the leading cause of obesity.
Glucose, on the other hand, suppresses the hunger hormone ghrelin and stimulates leptin, which is the chemical that suppresses your appetite, fructose has no effect on ghrelin and interferes with your brain’s communication with leptin. The result is overeating, weight gain and ultimately obesity.
Last but certainly not least, fructose clearly raises your insulin levels, which is at the heart of nearly every disease known to man – not just diabetes. In fact, controlling your insulin levels is one of the most important things you can do to optimize your overall health, and avoiding sugar, and most definitely fructose, is essential to do this.
Healthy Level of Fructose Consumption As a standard recommendation, I strongly advise to keep your TOTAL fructose consumption below 25 grams per day. However, for most people it would actually be wise to limit your fruit fructose to 15 grams or less, as it is pretty much guaranteed that you will consume “hidden” sources of fructose from most beverages and just about any processed food you may eat. REMEMBER one soda alone would nearly exceed your daily allotment.