Author: Dr. Mercola
Many
people think they are making a smart choice by choosing diet soda
because they have no calories or sugar. Well, you may be surprised to
learn that there are ingredients in diet soda that are, hands-down,
worse for your health than sugar, so you are by no means doing yourself
a favor.
Here’s a breakdown of some of the worst offenders: • Aspartame: This
chemical is used as a sugar substitute in diet soda. There are over 92
different health side effects associated with aspartame consumption
including brain tumors, birth defects, diabetes, emotional disorders
and epilepsy/seizures.
• Acesulfame-K: Another artificial sweetener, on which testing has been scant and some studies show the additive may cause cancer.
• Splenda:
An artificial sweetener that may destroy up to 50 percent of your
healthy intestinal bacteria, which are necessary to help maintain your
body's overall balance of friendly versus unfriendly micro-organisms,
and support your general health. To learn even more information about artificial sweeteners, and why they’re not safe, I encourage you to ready my book Sweet Deception. There’s actually overwhelming evidence that consuming artificial sweeteners will likely wreak havoc on your body.
Ironically, the very reason many people choose to drink diet sodas, to
prevent weight gain, is actually a myth. Numerous studies show
artificial sweeteners may impair your appetite regulation and lead to weight gain.
For example, it’s been discovered that diet soda increases your risk of metabolic syndrome and, ultimately, heart disease. What Else is Lurking in Your Can of Soda? The average American drinks more than 60 gallons of
soft drinks each year, and whether it’s diet or regular, the following
ingredients are part of what you’re slurping down: • Phosphoric Acid: This is added to
give soda its characteristic “bite,” but it can also interfere with
your body's ability to use calcium, leading to osteoporosis or
softening of your teeth and bones.
• Caffeine: Caffeinated drinks cause jitters,
insomnia, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, elevated blood
cholesterol levels, vitamin and mineral depletion, breast lumps, birth
defects, and perhaps some forms of cancer.
• Sodium Benzoate: This common preservative found in many soft drinks has been shown to cause DNA damage.
It actually has the ability to switch off vital parts of your DNA,
which could eventually lead to diseases such as cirrhosis of the liver
and Parkinson's.
• Benzene: Benzene, a cancer-causing chemical, is able
to form in beverages that contain vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and the
preservatives sodium benzoate or potassium benzoate. Exposure to heat
and light can trigger the formation.
While the federal limit for benzene in drinking water is 5 parts per
billion (ppb), researchers have found benzene levels as high as 79 ppb
in some soft drinks, and of 100 brands tested, most had at least some detectable level of benzene present. It’s because of these harmful ingredients, along with
the fact that one can of regular soda has about 10 teaspoons of sugar,
that soda remains on my list of the five absolute worst foods and drinks you can consume. Are You Ready to Drastically Improve Your Health? Then toss out all of your diet soda and regular soda.
If you’re on a quest for health, soda simply doesn’t have a place, and
stopping this habit is one of the simplest and most profound ways to
improve your health, just like that.
Now, if you struggle with an addiction to soda I strongly recommend you consider Turbo Tapping
as a simple yet highly effective tool to help you stop this
health-sucking habit. Turbo Tapping is a clever use of the Meridian
Tapping Technique, designed to resolve many aspects of an issue in a
concentrated period of time.
What should you replace the soda with? Pure water is an excellent
choice, but if you’re longing for a carbonated beverage, try sparkling
mineral water with a squirt of fresh lemon or lime juice.
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