A drink or a beverage means nothing but a “liquid for drinking”. Usually it contains a substantial amount of phosphoric acid. There are two types of beverages:
1. Alcoholic beverage
2. Non-alcoholic beverage
Alcoholic beverage: An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. They are divided into three general categories: beers, wines and spirits. Alcohol is a psychoactive drug that has a depressant effect. High blood alcohol content is usually considered to be legal drunkenness because it reduces attention and slows reaction speed. Alcohol can be addictive and the state of addiction to alcohol is known as alcoholism.
Non-alcoholic beverage: A non alcoholic beverage is a beverage that contains no alcohol. It contain less than alcohol by volume. There are actually several varieties of non-alcoholic drinks such as soda, fruit juice, tea, coffee and cocktail or mock tail.
Now let us understand the nature of non-alcoholic beverages called soft drinks and some reasons to stop drinking them:
A soft drink is a non-alcoholic beverage contains carbonated water, sweetener and flavoring agent. The sweetener may be sugar, high-fructose coke, soda pop, fizzy drink, tonic or carbonated beverages. It usually commercially prepared and sold in bottles or cans.
These are some powerful reasons to stop drinking soft drinks:
1. Soft drinks are useless- There are no nutritionally beneficial components in soft drinks as they mostly consist of filtered water and refined sugars.
2. Weight gain and obesity- Drinking a single 330 ml can a day translates to more than 1lb of weight gain every month. For each additional soda consumed, the risk of obesity increases by 1.6 times.
3. Diabetes- Soft drinks not only contribute to obesity but also stresses the body’s ability to process sugar. Rapidly absorbed carbohydrates like high fructose corn syrup put more strain on insulin-producing cells than other foods. When sugar enters the bloodstream quickly, the pancreas has to secrete large amounts of insulin for the body to process it. Some scientists believe that the unceasing demands that a soda habit places on the pancreas may ultimately leave it unable to keep up with the body's need for insulin.
Researchers found that women who drank one or more sugary drinks a day gained more weight and were 83% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who imbibed less than once a month.
4. Weakened Bones And Risk Of Osteoporosis - Frequent consumption of soft drinks may also increase the risk of osteoporosis, especially in people who drink soft drinks instead of calcium-rich milk. High soda consumption (particularly cola) in children poses a significant risk factor for impaired calcification of growing bones.
5. Dental Caries And Erosion- Soda eats up and dissolves the tooth enamel. Researchers say that soft drinks are responsible for doubling or tripling the incidence of tooth decay. Soda's acidity makes it even worse for teeth than the solid sugar found in candy. Dental experts continue to urge that people drink less soda pop, especially between meals, to prevent tooth decay and dental erosion.
6. Kidney Damage- There is good evidence that cola beverages can increase the risk of kidney problems, more so than non-cola sodas. Researches clearly demonstrated that large quantities of cola result in enhanced kidney stone formation. If you're wondering exactly how soft drinks cause kidney stones, it's because of their acidity and radical mineral imbalances. Your body must buffer the acidity of soft drinks with calcium from your own bones. As this calcium is eliminated through your urine, it slowly forms kidney stones.
7. Increased Blood Pressure- Experts have reasons to believe that over consumption of fructose, particularly in the form of soft drinks, leads to an increase in blood pressure.
8. Likely To Cause Heartburn- Soft drink consumption is a strong predictor of heartburn.
9. Metabolic Syndrome Risk Factor- Soft drink consumption is a significant risk factor for developing of metabolic syndrome18, a combination of the symptoms such as high blood pressure, obesity, high cholesterol, and insulin resistance.
10. Harmful Effects On Liver- There is evidence that consumption of too many soft drinks puts you under increased risk for liver cirrhosis similar to what chronic alcoholics have.
11. Impaired Digestive System- Soda, no matter who makes it, is the most acidic beverage you can buy, with a pH of about 2.5, about the same as vinegar, but the sugar content disguises the acidity. To put that into perspective, consider that battery acid has a pH of 1 and pure water has a pH level of 7.
12. Dehydration- Another problem with sodas is that they act as dehydrating diuretics. Both caffeine and sugar cause dehydration. Caffeine is a diuretic and causes an increase in urine volume. High concentration of sugar is drawing off water because your kidneys try to expel the excess sugar out of the blood. When you drink a caffeinated soda to quench your thirst, you will actually become thirstier.
13. High Caffeine Content- Another advantage of avoiding sodas is that you will avoid the unnecessary caffeine. Soda drinks are a major source of caffeine in the American diet. High doses of caffeine can cause irritability, restlessness, tension, insomnia, high blood pressure, gastrointestinal disturbance, excessive urination, irregular heartbeat and other side effects.
14. Toxins – Aspartame- The poison in diet soda is an artificial sweetener aspartame. Aspartame is made up of three chemicals: aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol. It is used because it's about 200 times sweeter than table sugar. Despite US FDA approval as a "safe" food additive, aspartame is one of the most dangerous substances added to foods. After you drink an aspartame-sweetened product, aspartame breaks down into its starting components: phenylalanine, aspartic acid, and methanol (that further converts to formaldehyde and formic acid, which are known carcinogens.). There are over 92 different health side effects associated with aspartame consumption.
15. Possible Cell Damage Ability- A new health scare erupted over soft drinks recently amid evidence that they may cause serious cell damage. Research from a British university suggests a common preservative E211, known as sodium benzoate has the ability to switch off vital parts of DNA. Sodium benzoate occurs in small amounts naturally in berries, but is used in large quantities to prevent mould in soft drinks.
16. Risk rises with soda consumption
· A 25% increased risk of impaired fasting glucose and triglyceride levels.
· A 31% greater likelihood of becoming obese.
· A 32% higher chance of lower HDL levels.
· A 44% increased risk of metabolic syndrome.
Prepared and presented by:
Haseena
Morning 2nd batch
