26 Jan Three new reasons to give up drinking soda

I’ve had an on-again off-again relationship over the years that I just can’t shake off.
No, I’m not talking about another woman – I’m happily married.
I’m talking about my relationship with soda, aka pop, sometimes called soda pop.
I’ve tried to quit and actually been successful for different stretches of time, but I’ve gone back to drinking beverages such as Coke, Pepsi and Dr. Pepper lately.
After learning about some new studies being done I’ve re-discovered the willpower to stay away from soda again.
Most people know that carbonated soda pop has helped fuel obesity and rising health care costs in the U.S.
Drinking glass after glass of soda will bloat your stomach and add to your love handles more and more the older you get. That can help lead to diabetes
However, here are three new reasons to stay away from the sugar water:
1. Soda causes invisible fat buildup around organs – Danish researchers have found that that drinking non-diet soda leads to dramatic increases in dangerous hidden fats.
Participants in a study were divided into control groups and asked to consume either soda sweetened with 50 percent glucose and 50 fructose (table sugar, the soda sweetener of choice in Denmark), milk containing the same amount of calories as the regular soda, diet cola, or water every day for six months.
Researches found the total fat mass remained the same across all beverage-consuming groups, but they discovered major increases in fats that are hard to detect with the naked eye occurred.
People who drank the regular cola experienced a 132 to 142 percent increase in liver fat, a 117 to 221 percent jump in skeletal fat, and about a 30 percent increase in both triglyceride blood fats and other organic fat. The regular soda-drinking group also experienced an 11 percent increase in cholesterol, compared to the people who drank beverages.
Even worse new for us in the U.S. is that in our country pop is often sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup, which has been found to cause even worse fat buildup.
And don’t turn to diet soda as a healthy alternative. Artificial sweeteners and food dyes have been linked to brain cell damage and hyperactivity. Additionally, people who drink diet soda are also more prone to developing diabetes.
2. The stuff is toxic, too – Drinks such as Mountain Dew include a toxic flame retardant chemical ingredient to keep the artificial flavoring from separating from the rest of the liquid.
Brominated vegetable oil (BVO) is used in some sodas and sports drinks.
This junk can not only ward off flames, it’s been found to cause bromide poisoning, which has symptoms such as skin lesions, memory loss and nerve disorders.
3. There are possible unseen dangers – High-fructose corn syrup is used as a sweetener in many types pf soda.
HFCS has been found to cause heart problems in some instances and is made from genetically engineered (GE) corn.
GE technology didn’t start being used in foods and drinks until the 1990s and we don’t know all the long-term effects of it yet. Some scientists have reported GE crops can cause problems with accelerated aging, digestive tract damage and infertility. Basically, you could stay we’re lab rats until enough time has gone by to chart the effects of GE corn.
After learning all of this, next time I pull up to the drive-through or the waiter comes over to my table and asks what I’d like to drink, I’m saying “water” or “unsweetened iced tea.”

At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com