Posts Tagged ‘soft drinks’

Researches have found a pancreatic cancer soda connection. There is a new study that found consuming two or more soft drinks (soda) a week, had about a two-fold higher risk of developing pancreatic cancer. All it took was two plus soft drinks in a week’s time. Will many people consuming two plus soft drinks a day, health care will have a run for their money.

Study

This study was published in the February issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Senior author Dr. Mark Pereira, associate professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and colleagues, followed over 60,000 Singapore-based men and women for over a decade. They found that the people who consumed two or more soft drinks developed pancreatic cancer at two times more that those who did not consume soft drinks.

“Singapore is a wealthy country with excellent health care. Favorite pastimes are eating and shopping, so the findings should apply to other western countries.” stated Dr. Pereira.

What is intriguing is that after adjusting for other lifestyle factors, it was found that people who drank two or more soft drinks a week (average of 5 per week) had a higher chance of developing this disease.

There was no risk associated with the consumption of fruit juice.

Reality Check

Anyone drinking 5 sodas a week is not practicing good health habits in other areas. Carbonation along with sugar is a deadly combination. Both independent of each other cause problems.

The carbonation in soft drinks deplete calcium and causes a nutritional deficiency in that mineral. Carbonation irritates the stomach. The cure for the irritation is to find an antacid, and that is the calcium in the body. It takes it from where it can get it, from places in the body that depend on it. That is one reason osteoporosis is on the rise.

Soft drinks contain phosophoric acid, and this causes other problems related to calcium loss

The sugar in soft drinks is dissolved in liquid, and it quickly makes its presence known. The pancreas goes into overdrive. Now the pancreas pumps out plenty of insulin.

Interesting Facts

Teenagers and children are the largest consumers of soda pop. Studies have shown that teenage boys can drink three plus cans per day and girls can drink at least two cans per day.

Soda comes in an aluminum can, and aluminum is able to bind with both calcium and phosphoric acid and is excreted through the urine.

Calcium can improve signaling within cells and cause cancer cells to differentiate and/or die. What that is saying it can cause them to revert to healthy cells.

Sugar or glucose is the food of cancer cells.

Analysis

All the real time studies by credible scientist and validated data will not change anything. The soft drink industry’s public relation campaigns and targeted ads will keep the soft drink bubble going.

With children packing on the pounds, it was found that fast food and soft drinks made them happy. Well liquor makes a wino happy, at least for a few minuets. This comes from studies at a few universities. For the first time the relationship between unhealthy dietary habits and children’s psychological health was studied. What they looked at was the fast food and soft drink consumption on children’s body weight and unhappiness.

The subjects were 2366 children aged between 2 and 12 years. The food included French fries, pizza and hamburgers. The soft drinks included soda and other sugar-sweetened drinks. A quarter of the children were overweight or obese. About 19 percent were sometimes or many times unhappy, sad or depressed. The finding was the children who consumed the fast food and soft drinks were more inclined to be overweight. This is rocket science. The study found them less likely to be unhappy. The happy drunk comes to mind.

What was found is that the mothers’ consumption influenced her child’s eating habits. Who would have known that. Children who ate fast food consumed more soft drinks. How are they going to wash down the food, and you do build thirst from sodium laden food. After having something with sodium many people desire something sweet. It was also found that lower income families were more prone to unhealthy diets. They also tend to be overweight or obese. Besides the expense, the education they are getting about food is surely lacking.

The conclusion of this was that there was going to be a trade-off between obesity and unhappiness. Policies and programs should be in place that should take this in to account. Aim for well-being without sacrificing the child’s happiness. Previous generations must have had unhappy children before the fast food craze.

Sugar is known to cause depression, and to get out of it the body needs more. It is an addictive substance. Of course science claims sugar is not an additive substance.. The tastes and additives in fast food are additive. It is set up that way for profits. Children are more vulnerable to the effects. If there is such as a thing as video game addition than this one surely exists. Try taking video games away and see if the person is unhappy.

A study and conclusion like the one above puts our children and the whole nation at risk. It shows a lack of understanding about nutrition. Fast food and sweet drinks have an addictive component. It is more so if there is a lack of physical activity. That would help stabilize the sugar highs and lows that come from the diet. The addictive nature of theses so called foods often results in overeating. The children are the real victims of the lack of understanding about what it takes to make a health human being. Children put at risk by junk science wind up on the wrong side of wisdom. What the so-called experts say and what is idea are two different things.

ZERO CALORIE

The Institute of Food Technologists is again looking out for you. What a relief someone who cares about your heath above the profit of the industries. Now you can go back to sleep without a care knowing all the diet soft drinks you been drinking may not harm you. Remember Roger Clemens, a spokesperson for the Institute of Food Technologist states “diet sodas, in moderation, can be part of a healthy lifestyle.” The zero calorie myth is propagated by the diet soft drink industry.

RESEARCH STUDIES

A new research study says drinking just one soft drink a day regular or diet many boost your risk of heart disease. The reason is because soda increases your risk of developing metabolic syndrome and that ups your chance of getting both heart disease and diabetes. Even one soda per day increased a person’s chance of developing metabolic syndrome by nearly 50%. To qualify for metabolic syndrome you have to have three of these five conditions: a large waistline, elevated blood pressure, elevated fasting blood sugar, elevated fasting triglycerides, or reduced HDL or “good” cholesterol.

There are scientific studies to show that sugar-sweetened drinks increase the risk of metabolic syndrome. Now the “surprise” to the researchers who expected a different outcome to the study was that diet sodas somehow were linked to metabolic syndrome. They came up will all kinds of theories which can prove it just increases the craving for more sweets, or people that drink diet sodas eat other junk foods.

Whoever, is spending on these junk studies would be wise to spend the funds on educating the public on what is healthy. There is talk that we need more studies to understand this study better. Susan Neely, president of the American Beverage Association feels that the idea that diet soft drinks cause bulging waistlines defies common sense.  Can you image something with chemicals for sweetener, color and flavor does a body any good?  That defies any logic.

OFFICIAL STATEMENT

In an official statement, the brilliant people at the American Heart Association said it supports dietary habits that include low-calorie beverages. I do not think water was what they meant. Well there are more brilliant theories why diet sodas may be causing this metabolic syndrome. The explanations are as follows: the caramel color promotes resistance to insulin, which is needed to process calories, or you compensate at the next meal because you drank a large amount of liquids at the previous meals.

Without a more definite explanation, the advice is to consume sodas in moderation and wait for further research. This is a twist on the advice so often given by the medical profession, FDA, or some other responsible entity; do not stop taking what ever your are taking even if the studies point to very real dangers. This means as long as you are still breathing than it must be safe.

FAT FUTURE

With every government agency and food manufacturer looking out for you, by conducting all kinds of research and well funded studies. why bother to think for yourself. The public recommendations are usually coming from various groups that profit from the research and its outcome. Common sense tells you those national studies to prove diet soft drinks with zero calories are good for you is a waste of money. That you can loss weight, stay healthy by consuming non-nutrient sweeteners in your beverages is just a myth. The zero calorie myth is just that a myth. If a zero calorie beverage increases your appetite, I see a fat future for the nation.