Bubble Bubble, Fizz Fizz

HEALTH, June 2009, by Jennifer Papaconstantinou


Bubble Bubble,
Fizz Fizz


It’s sweet, it fizzes, and you can buy it EVERYWHERE! Did I mention it is often cheaper than a bottle of water?

Soda pop! It tastes great, but the negative health impacts of daily consumption are too high to ignore. It is like drinking liquid candy!

ONE can of pop contains:

• 10 teaspoons of sugar (Can you actually imagine eating 10 teaspoons of sugar?!)

• 150 calories

• 30-55 mg of caffeine (It has been said that caffeinated drinks can cause jitters, insomnia, elevated blood cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, vitamin and mineral depletion, breast lumps, irregular heartbeat, birth defects, and maybe even cancer.)

• Artificial food colouring and flavours (these have been linked to neurological changes such as hyperactivity, obsessive compulsive disorder, ADD, depression, allergies, and cancer)

• Sulphites (this is a chemical additive linked to asthma-like symptoms and rated one of the top 10 allergy-causing substances by Health Canada! Yet they still allow this into our 'food')

• May contain artificial sweeteners (found in many diet pops, sweeteners like these are called excitotoxins which have been known to cause side effects such as seizures, eye damage and vision loss, confusion, severe migraines, tremors, depression, anxiety attacks, and insomnia.ALSO... ‘Aspartame’ (another artificial sweetener which may be found in some soda pops) breaks down into methanol(wood alcohol) in the body which quickly converts to formaldehyde! Formaldehyde causes gradual and eventually severe damage to the neurological system, immune system and causes permanent genetic damage at extremely low doses.

• Phosphoric acid (this is the main active ingredient in pop with a pH of 2.8). It competes with stomach acid which you need to break down your food, it overworks the kidneys and it causes an acidic environment within the body depleting calcium levels which are essential for maintaining strong bones and teeth! Did I mention it will dissolve a nail in just about 4 days?!?!?

Thirst Quenching!
Although you may feel that a nice cold can of pop quenches your thirst on a hot summer day, it actually dehydrates you instead. The caffeine, sugar, alcohol, artificial sweeteners, and chemicals found in many soda pops are ingredients that cause major dehydration. The more you consume them, the more dehydrated you get. Dehydration in the body causes headaches, nausea, pain, and poor brain function. Then there is what happens inside of us which we cannot see. It happens on a chemical level which may harm organs and tissues. Too much sugar and not enough water in the body are a BAD combination! Not only does sugar deplete many vitamins and minerals but it also causes many chemical reactions in our bodies... the negative effects of which are too long and need a whole article by itself to be explained!! Let's just say obesity and diabetes are two of the most common side effects of over-consumption of sugar!

Sugar and Energy
When we drink pop, which is a carbohydrate, it is broken down by the body in the digestive tract and used for energy. Complex carbohydrates, such as whole grains and legumes, not only contain essential vitamins and minerals – they take longer to break down in the digestive system and establish a slower release of sugars (energy) into the body.

Simple sugars such as fruit, contain beneficial antioxidants, vitamins and minerals and phytonutrients... however, simple sugars such as table sugar, starches (like baked goods, pastas and breads), and those found in sweets and pop DON'T usually contain ANY healthy substances the body needs.

What About Fat?
The other negative here is that if you do not use the energy these simple carbs provide right away, like by exercising or walking, your body will store them as FAT by converting them into glycogen (the storage form of glucose, the simplest sugar) up to your body's maximum storage level.

People are often misinformed that eating fats make you fat. That may well be true because fats have a higher calorie count than carbs and proteins do, but sugars (even in those packaged foods with 'no fat') will add those extra pounds much faster than by eating fats.

Did you know that drinking 2 cans of soda pop every day for 60 days = 5 pounds of fat!?

Crazy, huh? Do the math:
1 pound gained = 3500 extra calories consumed. That's 30 pounds per year! And if you don't exercise much, some of those pounds will be left hanging around.

Here are some statistics:
To burn off the calories in approximately 2 cans of pop you would have to:
• Walk 3 miles in 45 minutes
• Bike briskly for 22 minutes
• Play a vigorous sport for 40 minutes
Please remember that this doesn’t include the other foods and calories that you eat throughout the day.

So what should you drink?
The answer is simple: WATER! More cool facts... about your body composition:
• 60-70% is made of water
• 80-90% of your lungs are made of water
• Approx 70% of your brain is made of water
• 83% of your blood is made of water

Since water is absolutely required for life, it's very important to drink fresh, pure, beautiful water for proper maintenance and function.

How do you know how much is enough?
There is a very simple way to figure this out using math. I know... math, yuk! This one is easy. Take your body weight in pounds divided by 2, then that number is divided by 8 = the number of 8 ounce glasses of water to drink per day.

Example: if you weigh 100 pounds, 100 divided by 2 = 50.
50 divided by 8 = almost 6.

Therefore a 100 pound person should be consuming about 6 glasses of water per day (see, you really DO need math outside of school!)

Let’s be realistic.
 I’m not telling you to never drink pop! My message to you is thatliving a healthy lifestyle is all about learning how to balance. This includes diet, nutrition and treats. It's the same with all aspects of life – you can't work all the time and have no fun, just like you can't have fun all the time and not work! Balance is key.

Just think twice about all the facts presented here. The next time you are thirsty, make a conscious choice to provide your body with what it needs. I promise – it will thank you!

~ Jennifer



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