Health Hazards Of Soda – Are Soft Drinks Really Soft On Us ?

Ordering a soft-drink with soda in it has become a regular custom in restaurants. In fact, most homes do store big bottles of soda-drinks in their refrigerator and serve it as first choice to the guests. In urban population, it is often observed that children drink soda-drinks more than milk. With the consumption of these ‘easy to serve and great to taste’ drinks increasing exponentially, it surely is going pose a big health hazard in years to come.

Sodium benzoate, which if often found in sodas, is usually used as a preservative in food industry. Sodium preservatives affect the potassium reserves by reducing the availability of potassium. Sodium benzoate is also known to cause skin-rash, asthma and eczematous eruptions in humans. If we refer to the statistics, every day at least 11 Americans die from asthma and the annual cost of asthma-care is estimated to be nearly 18 million US dollars. Thus we are not paying just for the fuzzy drink but also for the puffs of inhalers that it demands later.

Colas also contain high amount of phosphoric acid, putting strain on the kidneys. It can also affect our bone metabolism. The high phosphate diet has been associated with bone breakdown and an increased risk of osteoporosis. When phosphorus is excreted in the urine, it takes calcium with it, depriving the bones and the rest of the body of these essential minerals. Osteoporosis is directly linked to easy fractures on slightest falls.

I always call these cola-drinks as ‘sugar bombs’ due to their high glucose content. Within twenty minutes of drinking a cola, our blood sugar gets a huge spike, causing the insulin producing cells in the pancreas to work overtime so that it gets regularized. Obviously when that much of sugar is not needed for the daily activities, it is converted to fat by the liver, to store for the future energy-needs. The relationship between the obesity and cola consumption is so strong that with every cola consumed, the risk of obesity increases 2 times. With almost 75 percent heart diseases related directly to obesity, 42 percent breast and colon cancers detected in obese individuals, and 30 percent of the gall bladder surgeries having related to obese patients, this risk appears almost fatal.

With current ratio of diabetic population, at least 10 percent of the entire healthcare funding in the entire world is consumed by diabetes or the complications related to it. Those who drink colas regularly have an 80 percent increased risk of developing type-2 diabetes. Diabetes is known to affect vision, nerves, and kidneys which can seriously lead to a handicapped life.

If you are fond of drinking your cola from a can, instead of a glass bottle, you are at a much different risk. Those cans are coated with a resin containing BPA (bisphenyl-A) which is a carcinogen often found in plastic bottles. It can also affect our endocrine system, potentially causing early puberty and various reproductive abnormalities.

Thus next time you order for a can or bottle of soda or cola, just think about the actual cost you are paying. Any sensible person would agree that it’s not worth it!

Osteoporosis And The Calcium Tablets Conspiracy

Almost 80% of the urban population across the globe has at least heard about osteoporosis till now. A significant number of them have already passed through the 'bone mineral density' test to check the bone-age of their skeleton. Most of the ladies who have crossed their forties have started taking calcium tablets to improve their bone health, after menopause. Don’t you feel doubtful about the entire pattern? Had any of your grandmothers taken any calcium tablet after her menopause? Had your grandmother faced any major bony problems, despite being highly active even at later age? Then what is at fault? You or your doctor who is prescribing you tablets that you buy blindly?

It is a common sense that if you lack in a certain nutrient, you can supply it by two sources – natural food source or artificial tablets that are synthetic. Obviously natural source will be best absorbed by the body and will supply some other essential nutrients as well along with the desired one. For example, if one consumes ‘ragi’ as a source of calcium, one can also get good quality proteins, iron and fibre as bonus package. Instead of taking calcium tablet, if you eat ragi-flour everyday in breakfast, it will not only provide you much better nutrition but will also cost you almost half the price of the monthly supply of those nutrients in tablet form. Plus, you don’t have to spend anything for the breakfast separately. As said earlier, the natural source will get absorbed easily and your body doesn’t have to strain for it.

Second line common-sense is – just think about... after the menopause, do you feel the ladies stop eating calcium containing foods? No! They don’t. Then why to provide it from outside if the food already has calcium. The actual connection of the menopause and the calcium loss then after is related to the impaired absorption due to poor physical exercise or digestion, and lack of vitamin D which is the most essential element for the absorption of calcium from the food that we eat. Has any of the doctors discussed this? And if he has discussed this, has it concluded with prescription of yet another tablet to buy, containing vitamin D?

Vitamin D can be produced by your body when we get exposed to sunlight. If it is available free of charge, why do we have to buy it in a sachet? Spend quality time in sun, of course without applying the sun-screen creams which will block the vitamin D production.

Another factor is lack of exercise. The more we exercise, and with consistency, more will be the need for these building blocks. This need will stimulate and improve the natural absorption.

Thus next time your doctor prescribes something either for calcium or vitamin D, think about the natural sources – from your daily food, cereals or morning walk. The more you go close to nature, the better will be the health. Don’t make your pharmacist and doctor rich un-necessarily.