7 Reasons to Stop Drinking Soda

Many Americans drink soda – are you one?   

In 48% of surveyed Americans, 48% drink soda daily. Even more, of that 48%, the average is 2.6 glasses PER day. Unbelievable!  (Source)  Sugar is also the largest source of sugar in children and adolescents – you can see that staggering fact HERE.

With the sheer number of people reaching for soda each day, sometimes multiple times a day, it’s really important to take a look at how those drinks may be influencing your health in a not-so-good way.

We never really bought soda for the house in the past, but we did pick up soda if we were eating out at a restaurant, or with a stop to the gas station – that stopped a few years ago and we have been soda free sinc.. it wasn’t hard for us as we weren’t really die hard soda fans to start with.

But we can see how it might be hard for others.

Just last week we mentioned why eating too much sugar is a bad thing – after that post we had a few emails and random comments on the blog that Soda is actually GOOD for you…

These readers mentioned that because Soda was 99% water, and we need 8-9 recommended glasses of water a day, that was how they were getting “their share of their daily water intake” – not to mention diet soda is actually GOOD for you because there isn’t sugar – but wait.. there IS, it’s artificial and it can be just as bad as the real stuff. 

There is no doubt that soda is a poor choice – there are so many reasons to put it down and avoid it altogether. Here are SEVEN reasons to stop drinking soda.

1. Zero Nutritional Content

Soda holds absolutely NOTHING beneficial for you – not even a little tiny bit!  I once had someone mention to me that since Soda is 99% water, and because we need 8-9 cups of water a day, that Soda was therefore GREAT for the body. 

Not so much the case – that’s not quite how it works ;)

2. Brutal on your Teeth

Soda drinkers will deal with regular plaque build up that will eventually lead to cavities and gum disease.

3. High Fructose Corn Syrup {HFCS}

Soda contains HFCS – which comes from corn. And since 85% of corn has been genetically modified, thats’ a scary deal.  The U.S. and Canada switched to HFCS in 1984 because it was cheaper for them to produce soda. (Source)

Although you can sometimes find soda made with sugar, remember that the majority of sugar in this country comes from GMO sugar beets, too.

4. Caffeine

Caffeine is in most sodas, and as a whole it’s not super for you at all – not only may it cause sleeping programs, it can also cause indigestion, lead to increased of heart attacks and breast tissue cysts in women – much more. (Source)

5. Obesity

Sodas are full of sugar, and high fructose corn syrup – not only do they contain caffeine, they can also dehydrate.  They CAN lead to obesity with as little as 1 soda per day.

The problem with soda is that the body does NOT register that it is full after drinking hundreds of those calories  — therefore, drinking soda does not hing for your hunger and puts you down hundreds of calories.  For a child, drinking one soda each day + 2 cups of Kool Aid will lead to 390 calories each day, and 40 lbs per year. (Source)

Yikes.

6. Phosphoric Acid

Believe it or not, Phosphoric Acid is intentionally added to soda -to give soda a sharper flavor. It serves a second purpose of slowing the growth of mold and bacteria so it doesn’t multiply rapidly. 

Too much phosphorus can decrease the amount of calcium in your body … it also affects your body’s ability to use other minerals – iron, zinc and magnesium. (Source)

7. Sweeteners

Sure, you can find sweetener without calories – but it’s terrible for you to be consuming.  Aspartame accounts for over 75% of the adverse reactions to food additives reported to the FDA (Source) – these reactions are documented HERE.