What will it take to stop soda pop's popularity?

The facts and figures on the amount of soda consumed in the world are eye-popping.  Consider these mind-numbing numbers from bellybytes.com:

• The soft drink industry makes an estimated $40 billion per year
• 40 percent of toddlers drink at least one can of soda per day
• 10 percent of soft drinks are consumed in the morning hours
• Soft drink consumption has increased 200 percent since the 1950s
• The average person consumes 500 cans of soda per year

With numbers like these, it’s little wonder that Coca-Cola purchases more sugar than any other company in the world.

Yet with all the negative things we know about soda and its impact on our health, it remains grocery stores most sold item.

What will it take to knock soda pop off its perch?  Perhaps the latest study slamming soda will do the trick.

A new study published in the pages of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention has found that soda dramatically increases a person’s risk for pancreatic cancer.

The University of Minnesota researchers followed over 60,500 volunteers who took part in the Singapore Chinese Health Study.

When they looked into the rate of pancreatic cancer, a very low number was diagnosed with the disease, a mere 140 people out of 60,524.

But what really took the researchers aback was how prevalent it was among men and women that consumed soda regularly.

They found that among those who consumed at least two soft drinks a week (not a day, a week) were 87 percent more likely to be among those with pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is fairly rare compared to lung cancer and breast cancer, but it’s no less deadly.  There are about 37,680 diagnoses in the United States alone per year, and another 34,290 who die from it per year.  Patrick Swayze put a face to pancreatic cancer after he died from it mid-September 2009.  He was diagnosed in March 2008.

The researchers are quick to note that their findings don’t prove a causal connection.  Their analysis didn’t take into account other foods and behaviors believed to increase a person’s risk for pancreatic cancer, like consuming red meat (particularly charred red meat) or smoking.

Nevertheless, that 87 percent is high enough to turn heads.  Certainly this head.

Soda is the most frequently purchased grocery store item.  Could this latest study be soda’s swan song?  One can only hope.

Sources:
bellybytes.com
msnbc.msn.com

Soda may contribute to muscle weakness.

Can’t lift as much as you used to?  It may have nothing to do with the amount of protein you’re eating, but everything to do with the amount of cola you’re drinking.

This report comes as little surprise to me, as I’m one of the biggest sticklers in why we should all be avoiding soda consumption in general.  And the best way to fight against the soda saturated society we live in is to arm people with information they need to help them realize that while soda might be flavorsome initially, the side effects of soda leave a significant aftertaste – literally and figuratively.

I won’t go into the panoply of side effects here; I’ll restrict my commentary to the latest study on how soda saps muscle strength.

In the International Journal of Clinical Science, researchers relate examples of two individuals who drank vast quantities of cola.  One man, an Australian ostrich farmer, drank several liters a day of cola for several years.  His imbibing regularly with empty calories left his lungs feeling empty as well – virtually paralyzed, in fact!

After emergency treatment and an advisement to cut back on the cola, his health is no longer in dire straits.

In another serious health concern perpetrated by cola concoctions, a woman that drank between one and three liters of the stuff a day experienced habitual episodes of vomiting, lack of appetite, and exhaustion.  But once doctors corrected her cola drinking ways, these episodes went by the wayside and been given a clean bill of health.

The study’s author says that these two cases were likely due to drains to their potassium levels.  Past studies have shown how excessive consumption of caffeine can cause potassium drainage, and when potassium is drained, the body’s musculature can go haywire as potassium helps to regulate the muscles (referred to as hypokalaemia).  He cautions that the high amounts of fructose in colas can cause potassium levels to drop as well.

As aforementioned, this study isn’t a surprise to me, but what is a surprise is why this study’s researcher says we should drink things like soda “in moderation,” despite the fact that in the commentary portion of the study, a doctor from an Ohio-based medical center says that similar effects of cola consumption are “not rare.”

If that’s the case, shouldn’t researchers be advising that we not drink them at all?  I sure think so.

What it comes down to is this:  Soda, whether it’s cola, ginger ale or any other soft drink, diminishes the body’s ability to perform at its peak.  Not only does it diminish muscle power, but it also eats away at other things, like teeth enamel and bone composition.

To put it simply, stay off the cola if you want to stay healthy and strong for years to come.

Source:
news.bbc.co.uk