You will have read enough by now to understand that soda drinks are bad for your health, these sugary drinks are linked to diabetes, weight-gain, dental problems, osteoporosis, gout, heart disease and many more illnesses. Even these health problems have been linked with the consumption of soda drinks, it doesn’t seem to stop millions from consuming them, and is a sad fact that today many children consume them on a daily basis, adding over one thousand calories to their daily food intake. In fact, soda drinks form the single largest source of sugar consumption for the average American today, many soda drinks are also a prime source of caffeine intake for youngsters in the form of “energy” drinks.
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Soda and energy drinks are often consumed to give a short-term boost, but only end up contributing to many health problems long term.
Many people are of the false belief that diet sodas are a “healthy” alternative to conventional soda drinks because they contain “no sugar”, when in fact they contain artificial sugars. What many people are not aware of is that these drinks are just as destructive to health as conventional soda drinks; they are high in phosphates, artificial colouring, flavours and preservatives and are a trap for those who are looking for a “low-sugar” drink. Just like soda drinks, those who are serious in eradicating their yeast infection are best to avoid diet drinks.
If you have read the diet and nutrition section (section 1 of chapter 7) of Candida Crusher, you will be familiar with the concept that sugar consumption in any form is far from a good idea if you are looking for a permanent resolution from your chronic yeast infection. Candida is always looking for an easy meal to build up and reproduce, and sugar consumption is one of the prime maintaining causes of a candida yeast infection. Recent research has discovered that blood sugar elevations occur in those who consume artificial sugars just as much as in those who consume normal sugar.
Candida yeast infections thrive with any kind of sugar, whether it is plain white sugar, raw sugar, brown sugar or artificial sugars found in diet soda drinks. Avoiding regular soda drinks as well as diet soda drinks laden with artificial sugars is a very positive step in the right direction if you want to avoid not only a candida yeast infection, but also the development of many different chronic diseases.
Reason # 1 – Diet Soda is Linked With Many Diseases1
Experts have discovered that diet foods and drinks have the ability to adversely affect the body’s ability to regulate calories, and as a consequence, those who consume these “foods” only end up encouraging weight gain and an increased chance of maintain a yeast infection. In the journal Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism, Dr. Susan Swithers, a professor of behavioral neuroscience at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., comments on the health effects of diet products, with the most common artificial sweeteners including sucralose, aspartame and saccharin, among others. Dr. Swithers said that mentioned in the journal studies about people who regularly consume diet soft drinks over time are at higher risk for weight gain and obesity than people who don’t drink sodas at all. Diet soda consumers have a greater risk for Type 2 Diabetes, heart disease as well as metabolic syndrome.
Artificial sweeteners may also facilitate something psychologists call cognitive distortions. That is, they allow us to trick ourselves into thinking we can eat more calories than we really should. Saving calories with a diet soda now means a slab of chocolate cake is OK later. “I think there are multiple things that are contributing to this,” Swithers said. “Psychology is a factor, but physiology can also be altered.” Based on her research, she said, water is the best bet for people who are trying to lose weight or improve other measures of health. “The downside to drinking the diet sodas is that they may undermine these unconscious processes that could help us regulate our weight and other things like blood sugar,” she said.
Reason # 2 – Diet Sodas Cause Tooth Decay
Many people falsely believe that just because diet soda drinks are ‘sugar free’ that they are safe for your teeth. Think again. It is not the sugar content that is the problem, it is the high acid levels these drinks contain that cause the tooth damage, all soda drinks are high acid containing drinks, and the acidity wears down the enamel coating the protects the tooth itself. Once the hard enamel wears off, streptococci bacteria in the plaque found on teeth more easily penetrates the tooth, causing decay.
I recommend to those who wish to continue to drink these kinds of beverages to at least rinse their mouth with clean, fresh water straight after consuming any soda drinks, or to chew gum containing Xylitol (natural sugar that comes from vegetables primarily) that stops dental decay. But the best solution naturally is to simply stop consuming these drinks altogether.
The report, published in the General Dentistry Magazine2 in May 2013, revealed that an addiction to soda drinks may do as much major damage to your smile as a crack cocaine drug habit, and that sugar isn’t even the culprit.
Reason # 3 – Diet Sodas Create Cell Damage
What you may not realize is that regular soda drinks such as Coke or Pepsi do not contain a mold inhibitor; diet soda drinks do contain this preservative however. The names you will want to look for are sodium benzoate or potassium benzoate, and you will find them in almost all diet soda beverages. This is not good news for those who consume diet soda drinks regularly, according to Professor Peter Piper, professor of biology and molecular biotechnology from the University of Sheffield in England.
Professor Piper told a British newspaper in 1999 that mold inhibitors found in diet soda drinks have the ability to cause severe DNA damage in the cell’s mitochondria to the point where they can knock out activity or even totally inactivate it altogether. Potassium and sodium benzoates have been linked to hives, asthma, and other allergic conditions, according to the Centre for Science in the Public Interest. Since 1999, some soft drink companies have phased out sodium benzoate, and Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi have replaced it with potassium benzoate. But both sodium and potassium benzoate have both been classified by the UK Food Commission as mild irritants to the skin, eyes, and mucous membranes. Mold inhibitors with the potential to create cellular mitochondrial damage have no place in the diet of those who are serious about a candida yeast infection recovery.
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- Does Xylitol Kill Candida?
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- Debunking Common myths concerning Candida Yeast Infections – Part 1
Reason # 4 – Diet Sodas Create Weight Gain
A 14 year study (3) conducted in 2012 and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2013 highlighted the dangers of the consumption of artificially and sugar-sweetened beverages and the incidence of Type 2 diabetes. The study found that those who drink diet soda drinks end up with the same weight issues as those who drink regular soda drinks, in fact, diet soda drinkers ended up with more Type II diabetes health problems than the regular soda drinkers. An abstract4 published in the Behavioural Neuroscience Journal in February 2008 has revealed that artificial sweeteners can slow the metabolic rate, increase the appetite and cause weight gain.
It is important for you to remember that just because a food or a drink has a ‘diet’ label attached to it, it does not automatically infer that it is ‘healthy and safe’ to consume. You may want to become more educated on some of the common terms used on food packaging, such as ‘low sugar’ which will generally imply that a product contains artificial and therefore unhealthy sugars, and ‘low fat’ will generally indicate the presence of sugars or other sweetening agents. My recommendations are for you to avoid both any added sugars or artificial sugars in your foods or drinks, particularly if you are serious about overcoming a candida yeast infection.
References
- Susan Swithers, Ph.D., professor of behavioral neuroscience, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind.; Theresa Hedrick, M.S., R.D., nutrition and scientific affairs specialist, Calorie Control Council, Atlanta; July 10, 2013, Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism
- http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57586640/diet-soda-erodes-teeth-as-much-as-meth-crack-case-study/
- Consumption of artificially and sugar-sweetened beverages and incident type 2 diabetes in the Etude Epidémiologique auprès des femmes de la Mutuelle Générale de l’Education Nationale–European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. Am J Clin Nutr March 2013 ajcn.050997
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=A+Role+for+Sweet+Taste%3A+Calorie+Predictive+Relations+in+Energy+Regulation
What about Zevia soda, no caramel coloring, no artificial ingredients, sweetened with Stevia?
Is the carbonation a problem? (Do not like putting the cans in the environment, even recycled.)